Faces of Feminism: Strength in Diversity

Conference Agenda

Thursday, June 26
Time	Activity
3:00 pm – 8:00 pm	Registration

Friday, June 27
Time	Activity
8:30 am – 5:00 pm	Registration
8:30 am – 4:30 pm	Ask NOW Kiosk 8:30 am – 12:00 pm: Field Department 2:15 pm – 4:30 pm: Communications Department
9:00 am – 8:00 pm	Exhibitors and Vendors
9:30 am – 3:00 pm	Press Credentialing
10:00 am	Opening Plenary Welcome: Terry O’Neill, NOW President Panelists: Geraldine Salazar, Sante Fe, NW, County Clerk, Former NOW Board Member Georgene Louis, Representative, New Mexico State Legislature
10:15 am -10:30 am	Keynote Plenary Keynote Address: U.S. Representative Donna Edwards Additional Remarks: LaDonna Harris, Americans for Indian Opportunity
10:30 am – 12:00 pm	Plenary Panel Moderator: LaDonna Harris, Americans for Indian Opportunity Panelists: Avis Jones DeWeever, Incite Unlimited Kaolin, Feminist Activist Sanita Jackson, Keep Hope Alive Radio Liz Schuler, AFL-CIO Irene Vasquez, University of New Mexico
12:00 pm – 12:30 pm	Break (go get your lunch for the brown bag)
12:30 pm – 1:45 pm	Brown Bag Lunch Forum on Economic Justice Moderator: Terry O’Neill, NOW President Panelists: Annie Hill, Communication Workers of America Dara Richardson-Heron, YWCA Pramila Jayapal, We Belong Together Martha Burk, Center for Advancement of Public Policy Nancy Lopez, University of New Mexico
2:00 pm – 3:15 pm	Breakout Sessions Re-energizing the ERA and Putting Diversity at the Center Radical Relationships: Allyship and Solidarity in Social Justice Work How to Increase Support for Marriage Equality Within and Beyond Communities of Color Feminist Flicks: Saving Face
3:25 pm – 4:40 pm	Breakout Sessions Victory in Albuquerque: Building a Successful Coalition Transgender Know Your Rights Global Feminism Movement Building in the Americas Engaging Men to End Violence Against Women Feminist Flicks: LaDonna Harris: Indian 101
4:50 pm – 6:05 pm	Plenary Panel: Young Feminists at the Intersections Moderator: Chitra Panjabi, NOW Membership Vice President Panelists: Janaye Ingram, National Action Network Sandra Kim, Everyday Feminism Atima Omara, Young Democrats of America Isha Punja, NOW Club at Northwood High School Eesha Pandit, Writer/Activist
6:15 pm – 7:30 pm	Breakout Sessions Women of Color in Academia: Seeking Allies in Our Fight Against Workplace Inequality and Discrimination Proactive Policy Approaches to Advancing Reproductive Health, Justice, and Rights How to End Gender Based Discrimination in Pay and Keep the Promise of Ensuring Quality and Equity in Child Care for Working Families Building Solidarity with Latinas: Solidifying Cross Generational Strength to Further Advance the Feminist Movement Feminist Flicks: After Tiller
7:30 pm	Dinner on Your Own/Special Constituency Caucuses
8:00 pm	Regional Caucuses
8:45 pm	Open Mic Night Hosted by Albuquerque NOW
8:30 pm	Feminist Flicks Feminist: Stories from Women’s Liberation
10:00 pm	Feminist Flicks Miss Representation

