Joan Claybrook

Georgetown University Law Center. Between college and law school, she worked in the congressional liaison's office at the Social Security Administration for six years before moving to Washington, D.C., in 1965 to complete a fellowship with the American Political Science Association. She also briefly worked as a staffer for Senator Walter F. Mondale.^[3]

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. During her early years in Washington, D.C., she met Ralph Nader while advocating for improving highway and auto safety. In 1966, she lobbied with Nader for the successful passage of the nation's first auto safety laws: the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and the Highway Safety Act. She was also involved in efforts for stricter automobile regulations. Some of these rules, such as her mandate that speedometers read no higher than 85 miles per hour, proved unpopular with U.S. car owners and were later overturned.^[4][5] Claybrook was also a prominent advocate for the use of airbags in automobiles.^[6][7]

Consumers Union, Citizens for Tax Justice, Public Justice, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Goucher College board of trustees, and the California Wellness Foundation advisory board.^[8]