In 1893, Elizabeth Yates became the first woman in the British Empire to become mayor, though she held the post in Onehunga, a city now part of Auckland, for only about a year. In 1926, Margaret Magill, an openly lesbian teacher and school administrator was elected to serve on the Executive Board of the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI). She became president of the organization in 1933, and her election to that post marked the first time it had been held by a woman.