Saturday, June 28
Time	Activity
7:00 am – 8:00 am	Yoga with Grace Welch
8:00 am – 9:00 am	NOW 101
8:30 am – 5:00 pm	Registration
9:00 am – 5:00 pm	Ask NOW Kiosk 9:00 am – 12:30 pm: Membership Department 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm: Government Relations Department
9:00 am – 8:00 pm	Exhibitors and Vendors
9:30 am – 3:00 pm	Press Credentialing
9:00 am – 10:15 am	Breakout Sessions Engaging All Stakeholders to Achieve Statewide Policy Changes to End Sexual Exploitation Respect the Bump: Fighting for Pregnancy Fairness at Walmart Online Organizing 201: Using the Internet to Augment Offline Activism The Lack of Emergency Contraception for Native American Women Constitutes a Human Rights Violation Walking the Walk – NOW Political Activism: Working to Elect Feminists While Staying True to Feminist Values Feminist Flicks: Mothers of Bedford
10:25 am – 11:40 am	Plenary Panel: Emerging Issues and Building the Movement Moderator: Terry O’Neill, NOW President Panelists: Monica Simpson, SisterSong Kimberly Inez McGuire, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health Miriam Yeung, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum Shireen Mitchell, National Council of Women’s Organizations Adelita Medina, Alianza-National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence
11:40 am – 12:10 pm	Break (go get your lunch for the brown bag)
12:10 pm – 1:25 pm	PAC Brown Bag Lunch Moderator: Bonnie Grabenhofer, NOW Action Vice President Panelists: Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham Patricia Ireland, National Organization for Women Kimberly Peeler-Allen, Higher Heights for America Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, National Organization for Women Christine Sierra, Southwest Hispanic Research Institute
1:35 pm – 2:50 pm	Breakout Sessions What’s up with New Mexico: Criminal Justice Involved Women in New Mexico Foresight 2020: Political Strategies for Feminist Progress The Basics for Grassroots Lobbying Religion, Race and Female Oppression Feminist Flicks: Searching 4 Sandeep
3:00 pm – 4:15 pm	Breakout Sessions Through Her Eyes: How Social Media Has and Can Continue to Facilitate Better Understanding Among Women of Color Building the Pipeline: Recruiting and Electing Young Women and Women of Color to Public Office The Spirit of Change: Working the Racial Equality Muscle Economic Independence for Survivors of Domestic Violence: We Can Make One Billion Rising Feminist Flicks: 1912: Breaking the Silence
4:25pm – 5:40 pm	Issues Hearings Emerging & Other Issues Reproductive Rights & Justice Economic Justice Ending Violence Against Women
5:50 pm – 7:05 pm	Issues Hearings Racial Justice LGBT Rights Constitutional Rights Disibility Rights
7:15 pm – 8:15 pm	Bylaws Discussion Forum
8:15 pm	Dinner on Your Own
8:45 pm	PAC Reception & Dance Party Musical Guests: Hotflashes
8:30 pm	Feminist Flicks ANITA: Speaking Truth to Power
10:00 pm	Feminist Flicks Girls Rising

Sunday, June 29
Time	Activity
7:00 am – 8:00 am	Yoga with Grace Welch
8:30 am – 3:00 pm	Registration
9:00 am – 3:00 pm	Exhibitors and Vendors
8:00 am – 11:30 am	Consideration of Bylaws Amendments
11:30 am – 12:30 pm	Lunch on Your Own
12:30 pm – 3:00 pm	Resolutions

 

Speakers

Donna Edwards
Congresswoman, MD-4

Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards represents Maryland’s 4th Congressional District, comprising portions of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties and is the first African American woman to represent Maryland in Congress.

Congresswoman Edwards has enjoyed a diverse career as a nonprofit public interest advocate and in the private sector on NASA’s Spacelab project. In 1994, as co-founder and executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, she led the effort to pass the Violence Against Women Act that was signed into law by President Clinton.

Since being sworn in, Congresswoman Edwards has secured a number of legislative accomplishments to improve the lives of working families in her Congressional District and around the country. Her first act as a Member of Congress was to add Maryland to the Afterschool Suppers Program, ensuring access to nutritional suppers to afterschool and youth development programs in schools located in low-income areas. During the health care debate, Congresswoman Edwards secured a provision that holds insurance companies accountable for unjustifiable rate increases.

