Congratulations to our 2021 Award Recipients
Women Making A Difference Virtual Event
March 25, 2021 6:30 PM
“There cannot be true democracy unless women’s voices are heard”
– Hillary Clinton
The Honorable Representative Kay Kha
Representative 11th Middlesex
State Representative Kay Khan has represented the upper half of Newton in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 1995. Serving the 11th Middlesex district and the City of Newton.
Representative Khan is the former House Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities. The Committee provides legislative oversight of the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Youth Services, the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Commission for the Blind, the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission. The Committee also works closely with the Department of Early Education and Care as well as the Department of Mental Health.
Representative Khan’s legislative portfolio celebrates and promotes diversity; she is an unshakable advocate for equal rights for all individuals, young and old, in the Commonwealth. Representative Khan’s legislation to ban conversion therapy was one of the fists bills signed into law during the current legislative session, thus advancing LGTBQ+ rights one-step further in the Commonwealth. Representative Khan is also proud of her A+ rating from NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts.
Representative Khan earned her bachelor’s degree from Boston University School of Nursing. Her first job as a nurse was at Boston Children’s Hospital. Following this, she became an instructor for Boston University School of Nursing undergraduate students on a pediatric rotation. She went on to earn a master’s degree in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing from Boston University, graduating with honors, and worked in a private group practice in Newton for close to 20 years.
Representative Khan is a world traveler and has visited a wide array of countries around the world. She enjoys hiking, biking, travel, arts and culture, theatre, ballet, cooking, entertaining, and spending time with her grandchildren. She serves as a Board Member of the New Philharmonia Orchestra and is a founding Board Member of the Newton Cultural Alliance.
Representative Khan has lived in Newton for more than 40 years where she and her husband raised their three children and now enjoys her seven grandchildren.
Representative Khan’s Past and Present Positions
- Co-Chair, Special Commission on Mandated Reporting of Known or Suspected Animal Cruelty, and Abuse of Children, the Elderly and Disabled Persons
- Co-Chair, Justice-Involved Women Task Force
- Member, Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Commission
- Member, Criminal Justice Reform Caucus
- Member, Child Welfare Data Reporting Task Force
- Member, Sexual Abuse Prevention Task Force
- Founder and current Co-Chair, Task Force on Justice-Involved Women and Their Children
- Former Co-Chair, Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators
- Founder and former Co-Chair, Mental Health Caucus, the first of its kind in the country
Former Co-Chair, Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators