Duke, Nellie (Nellie Dunaway), 1931-

A Georgia native, Nellie D. Duke worked for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Chief executive officer of the Georgia Commission on Women and the Georgia Woman of the Year Committee, Inc., Duke joined the Commission at its founding in 1992, and served as chair until 2000. She has also been involved with the Council on Child Abuse; Family Connections; Women's Leadership Forum; the NAACP, and the League of Women Voters. She has served as president of the American Legion Auxiliary and United Methodist Women and was a state committee member of the Women's Vote Project. A founding member of the West Georgia Women's Forum and the Georgia Women's Alliance, Duke serves on advisory committees for the Institute for Women's Policy Research and Georgia Coalition of Black Women as well as the boards of Today's Atlanta Woman magazine, Southwire Company and Possible Woman Enterprises.