"Served Up on the Table:" Happy International Women's Day

Women in leadership at the TDA, circa 1984. Annette Lovoi, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Administration; Kristy Ozmun, Legislative Director; Leticia Vasquez, Writer; Thressa Lockridge Ali, Director of Human Resources; Suzy Reid, Information Services Office Director; Susan DeMarco, Assistant Commissioner, Marketing; Maddie Mauldin Taylor, Director, Personnel and Staff Development Office; Vicki Scott, Assistant to the Commissioner

Deanna here, wishing you a happy International Women’s Day! This photo has always cracked me up, ever since I started working with Hightower almost 20 years ago. It’s obviously him in the middle, but who are these women sitting around the table? Turns out, they’re the leadership of the infamous revolution that was the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) in the 1980s.

I sat down with Hightower to discuss how it came about that so many women were executives and directors in the department during a time, and in a place, that likely wasn’t exactly a hotbed of feminist activism.