The Changemakers

Readers get a front-row seat to witness history, both before and after the enactment of the New Mexico Equal Rights Amendment, as told by the former executive director of the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women.

Part memoir, part history, The Changemakers is the story of the extraordinary changes that took place in New Mexico prior to and after the enactment of the state Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, as documented by a woman at the centre of it all. Tasia Young served as the executive director for the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women from 1975 to 1985. New Mexico was well ahead of the nation in making strides to grant women rights equal to those of men. Young witnessed firsthand the growing pains New Mexico went through after the passage of the bill, which required changes in law as well as in individual attitudes.

Full of personal anecdotes and experiences, the book is grounded in primary and secondary sources. The book reads as a fascinating who’s who of state and national politicians—many of whom were just getting their start when this important bill came up for passage. Anyone interested in equal rights, politics, and the history of New Mexico will love this fascinating account as told by a woman who not only witnessed it all, but served as an important changemaker herself.