Nancylee Ziese was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on July 26, 1938, to Gale and Juanita Graham Hanson. Ziese attended Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and first became active in politics. During her time in Sioux City, she was a staunch member of the Republican Party and participated in local organizing efforts. Ziese received a master’s in Social Work from the University of Iowa and worked towards earning a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration but did not receive it.

By the late 1970s, Ziese, along with many of her fellow Iowa Republican women, began to feel alienated and outcast by the party’s move towards pro-life and anti-Equal Rights Amendment rhetoric. Ziese would keep correspondence with former Republican Party Chairperson Mary Louise Smith. Both felt conflicted with their allegiance to the party at that time. Ziese called attention to the principle of equality throughout her life, becoming an outspoken advocate for the pro-choice and women’s movements as well as ERA ratification in Iowa throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Ziese continued to support pro-choice Republican women candidates such as Iowa State Senator Maggie Tinsman.

Ziese was active in Iowa Girls’ Leadership Camp, Linn County Women’s Equality Day, and other women’s organizations. She spent much of her professional career working as an adoption specialist and an advocate for children. She also served as the Executive Director of the Professional Women’s Network, the President of the Iowa Women’s Political Caucus, the Secretary of ERA IOWA 1992, and as a member of more than thirty Boards of Directors.

Ziese would continue to support social issues for the remainder of her life, including children’s right to safety, the ratification of the ERA, and breast cancer awareness. She would often write editorials for the Cedar Rapids Gazette backing these various causes. Nancylee Ziese died on February 24, 2017, in Hiawatha, Iowa.