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Washington, D.C. (June 3, 2010) -More than 1,000 registered to nominate or become Vision 2020 National Delegates, but in the end it came down to 102 extraordinary women who will serve as chief advocates for women's leadership and equality in their home states. Nikki Jackson and Julie Pogue have been chosen as delegates for Kentucky.

Vision 2020 is a national project focused on advancing gender equality by energizing the dialogue about women and leadership. Its first public event takes place on Oct. 21-22, 2010, when a congress of national delegates, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia, will meet at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to launch an action agenda to move America toward equality by 2020, the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment. The name of the conference is Vision 2020: An American Conversation about Women and Leadership.

The national search for delegates focused on finding women who have demonstrated a commitment to helping women and girls. These delegates are willing to mobilize resources to bring about positive change and implement elements of the decade-long Vision 2020 agenda, signing on for a minimum three-year term following the conference.

Delegate nominations came from individuals and organizations across the country, including Vision 2020 National Allies, U.S. governors, senators and representatives.

Jackson was appointed by Gov. Steve Beshear to serve as Kentucky's Personnel Cabinet Secretary in December 2007. She is the youngest Cabinet Secretary and first African-American female to lead the Cabinet in Kentucky's history. Under her direction, many programs and services have been developed, including: a Journey to Wellness program to help employees take care of their health, flexible work schedules to improve employees work life balance, and several new employee recognition programs. She was also recently selected one of Business First's Forty Under 40 winners for 2009 and was profiled featured in HR Magazine's April 2010 edition.

Pogue established her own boutique real estate firm in 2003, Julie Pogue Properties. She currently serves as President of the Kentucky Women's Forum, a subsidiary of the International Women's Forum. She is a graduate of the 2009 Bingham Fellows Program and is a graduate of the 2007 Class of Leadership Louisville. Julie has also served as a top-level investor of Greater Louisville Inc. She has served as a board member for the National Association of Women Business Owners and was selected as a finalist for Louisville's 12 Business Women of the Year in 2008 and again in 2009. Pogue also serves as a board member for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the American Heart Association and the Anchorage Civic Club.

Vision 2020 is a national project of the Institute for Women's Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of Medicine focused on ensuring gender equality by energizing the dialogue about women and leadership. In 2010, Vision 2020 will develop and launch its decade-long action agenda to move America toward equality by inspiring and engaging new generations of women and men to finish the work of the suffragists, who pursued women's right to vote as fundamental to social and economic justice. The centennial of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution will be celebrated in 2020.

For more information about Vision 2020, contact Drexel's Institute for Women's Health and Leadership at vision2020@drexelmed.edu or 215-991-8830.