Bonnie Coffey is no stranger to change.

In fact, she welcomes it.

As the director of the Lincoln-Lancaster Women’s Commission for the last 12 years, she’s worked for change, aiming to eliminate barriers she believes stand between women and success.

So Coffey is embracing the latest change to come the commission’s way — a proposal backed unanimously by the commission that would make for the largest overhaul since it started more than 30 years ago.

This change would bring a new name, new mission and a long-term strategy Coffey believes will direct the commission toward more purposeful action in a time of limited resources.

The commission, which has long focused on a broad menu of charges, will take on a single task: to use outreach, education, research and referral services to promote opportunities for all women’s financial success.

The yet-to-be-selected name will reflect that focus and communicate what the group does, said Coffey, who has dealt with occasional blank looks and questions produced by the current name.

“We don’t want people to get hung up on the name,” she said. “We want people to focus on the concept.”

The commission’s shrinking budget spurred the changes, as well as a Lancaster County Board action last year that nearly killed half of its funding, Coffey said.

An interlocal agreement between Lincoln and Lancaster County funds the commission’s annual budget.

Last May, the County Board voted to cut its contribution to the commission for the coming fiscal year — about $85,000, according to Coffey —  but reconsidered out of concern it didn’t give enough notice.

The board agreed to extend funding through June 30 this year.

“It kind of gave us pause to think about how we go about meeting the needs of women in the Lincoln-Lancaster County area,” Coffey said.

The changes remain a concept and will not become a reality until city and county leaders sign off on a new interlocal agreement.

The agreement provides for the group’s funding, which offers Coffey a reminder that despite the group’s history, its existence is not guaranteed. The group depends on the support from the city and county and that’s fine by Coffey, who said that keeps her organization operational within government where it needs to be to affect change.

The commission’s funding has taken a dip after 2004-05, according to data provided by the city’s Finance Department.

The shrinking budget, most recently at nearly $171,000, combined with escalating operational costs, has left the commission in a bit of a squeeze, Coffey said. The coming year’s budget should drop another 6 percent.

The funds cover everything from rent to office supplies and pays the salary and benefits of the commission’s staff of three, one of which only works part-time.

The proposed changes would make for the first new mission for the commission.

Since 1976, the group has focused on eliminating social, legal and economic barriers that hinder women within the workplace, their families and society in general. The group has addressed health, leadership, public policy and a host of other issues affecting women.

It will be the second time the group has changed its name, she said. In 1995, the commission adopted its present name after two-decades as the Lincoln-Lancaster Commission on the Status of Women.

The proposal also calls for reducing the commission from 15 to 11 members, who would meet quarterly rather than monthly, she said. The downsizing could be handled through attrition, she added.

The proposed changes have met approval among a majority of local leaders so far, Coffey said.

Mayor Coleen Seng, who worked alongside Coffey to craft the changes, remains supportive of the group’s efforts and wants to see the plans move forward into a new interlocal agreement they can take to county leaders, said Ann Harrell, an aide to the mayor.

A majority of the County Board also expressed interest in seeing where the new mission takes the group, though one commissioner has said he thinks the group should be privatized.

The commission’s work is “nonmandated” and the county shouldn’t direct taxpayer money to it if it ever wants to lower property taxes, said Board Chairman Bob Workman, who led the previous effort to eliminate the group’s funding.

“I’m sure what they’ve done has been appropriate,” he said, “but we have so many other items on our plate.”

But Commissioner Ray Stevens, who thinks the county should extend funding to the group for another year, disagrees. He can’t judge whether the group has made gains in recent years, but he believes the county dollars that have been put in the group’s hands have been well spent just as in any other preventative program, he said.

“What I see is that Bonnie and the organization have been effective advocates for women in the community and have done what they can to ensure that women have equitable opportunities,” he said.

Coffey is optimistic about winning a second one-year reprieve from the county, but she’s not trying to see her group’s work fitting into the confines of a one-year timeline. No one can create financially savvy women in a year, she said.

“This will not happen overnight,” she said, “but it does need to happen.”

Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.