The new president of the National Organization for Women grew up in Macomb, where she became interested in politics at a young age.
Kim Villanueva recently moved to Washington D.C. from Springfield, Ill., after being elected to lead the grassroots organization dedicated to achieving full equity for women and girls.
While Villanueva was growing up in Macomb, her father taught political science at Western Illinois University, so it wasn’t unusual to discuss politics at the dinner table. A.B. Villanueva taught at WIU for 30 years.
“I remember when I was little, the Watergate hearings were going on,” she said.
The family would watch those hearings on TV and then talk about what was happening.
She said their member of Congress at the time was Republican Tom Railsback of Moline, who was on the House Judiciary Committee that was investigating Watergate. The committee voted in 1974 to refer articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon to the full House.
“So that sort of brought it home for me that what happens outside in the big world comes back into this little small town in Macomb,” she said.
Villanueva said even though Macomb is a small town, it was pretty cosmopolitan because of WIU.
“There was quite a diverse student body, and my dad’s colleagues in the department were from different political perspectives, but they were also geographically diverse and from different countries,” she said.
Her father brought some of that geographical diversity to the department – he immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines.
Kim Villanueva went on to study journalism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the early 1980s. That’s also where she became involved with NOW.
It started with a journalism class assignment to create a beat and come up with stories. She created a women’s issues beat, and said her professor was initially a little skeptical.
“But I think he admitted that I did find topics to write about. Women were just starting to get in the workforce, and so I would write stories about women who had to find childcare so they could work,” she said.
As part of the class, Villanueva talked to some women from NOW about the Illinois legislature’s failure to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. They encouraged her to attend a meeting, and after graduating and moving to Springfield, Villanueva sought out the local NOW chapter. She has been involved with the organization ever since.
Villanueva believes progress has been made on women’s issues during her lifetime, but is concerned some of that progress is being rolled back.
“I think we’re seeing, certainly recent Supreme Court decisions, the Dodd decision, moving the right to abortion back to the states was a huge blow for women and women’s healthcare,” she said. “And we’re certainly seeing attempts at the federal level chipping away at other rights.”
While Villanueva has concerns on the national level, she said Illinois has made advances on pay equity, family leave, and child care issues. She said Illinois was also ahead of the curve on passing marriage equality laws.
As NOW’s national president, Villanueva said she will work to raise awareness of issues such as reproductive health and stopping violence against women.
She wants to amplify those issues in red states such as Indiana, which she visited recently for the 46th Annual Valparaiso Popcorn Festival. She said people cheered and waved to the NOW contingent as they marched in the festival’s parade.
“So we’re just trying to get out and say, you may not identify as a feminist, but if you agree with equal rights and that women should be paid equally and that they should have the right to control their bodies, then you are a feminist. That’s what it’s all about,” she said.
She believes everyone can agree that all people should have equal opportunities for pay, safety, and basic rights.
The organization also works to get women elected to public office.
“I think women bring a different perspective, not only being the traditional homemakers but also healthcare issues that they experience that are different from men,” she said. “It’s good to have different voices, different perspectives, instead of just one side all the time.”
Villanueva said she’s proud to have chaired the Illinois NOW Political Action Committee in the early 1990s, when she worked to help Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun get elected as the first African-American woman in the U.S. Senate in 1992.
Villanueva said growing up in Macomb gave her a common-sense perspective.
“It helped shape me in terms of realizing that it’s just good to sit down and talk to people. Even if you disagree with what they say, you need to be willing to listen and sometimes your opinion may change a little, and sometimes the other person may change a little. I think that’s sort of a Midwestern perspective,” Villanueva said.
She said she’s respectful of other people’s opinions, but will stand her ground when she needs to.
In addition to her work with NOW during her years in Springfield, Villanueva previously was employed by the Illinois Community College Trustees Association. She also was involved with numerous local organizations.
Her biography can be found on NOW’s website.
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