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Division of Equity and Social Justice
Division of Equity and Social Justice

Commission on the Status of Women

County of Santa Clara Commission on the Status of Women

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) acts in an advisory capacity to the Board of Supervisors to: promote affirmative action, to eliminate the practice of discrimination and prejudice against women based on gender in the areas of housing, employment, education, community services, and related fields. It is comprised of 15 members who are appointed by the Board of Supervisors for a term of three years.  All members represent the community at large and reside within the County of Santa Clara. 

County ordinance - In 1973, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved Santa Clara County Ordinance code No. NS 300.183, thereby establishing the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

Membership and meeting calendar - The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) hosts bi-monthly, public meetings on the second Monday of odd-numbered months at 6:30 PM at the County Government Center in the Isaac Newton Senter Auditorium, 70 W. Hedding Street, San Jose. Please visit the meeting portal for upcoming meeting agendas and agenda packets and/or past meeting agendas and meeting minutes.

Women's Equality Day Event

The Commission on the Status of Women holds an annual event on or around Women’s Equality Day, (August 26) each year. The event celebrates the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote nationally and also highlights the work of both the Commission and the County in supporting women and girls.

Learn more about this year's Women's Equality Day and the 2023 event commemorating the event's 50th Anniversary.

CSW Mini-grant Program 

The Santa Clara County CSW mini-grant program supports organizations and individuals who have events or programs impacting the women and girls of Santa Clara County in one or more of the following areas: Leadership, Civil rights, Economic, Social, Health & Wellbeing, Education
 
Mini-grants are available in increments of $500, up to $2,000, and can be applied for only once during each fiscal year.  
 
Visit our CSW Mini-grant Program page to learn more and apply.
We are equal pay champions logo

County latest to sign pledge championed by California First Partner 

On December 16, 2024, the County of Santa Clara announced today that it has signed the California Equal Pay Pledge – joining more than 200 California employers committed to closing the gender pay gap. By doing so, the County has committed to conducting annual company-wide gender pay analyses, reviewing hiring and promotion processes and procedures to reduce unconscious bias and structural barriers, and promoting best practices to help close the pay gap and ensure fundamental equity for all workers.
 
California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom launched the California Equal Pay Pledge as part of her California for ALL Women initiative in 2019. The pledge, which is a partnership between the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, and the California Partners Project, builds upon the state’s nation-leading equal pay laws to help close the existing gender pay gap.
 
California has some of the strongest equal pay laws in the country, but women in the state still earn 89 cents for every dollar a man earns. These numbers plummet for women of color, mothers, and members of the LGBTQ community. The gender pay gap creates staggering financial losses for California women.
 
Since the launch of the Pledge, First Partner Siebel Newsom and program partners have hosted roundtables, educational briefings and published the California Equal Pay Playbook to address the impact of pay inequities on working women and their families. More information on the California Equal Pay Pledge is available here.