Joanne Tosti-Vasey, PhD

Dr. Joanne Tosti-Vasey is an advocate of civil rights and democracy in the United States.

Having experienced firsthand discrimination and unfair pay in comparison to her male counterparts, she is an active participant in the fight to secure equal wages and overall economic justice for women in the workforce.

Her areas of interest include reproductive justice, lesbian rights, ending racism and violence against women, disability rights, historic preservation, environmental sustainability, and ensuring open, transparent governance.

Utilizing her experience in policy analysis, Dr. Tosti-Vasey has lobbied in Harrisburg and created two of the most inclusive anti-discrimination ordinances in Pennsylvania. She has successfully advocated for the creation of an inter-municipal anti-discrimination ordinance in part of Centre County as well as in Allegheny County (where Pittsburgh, PA, is located), lobbied for civil rights bills, and helped to change policies and procedures in some institutions in Pennsylvania and across the country. In 2014, she worked closely with Montana NOW to censure and remove a judge from the bench who used rape myths to hand down a 30-day sentence to a high school teacher/rapist.

She makes it a point to stay up-to-date with current events in her community and beyond through memberships with the Centre County Democratic Party, the Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association, and the Bellefonte Historic Preservation Foundation.

She is currently an elected member of the Bellefonte (PA) Borough Council. She chairs the Centre County Advisory Council to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to monitor tension, acts of bias, and potential hate crimes. And she is the Vice-President of the Bellefonte Historic Preservation Foundation.

Dr. Tosti-Vasey attributes her more than three decades of success to having a genuine concern for people and a desire to see that civil rights and equity for all are being upheld.