Nan and Kris Henriksen
Nan Henriksen was the first female mayor of Camas, Washington. In this April 2024 interview with her daughter Kris, Nan tells her story. She faced gender discrimination early on that kept her from being her high school student body president and prevented her from applying to medical school, despite her strong academic performance. But she found inspiration from a deep moral responsibility instilled in her by her father. Even with the challenges of scoliosis and the pain of societal resistance, she served as mayor. Nan achieved her goal to leave her community better than she found it. Even at 82 years old, she continues to mentor local leaders to make a positive difference by working together and embracing change.
This conversation was recorded on April 13, 2024, at the Camas Public Library.
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Listen to their entire conversation on ECCA’s page on the StoryCorps website.