2023 Feminist State of the Union Speakers - National Organization for Women

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Young Activism

Joseline Garcia, Co-Founder & Executive Director at UN-PAC

Joseline Garcia is an older sister to two younger brothers and the proud daughter of Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants. After witnessing her loved ones and communities be constant subjects of disrespect, she began organizing campaigns in high school centered on immigration and education. Joseline believes in the vital role young people and marginalized communities have in movements. She spent over a decade strengthening the political and electoral power of these communities through big-scale, national organizing coupled with locally targeted campaigns. She is currently the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Un-PAC, a national youth organization centered on making democracy truly representative of the people so that necessary solutions can become a political reality. In the past two years, Un-PAC has: run the largest canvassing operation in the state of West Virginia, led a series of direct actions that facilitated a pivot within the U.S. Senate and White House to prioritize democracy reform, turned out young voters for pro-democracy candidates and initiatives during the 2022 Midterm Elections, and targeted universities to become pro-democracy champions. Joseline is the outcome of efforts that advocate for equity, diversity, and leadership.

Economic Justice

Dr. C. Nicole Mason, President and CEO Emeritus of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR)

Recently named one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine, Dr. C. Nicole Mason is President/CEO Emeritus of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). Having stepped into this role in November 2019, Dr. Mason was the youngest person to lead one of the major inside-the-Beltway think tanks in Washington, D.C., and one of the few women of color to do so.

As one of the nation’s foremost intersectional researchers and scholars, Dr. C. Nicole Mason brings a fresh perspective and a wealth of experience to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. For the past two decades, Dr. Mason has spearheaded research on issues relating to economic security, pay equity, poverty, women’s issues, entitlement reforms; policy formation and political participation among women and communities of color, and racial equity. Prior to IWPR, Dr. Mason was the executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, the nation’s only research and policy center focused on women of color at a nationally ranked school of public administration. She is also an inaugural Ascend Fellow at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C.

At the start of the pandemic, she coined the term she-cession to describe the disproportionate impact of employment and income losses on women. Dr. Mason is the author of Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America (St. Martin’s Press) and has written hundreds of articles on women, poverty, and economic security. Her writing and commentary have been featured in the New York Times, MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, the Washington Post, Marie Claire, the Progressive, ESSENCE, Bustle, BIG THINK, Miami Herald, Democracy Now, and numerous NPR affiliates, among others.

Voting Rights

Margaret Haung, President and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center

An advocate for human rights and racial justice for nearly three decades, Margaret Huang is the President and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which serves as a catalyst for racial justice in the U.S. South and beyond. Throughout her career, Margaret has championed social justice and human dignity, advocating an end to discrimination and oppression in all of its forms. Prior to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Margaret served as the Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, where she was responsible for leading campaigns to protect the human rights of migrants and refugees, torture survivors, gun violence victims, and activists and protestors across the globe. Ms. Huang received a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University and a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University.

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Constitutional Equality

Maya Wiley, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund

Maya Wiley is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. A nationally respected civil rights attorney, Wiley has been a litigator at the ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc., and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. She has been a program creator in philanthropy, non-profits, government, and higher education. She helped create a criminal justice program for a major foundation in South Africa. Wiley co-founded and led a national policy advocacy organization, the Center for Social Inclusion, now a part of Race Forward, a national policy strategy organization working to end structural racism. She became the first Black woman to be Counsel to a New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, where she worked to protect and expand civil rights, Minority and Women-Owned Business contracts and broadband access. Wiley became a Senior Vice President for Social Justice at the New School University, where she also founded the Digital Equity Laboratory. While there, she chaired the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). As chair, she led the release of the “hold” on proceedings against Daniel Pantaleo whose illegal chokehold killed Eric Garner, and Co-Chaired the Mayor’s School Diversity Advisory Group that authored two major reports on integrating New York City public schools. Wiley has received numerous awards, and has been a public voice for rights, justice, and democracy, through written opinion editorials and as a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.

Reproductive Justice

Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel – Legal Defense Fund

Janai S. Nelson is President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). The nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting…read full bio here.

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Special Guest

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former Secretary of State

Hillary Rodham Clinton has served as secretary of state, senator from New York, first lady of the United States, first lady of Arkansas, a practicing lawyer and law professor, activist, and volunteer—but the first thing her friends and family will tell you is that she’s never forgotten where she came from or who she’s been fighting for…read full bio here.

Host & Moderator

Christian F. Nunes, President of the National Organization for Women

Christian F. Nunes, MBA, MS, LCSW,  became NOW president in August 2020. She was previously appointed Vice President by the board in May 2019. Read full bio here