Congresswoman Edwards has introduced legislation to expand research and development, domestic manufacturing, and infrastructure spending to create jobs and grow our economy. She was also the first Member of the House to introduce and champion a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.

Michelle Lujan Grisham
Congresswoman, NM-1

Michelle Lujan Grisham was elected to 113th Congress in New Mexico’s First District in November 2012. Public service comes easily to her, a twelfth generation New Mexican who has dedicated her life to serving her community, fighting for seniors and building an economy that works for all New Mexicans. As an attorney, Michelle fought to protect seniors from scam artists, safeguard them from abuse and neglect, and helped them to remain in their homes. Later, during her tenure as head of the New Mexico Department of Health, she fought to require public health facilities to meet the same high standards as private sector facilities. Elected in 2010 as a Bernalillo County Commissioner, Michelle hit the ground running, leading efforts to bring more transparency and accountability to county government and sponsoring new ethics standards for county officeholders, contractors, and staff. Michelle currently serves on the House Committee on Agriculture, the House Committee on the Budget and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the 113th Congress.

Elizabeth Schuler
Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO

Elizabeth “Liz” Shuler became the first woman ever elected Secretary Treasurer of the AFL-CIO when she was voted into office by acclamation at the Federation’s 26th convention on September 16, 2009. Ms. Shuler also became the youngest officer ever elected, rising through the ranks from her first union position in Local 125 of the IBEW in Portland, OR.

From her earliest days on the job in Portland, Liz displayed a commitment to excellence and professionalism that helped her succeed in all she undertook, often against daunting odds.

Shuler is active with many women’s causes. She is a member of the boards of the Women’s Campaign Fund, a bipartisan fundraising organization that aims to boost the number of women holding public office; Women’s Policy Inc., the caucus organization for women members of Congress; and the National Women’s Law Center. She also volunteered for many years with the International Women’s Democracy Center, an organization that sponsors mentoring programs encouraging women to run for office and seek change in countries overseas.

Shuler also represents the AFL-CIO on various boards and committees, such as the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust; the Alliance for Retired Americans; the Solidarity Center; and the Women’s Committee of the International Trade Union Confederation.

Sandra Kim
Founder & CEO, Everyday Feminism

Sandra Kim is the Founder and CEO of Everyday Feminism. One of the fastest growing online feminist platforms, it works to address the everyday violence, discrimination, and marginalization people face due to their gender, sexual orientation, race, class, size, and other social differences. Through our online magazine, forum, and online courses, we help people apply feminism to their real lives. In under two years, Everyday Feminism has built a monthly readership of 500,000 people, has over 5,000 forum users, and served over 800 course members. She’s also the course leader for the Everyday Self-Love and Relationship Course, which helps people free themselves from toxic messages and learn how to be loving toward themselves and others. Sandra brings an inside-out approach to feminism because she believes personal transformation and social transformation are interdependent. She’s also pioneering an innovative online business model for feminism and social justice to make this work sustainable for activists.

Sandra brings a wide range of approaches and skills to Everyday Feminism from her experience on the front lines in the fight against human trafficking and in the social innovation and capacity-building field from her work at Polaris, Ashoka, and the Management Assistance Group (MAG). Sandra is also a trained life coach from the Coaches Training Institute. In her volunteer time, she has worked with sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, people involved in gangs, and landless rural workers. She is also currently a board member of the Brown Boi Project and on the advisory board of FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture.

Patricia Ireland
Advisory Committee Co-Chair, National Organization for Women

As the longest-serving president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) from 1991 to 2001, Patricia Ireland helped move NOW to the forefront of the political scene, build a strong, effective women’s movement and establish herself as a groundbreaking activist. Patricia emerged as one of the most influential feminist leaders in this country and a leading figure in the world-wide feminist movement.

Patricia found her calling when she confronted discrimination as a flight attendant for Pan American World Airline. Patricia credits NOW’s help and federal affirmative action laws for her success in winning equal health benefits at Pan Am. She saw law as a powerful tool for positive change and enrolled in law school while continuing to fly internationally, earning her law degree in 1975.

