Harriett Woods is the Lieutenant Governor for the state of Missouri. She is the on the Executive Committee of the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors and on the Board of Directors of Democrats for the 80's. She was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1982 and 1986. Previously, Ms. Woods served as a State Senator, on the State Transportation Commission, the State Highway Commission, and on the University City City Council. Ms. Woods also served on the Governor's Task Force on Bi-State Cooperation and the Governor's Conference on Education. Woods also served as the president of the National Women’s Caucus from 1991-1995. Before beginning her career in public office, Woods was a journalist serving as a newspaper reporter and then in a pioneering position as a television moderator and public affairs director for KPLR-TV in St. Louis. She later ran her own small business as an independent film producer. In 1989, she created the Institute for Policy Leadership at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) to focus on the issues of affordable housing and homelessness and to improve the way legislators make decisions. She served on the board of the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life at UMSL. Harriett Woods died on February 8, 2007, at the age of 79.