Officers
National NOW President, Kim Villanueva
Kim Villanueva is the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), leading tens of thousands of feminist grassroots activists across the nation. She is a veteran political organizer with decades of leadership advancing equality, reproductive freedom, voting rights, and LGBTQIA+ freedoms. Her commitment to social justice is rooted in both her lived experience and family values, which center on service and political engagement. As a generational connector, Kim brings together mentors with emerging activists by leveraging the institutional knowledge she has gained from decades of advocacy.
Before becoming president of NOW, Kim served multiple terms on the NOW and NOW PAC boards and chaired NOW’s election committee from 2017 to 2022. During that time, she modernized internal election systems, implemented hybrid voting, and increased member participation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her collaborative and thoughtful leadership style reflects the values of “we, not me.” She has served on six NOW board committees: Finance, Global Feminism, LGBTQIA, Membership, Reproductive Justice, and Structure and Process. She also co-founded NOW’s Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus and organized webinars on Asian-American identity.
When Kim was president of the Illinois NOW chapter and one of the youngest state presidents elected, she grew her chapter’s membership and built bipartisan legislative coalitions, securing policy gains on sexual harassment and family/medical leave. As chair of the Illinois NOW PAC, Kim led voter registration drives and field operations that contributed to the election of Carol Moseley-Braun as the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She organized efforts for the 2013 March on Springfield for Marriage Equality and the 2018 campaign that successfully ratified the ERA in Illinois, a decades-long fight she witnessed through to its historic final vote. In reproductive rights advocacy, Kim served on the Illinois NOW committee that drafted the Freedom of Choice Act, initially dismissed as “too radical,” that became the foundation of the 2019 Illinois Reproductive Health Act, cementing abortion rights protections in state law.
As founding co-chair of the Central Illinois Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Kim provided longstanding leadership in LGBTQIA+ organizing, integrating queer visibility and inclusion throughout her political and community work. Professionally, Kim spent nearly 40 years as communications director for the Illinois Community College Trustees Association, advocating for the nation’s third-largest community college system. She has twice served as acting executive director and brings expertise in legislative advocacy, board governance, member relations, and fund development. Her additional community leadership includes serving as president of the YWCA of Springfield, president of the Springfield Area Arts Council, chair of the University of Illinois at Springfield’s Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Committee, treasurer of the Illinois Women’s Political Caucus and two terms as president of the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation, where she led a successful capital campaign for a new sanctuary.
At the national level, Kim has served multiple terms on the NOW and NOW PAC boards and chaired NOW’s election committee from 2017 to 2022. During that time, she modernized internal election systems, implemented hybrid voting, and increased member participation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her collaborative and thoughtful leadership style reflects the values of “we, not me.” She has served on six NOW Board committees: Finance, Global Feminism, LGBTQIA, Membership, Reproductive Justice, and Structure and Process. She also co-founded NOW’s Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus and organized webinars on Asian American identity.
Kim’s career is marked by consistently turning grassroots organizing into durable policy outcomes and institutional changes through collaborative leadership that emphasizes collective action. Her strategic approach and unwavering commitment have been instrumental in driving meaningful progress for the feminist movement.
National NOW Vice-President, Rose Brunache
Rose Brunache is an inclusive, millennial woman of color who brings a committed grassroots focus to her activism. She is energetic, open-minded, thinks outside of the box, and holds a strong passion for women’s rights.
The daughter of immigrants, Rose was born in Queens, New York, but grew up in the suburbs of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
After high school, she majored in economics at Temple University. She chose economics as her field of study because she wanted to understand how public policy shapes the country and the world. Her final paper explored the effects of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) on the poor and how to reform it. Her interest in the feminization of poverty continues today.
Rose moved to the Washington, DC area after graduating from Temple and has worked for various federal government agencies.