Widely recognized as a key player in improving social and economic conditions for women, Patricia is especially adept at challenging people to make the connections between women’s rights and other human rights issues. A hallmark of her work has been to forge stronger links among the feminist, antipoverty, civil rights, disability, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movements.

LaDonna Harris
President, Americans for Indian Opportunity

LaDonna Harris, President of Americans for Indian Opportunity, is a remarkable statesman and national leader who has enriched the lives of thousands. She has devoted her life to building coalitions that create change. She has been a consistent and ardent advocate on behalf of Tribal America. In addition, she continues her activism in the areas of civil rights, environmental protection, the women’s movement and world peace.

As a national leader, Harris has influenced the agendas of the civil rights, feminist, environmental and world peace movements. She was a founding member of Common Cause and the National Urban Coalition and is an ardent spokesperson against poverty and social injustice. As an advocate for women’s rights, she was a founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus. In 1980, as the Vice Presidential nominee on the Citizens Party ticket with Barry Commoner, Harris firmly added environmental issues to that and future presidential campaigns. Her influence now reaches to the international community to promote peace as well. She was an original member of Global Tomorrow Coalition, the U.S. Representative to the OAS Inter-American Indigenous Institute.

Santita Jackson
Radio Host, Network Television Commentator, & Acclaimed Singer

The host of the top-rated “Santita Jackson Show” on Chicago’s WVON-AM, the nation’s leading urban talk radio station, she tackles topics of political, social, cultural and religious import five days a week. She is also the Executive Producer, Writer and co-host of the nationally-syndicated KEEP HOPE ALIVE with REV. JESSE JACKSON radio show. A writer, she is a founding contributor to theGrio, the MSNBC website dedicated to African American news and opinion.

Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and reared in Chicago, Illinois, as a young child, Santita had a passion for academics and music. Recognizing her nascent talent, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway gifted her with a Steinway piano at the tender age of eight. As a high school senior, Santita won the prestigious National Merit-Achievement Scholarship. Having tendered offers from Spelman College, Yale University and Harvard University, Santita accepted a full academic scholarship to Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Radio talk show host, network television commentator, writer, television and radio show producer, and acclaimed singer — Santita Jackson has a career that is vast in range and depth. It is her hope that she can use these gifts to bless and serve.

Terry O’Neill
President, National Organization for Women

Terry O’Neill, a feminist attorney, professor and activist for social justice, was elected president of NOW in June 2009. She is also president of the NOW Foundation and chair of the NOW Political Action Committees, and serves as the principal spokesperson for all three entities. O’Neill oversees NOW’s multi-issue agenda, which includes: advancing reproductive freedom, promoting diversity and ending racism, stopping violence against women, winning lesbian rights, ensuring economic justice, ending sex discrimination and achieving constitutional equality for women.

O’Neill’s feminist activism began in the 1990s, fighting right-wing extremists in the Deep South, including David Duke. She has served as president of Louisiana NOW and New Orleans NOW and as a member of the National Racial Diversity Committee. She is a past president of Maryland NOW and served on the NOW National Board twice, representing the Mid-South Region (2000-2001) and the Mid-Atlantic Region (2007-2009). O’Neill was NOW’s membership vice president from 2001 to 2005, when she oversaw NOW’s membership development program as well as finances and government relations.

A former law professor, O’Neill taught at Tulane in New Orleans and at the University of California at Davis, where her courses included feminist legal theory and international women’s rights law, in addition to corporate law and legal ethics. She has testified before committees in the Maryland House of Delegates and has written federal amicus briefs on abortion rights for Louisiana NOW, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union.

O’Neill is a skilled political organizer, having worked on such historic campaigns as Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and the campaign leading to the election of Louisiana’s first woman U.S. senator, Mary Landrieu. She also worked to elect women’s rights supporters to judgeships and the state legislature in Louisiana, as well as the successful campaign to elect former Maryland NOW president and NOW National Board member Duchy Trachtenberg to the Montgomery County (MD) Council.

