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Women & Policy - Betty Jane Narver Lecture Series
The Betty Jane Narver Memorial Lecture Series was established
to honor and recognize Betty Jane's legacy of inspired and dedicated
civic involvement, her role as a mentor to women in public service,
and to showcase the current work of women in civic leadership
and public policy positions.
The 2004 Narver Lecture
Series included...
Dedication of the Betty Jane Narver Reading Room
Deborah Jacobs
Librarian for the City of Seattle
Thursday, June 3, 2004.
About Betty Jane Narver
Betty Jane Narver was a senior research fellow at the Daniel
J. Evans School of Public Affairs. She was formerly the Director
of the Institute for Public Policy and Management, a research
unit within the Evans School. Narver's work covered education
reform efforts within Washington and nationally as well as efforts
to reform the welfare system. She conducted research on a number
of national and state programs, particularly those dealing with
social and health services, fiscal policy, and state growth
management policy.
Ms. Narver had a unique ability to bring diverse
people with often opposing viewpoints together to forge a common
ground for the public good. This unique ability often has been
called "Narverism." She made extraordinary contributions
to public education, workfoce training, growth management, criminal
justice, and other civic issues that affect all of us.
Much of Narver's later work focused on workplace
preparation, especially for traditionally underserved populations.
She was appointed by three governors to serve as Chair of the
Washington State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating
Board and was a member of the Governors' School to Work Task Force.
Narver also served as Chair of the National Governor's Association's
State Workforce Investment Board Chairs' Association. With support
from the German Marshall Fund, she lead study teams from the Pacific
Northwest to observe workforce participation programs in Germany,
Denmark and Sweden. She participated as a faculty member for the
European Institute of Workforce Development.
Ms. Narver had long involvement in city and regional
issues. She was a past president of the Municipal League of King
County, past chair of the Group Health Foundation Board, and a
member of the Education Working Committee of the Washington Roundtable.
She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Seattle Public
Library and a Board member of its Foundation. Ms. Narver received
the University of Washington's 1991 Outstanding Public Service
Award. On the national level, she served on the Boards of the
Urban Libraries Council, The Cross-City Campaign for Urban School
Reform and the National Civic League.
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