UN Commission on the Status of Women 2006: New U.S. Representative and Delegates

Ms. Brister, along with her husband, owned and operated a successful company for over 30 years until they recently retired. She served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for 26 years. Ms. Brister served on the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee for twelve years, and was Chair of the Republican Party of Louisiana for four years. She was appointed by the Republican National Committee Chairman as National Chairman of the State Chairmen’s Association. She served as the Chairman of Bush/Cheney 2004 in Louisiana.

The delegates appointed by the White House are Jessica L. Gavora, Patricia Paoletta, and Virginia L. Thomas.

Jessica Gavora is a Washington, D.C. writer. She was most recently the senior speechwriter for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Under Attorney General John Ashcroft, Ms. Gavora was chief speechwriter and a senior policy advisor at the Department of Justice. She has written extensively on politics, culture, and public policy under her own byline.

Patricia Paoletta is a partner with the law firm of Harris, Wiltshire and Grannis LLP. She specializes in telecommunications and technology policy, and provides advice on regulatory, legislative, and trade policy to clients before the Congress, the Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Her previous positions include service as senior advisor to the International Bureau Chief and Office Director at the FCC; Director of Telecommunications Trade Policy in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; and Majority Council to the House Commerce Committee. Ms. Paoletta has served as a delegate to various International Telecommunications Union (ITU) meetings.

Virginia Thomas is Director of the Heritage Foundation’s Executive Branch Relations. She helps to bring Heritage’s resources and ideas to the decision-makers in the Bush Administration, on various issues including tax reform, education reform, Social Security, health care, and ballistic missile defense. Her previous positions include Senior Fellow in Government Studies at Heritage; Committee Liaison for the House Majority Leader Dick Armey; Senior Policy Coordinator for the House Republican Conference Committee; and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Labor under then-Secretaries Lynn Martin and Elizabeth Dole.

In addition, the Department of State will include Tina Kareema Dauod on the U.S. delegation.

Kareema Daoud works for Under Secretary Karen Hughes on public diplomacy initiatives involving the Middle East. She is working towards a Ph.D. in Arabic Language, Literature, and Linguistics at Georgetown University, and is fluent in Arabic, German, French, and English.

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