A native of Oregon, Gail Shibley was educated at the University of Oregon, Harvard University, and Lewis and Clark Law School, where she received her law degree in 2009. She served on the staff of US Representative Jim Weaver of Oregon from 1980-1986, was the Program Manager of the City of Portland's Bureau of Traffic Management from 1990-1996, and was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1991, where she served until 1997 -- the first openly lesbian or gay person to serve in the state legislature. After an unsuccessful campaign for Portland City Council in 1996, she served as the Development Director of LINK CDC in Portland from 1997-1998, the Director of External Communications at the US Dept. of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration from 1998-2000, was the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Labor from 2000-2001, International Liaison for the Saxony Parliament in Germany from 2001-2002, and was the Political Director of John Kulongoski's campaign for Oregon governor in 2001-2002. Since 2003 she has served as the administrator of Environmental Public Health for the state of Oregon.
From the guide to the Gail Shibley collection, 1990-2007, (Oregon Historical Society)
