Kim Gandy was elected president of the National Organization of Women on its 35th Anniversary, June 30, 2001, after serving as executive vice president since 1991 and secretary-treasurer from 1987 to 1991.
As executive vice president Gandy has been responsible for NOW’s government relations and legislative agenda, and the litigation docket, including NOW v. Scheidler, the racketeering case against anti-abortion terrorists. She directs the organization’s fundraising programs, and supervises chapter development services and leadership training for NOW's more than 500 state and local chapters.
A long-time activist, Gandy has served NOW at the local, state or national level every year since 1973, including three years as Louisiana NOW president. She was elected to the NOW National Board in 1982 and held the position of Mid-South regional director for four years before being elected national secretary. Gandy served for four years as treasurer of NOW’s political action committees, and in 1991 she directed the WomenElect 2000 Project, a grassroots organizing and recruiting effort in Louisiana which tripled the number of women in the legislature, and turned out the women’s vote to elect the first woman lieutenant governor and to defeat former Klan leader David Duke for governor.
She also served on the drafting committee for the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which entitled women to a jury trial and monetary damages in cases of sex discrimination and sexual harassment, as well as the drafting committee for the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which has dramatically decreased the daily violence at abortion clinics.
Prior to taking on a national post at NOW, Gandy had been active in women's rights in Louisiana for more than a decade.
She drafted Louisiana's first Domestic Abuse Assistance Act, and was a founding director of the Metropolitan Battered Women's Program, which provided crisis intervention and an innovative "second-stage" shelter. Gandy also founded the Louisiana Women's Lobby Network, serving as its director for several years. During that time she drafted several successful bills, including the Louisiana Child Support Enforcement Act, which was used as model state legislation by the National Conference of State Legislators.
Gandy served as a senior assistant district attorney in New Orleans, and later opened a private trial practice in New Orleans where she litigated countless child support, marital property, domestic violence, sex and race discrimination, lesbian mother custody, and other such cases seeking fair treatment for women, including a $184,000 sex discrimination judgement against the U.S. Air Force after 9 years of litigation. Gandy started her career working at South Central Bell doing forecasting and statistical analysis.
Gandy has served on the New Orleans City Planning Commission, was appointed by the governor to the state Child Support Task Force, and was active in many community organizations, including holding office in the Association of Democratic Women, the Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus (LAGPAC), the Association of Women Attorneys, the Business and Professional Women (BPW), and WomenFocus.
Gandy graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. She received her law degree in from Loyola University School of Law, where she served on the Loyola Law Review and the National Moot Court Team.
Gandy resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband Christopher "Kip" Lornell. They have two daughters.
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