2026 Conference Awardees
Victoria J. Mastrobuono Awardee – Lauren Unerwood
Congresswoman Lauren Underwood has represented Illinois’ 14th Congressional District since January 2019. She is the first woman, first person of color, and first millennial elected to represent her district in Congress.
A registered nurse, Rep. Underwood has been a leading voice for maternal health equity and is the co-founder and co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus. Established to address the nation’s Black maternal health crisis and advance evidence-based policy solutions, the Caucus has grown from 53 founding members into one of the largest bipartisan caucuses in Congress, reflecting the urgency of improving maternal health outcomes and eliminating disparities.
Under Rep. Underwood’s leadership, the Caucus has been instrumental in developing and advancing the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, a comprehensive legislative package designed to address every aspect of maternal mortality, maternal morbidity, and disparities in the United States. The Momnibus includes significant investments in expanding and diversifying the perinatal workforce, strengthening data collection and research, supporting community-based organizations, and improving access to critical services such as housing, nutrition, and mental health care during and after pregnancy.
The Caucus has also achieved major legislative victories, including passage of the Protecting Moms Who Served Act, which improves maternity care for veterans. In addition, its advocacy has helped secure increased federal funding for maternal health research and initiatives, including the IMPROVE Initiative, as well as more than $200 million in federal funding for Momnibus priorities. Since 2019, these efforts have driven greater federal action to reduce severe maternal complications and improve the quality of care for women and families across the country.
Before her election to Congress, Rep. Underwood served as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she helped communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to disasters, bioterror threats, and public health emergencies. As a career public servant, she also helped implement the Affordable Care Act, expanding access to care, improving health care quality, and strengthening consumer protections in private insurance markets.
Rep. Underwood has also taught future nurse practitioners through Georgetown University’s online master’s program and worked with a Medicaid health plan in Chicago to advance high-quality, cost-effective care.
For her unwavering commitment to improving maternal health outcomes, advancing health equity, and championing policies that support women and families, the National Organization for Women proudly presents the 2026 Victoria J. Mastrobuono Award in Women’s Health to The Honorable Lauren Underwood.
ABOUT THE VICTORIA J. MASTROBUONO AWARD
Thanks to a generous bequest from Victoria J. Mastrobuono, the NOW Foundation presents the Mastrobuono Award each year to a physician, researcher, health advocate, or person of note who has made a substantial contribution to women’s health.
Ms. Mastrobuono joined NOW in 1985 and remained a faithful and generous supporter until her passing in 2009. Also, an avid patron of the arts, Mastrobuono endowed many theaters, operas, and emerging artists programs in her home state of New Jersey.
As a caring philanthropist, she made women’s health a top priority and ensured through her bequest that outstanding health care providers, researchers, and advocates will receive the recognition they deserve.
Lifetime Achievement Awardee – Elenore “Ellie” Smeal
Eleanor Smeal’s activism has helped fuel the fight for women’s rights for over fifty years. A former three-term President of NOW, she is Co-Founder and President of the Feminist Majority and its Foundation, in addition to being the Publisher of Ms. Magazine. In 2015, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and in 2025, she received the Presidential Citizens Medal, from President Biden.
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Feminist of Action Awardee – Dr. Elisabeth Potter
Dr. Elisabeth Potter is a board-certified plastic surgeon based in Austin, Texas, and one of the nation’s foremost experts in natural breast reconstruction, having performed over 3,000 DIEP flap procedures widely considered the gold standard in post-mastectomy care. The founder of RedBud Surgery Center and two nonprofits advancing healthcare access and education, she has dedicated her career to ensuring women have access to the full range of reconstructive options after their cancer journey.
In 2025, Dr. Potter became a nationally recognized voice in the healthcare crisis when her viral TikTok filmed mid-surgery while advocating for a patient drew nearly 6 million views and ignited a national debate about insurance industry overreach and patient rights. She has since appeared on NBC News, CNN, The Today Show, PBS NewsHour, and in The New York Times. Dr. Potter is a FIGS brand ambassador and Medical Advisory Board member for Living Beyond Breast Cancer, and holds a medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine and completed her microsurgery fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Woman of Vision Award – Victoria Nourse, J.D.
Being in the right place at the right time may be a good way to explain the important contribution to women’s rights that Victoria Frances Nourse, J.D., made in the mid-1990’s. Ms. Nourse is NOW’s Woman of Action Awardee. We should note that Ms. Nourse is currently the vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
As senior legislative counsel for then-Senator Joe Biden, of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Victoria was tasked to write broad-ranging legislation addressing domestic/ intimate partner violence. Ms. Nourse moved forward quickly in drafting the many important provisions of the first comprehensive and bipartisan Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence led a huge national coalition, urging thousands of activists to call their members of Congress to get VAWA adopted in 1994.
The landmark legislation was the first federal effort to strengthen the government’s response to crimes perpetrated against victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking. It supports the efforts of numerous state and local programs to protect and assist millions of survivors and their children with counseling and shelter. VAWA provides funding for thousands of local programs, providing communities with critical resources for housing, legal assistance, alternatives to criminal responses and prevention programming. VAWA established a national hotline (800-799-SAFE) to receive calls from anywhere in the U.S. from millions of individuals seeking help. VAWA is reviewed by Congress every five years to determine the effectiveness of its programs and set funding levels. There is little doubt that VAWA has saved the lives of countless family members and survivors of violence.
Victoria is currently the Ralph Whitworth Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law School. She served as clerk for Judge Edward Weinfield in the southern District of New York, later working for the law firm of Paul, Weiss Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison. She also served in the Department of Justice where she argued appeals for the Civil Division. Nourse has taught a variety of courses from constitutional law to legislation to criminal law and gender and has written textbooks and articles in each of those fields.