Founder & Director
Women’s Research and Education Fund
Camille Murphy is a wellspring of determination, tenacity and creativity when it comes to equality, justice and safety for women and girls. As founder of the Westchester County Office for Women in 1980 and director until she retired in 2010, Camille made sure the voices of women were heard and included in the development of programs, laws and policies locally and on the state and national level.
Establishing the Office for Women put Westchester in the vanguard as the first centralized county office in New York State with the singular mission to serve women. It became a model for subsequent offices opening throughout the state in response to the changing and expanding rules of women. During her 30 year tenure, the county received several national awards for its programs to empower women and eradicate domestic violence.
Over the years Camille has implemented county programs and policies to increase safe, affordable child care; provide equal opportunities in education and the workplace; prevent sexual harassment; advocate for pay equity and women’s health; and address the needs of immigrant, elderly or disabled women and opening the Family Justice Center where 16 organizations are working to increase the safety of women and to hold offenders accountable.
On the national level, Camille was elected to the board of the National Association of Commissions for Women (NACW), created by President Kennedy in 1961 with Eleanor Roosevelt as the first chairperson. Camille served as president for five years. She breathed new life into the organization, an annual Legislative Lunch on the Hill for Congresswomen, building corporate partnerships to fund programs and establishing the organization’s NGO status a the United Nations. In 1995, Camille led the official NACW/NGO delegation to the Beijing International Women’s Conference.
Upon retiring from government, Camille became the Executive Director of the Women’s Research and Education Fund, a not for profit she established in 1989 and had served on its board. Her goal has been to fill gaps in essential services that exist in the county for women and children. Her major target for 2013 has been the development of services for women veterans. Pulling together other interested agencies, she held the first Stand Up for Women Veterans on the East Coast which has served as a model for similar events throughout the country.
