The Women's Commission was organized by Dottie Dorion, the current U.S. representative to the International Triathlon Union Women's Committee and Judy Flannery, a former biochemist at the National Institutes of Health and mother of five, who discovered triathlon in her late 30's. Judy later went on to become a four-time world champion and six-time U.S. national age group champion and a leader in triathlon of women of all ages.

Judy, Dottie, and others worked tirelessly to see that women in triathlon were treated equally to men in the many different areas of competition (prizes, Ironman qualifier slots, etc.) Judy was famous for organizing the women delegations in trips to international competition. Dottie and her husband, George, personally financed many of the breakfasts and other activities that brought women together in the early years of our sport.

Judy, then 57, was on her bicycle with two training partners on that fateful day of April 2, 1997, when a 16-year old without a driver's license was behind the wheel of a vehicle because his father, alongside him, was drunk. The child driver swerved over the center line, smashing into Judy on her bike, and killing her instantly. Her passing brought nationwide media coverage from television, newspapers, and magazines. More than 600 people filled the church at her funeral.

For the Women's Commission, Judy's passing meant not only had we lost our founder, mentor, and the person who did nearly all of our work, but that we as a group would need to rise to fill her impossibly huge shoes!

Shepi Farrrar, then the  vice chair, took the reins and one of her first accomplishments was to shepherd the founding of the Judy Flannery Memorial Fund, a contribution-backed fund to promote the interests of women in sports. The fund sponsors a scholarship to help a master woman in need travel to participate in the world triathlon championships each year. It also funds special projects such as contributing to the production of Judy's Time, the award-winning documentary on Judy's life, produced and directed by her daughter, Erin Flannery.