Avis Jones DeWeever
Founding President & CEO, Incite Unlimited, LLC

Dr. Avis A. Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D. is the Founding President & CEO of Incite Unlimited, LLC, a consulting firm devoted to the principle of moving great ideas to effective action. An accomplished scholar, writer, and public speaker, Dr. Jones-DeWeever is an authority on race, gender and the economy, poverty, inequality of educational and economic opportunity, and issues of privilege, power, and policy in the U.S. Her forthcoming book is Black Women Lead: Owning Your Power, Living Your Purpose, Exceptional Leadership in the Boardroom and Beyond. A sought-after political commentator, Dr. Jones-DeWeever’s policy perspectives appear in numerous media outlets including: CNN, PBS, TV One, BET News, ABC News, National Public Radio, Glamour Magazine, Clutch Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Grio, and Vital Speeches of the Day. Dr. Jones-DeWeever is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Virginia State University and holds a Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is a member of the Black Women’s Roundtable and serves on the Board of Directors of the Voter Participation Center and Women’s Voices. Women Vote Action Fund. She also serves as an Affiliated Scholar with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the Women of Color Policy Network.

Kimberley Inez McGuire
Director of Public Affairs, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health

Kimberly serves as the Director of Public Affairs at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, where she directs the communications activities of NLIRH and advocates for salud, dignidad, y justicia (health, dignity, and justice) for the nation’s more than 26 million Latinas, their families and communities. Kimberly is a reproductive justice leader and queer Latina with nearly a decade of experience in government relations, movement building, and strategic communications. Kimberly develops and implements intersectional policy change and culture shift campaigns focused on restoring insurance coverage for abortion, reproductive health equity, and promoting health and human rights for immigrant women. Previously, she held a position as Senior Associate for Programs and Policy at the Reproductive Health Technologies Project, where she coordinated groundbreaking research on Latino attitudes on abortion and served on the Oral Contraceptives Over-the-Counter Working Group. A frequent writer, presenter, and spokesperson on reproductive health and justice, Kimberly has been featured and quoted in national media, including The Washington Post, NBC Latino, Fox News Latino, Color Lines, Dissent, and ThinkProgress. Kimberly earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Hampshire College and is studying to become a birth doula. Follow Kimberly on Twitter

Bonnie Grabenhofer
Action Vice President, National Organization for Women

Bonnie Grabenhofer is a dedicated feminist who balanced a highly successful consulting career with her extensive volunteer work in the women’s movement. She has been involved with NOW at the local, state and national levels in numerous capacities. She was elected executive vice president in June 2009 and action vice president in 2013.

Grabenhofer supervises the Government Relations, Field, and Internal Operations Departments. As Action Vice President she supervises NOW’s chapter development program and national action campaigns such as the campaign for marriage equality including support for the federal Respect for Marriage Act and state legislation and ballot initiatives. She supervises the integration of NOW’s policy and field work to ensure the advancement of NOW’s agenda. As director of the NOW/PAC, she works with NOW state organizations, candidates, and the NOW/PAC to shepherd hundreds of federal endorsements through NOW’s grassroots endorsement process and oversees NOW’s projects to send NOW activists to key states to work on elections.

Grabenhofer has served as president and several other positions in her local chapter and also served as president of Illinois NOW, chair of the Illinois NOW PAC, and represented the Great Lakes region on the National NOW board from 2002 to 2004. During her presidency, Illinois NOW introduced reproductive justice legislation and began a successful telemarketing campaign. She is passionate about electoral politics and used her organizing expertise in many elections, including Hillary Clinton for president and Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun’s historic campaign to become the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She led the grassroots support for the fiercely contested opening of the Aurora, Illinois Women’s Health Clinic, generating significant media which earned her recognition as the “Face of 2007″ in the Beacon News.

Pramila Jayapal
Chair, We Belong Together

Pramila Jayapal is a leading national advocate for immigrant, civil and human rights. Born in India and raised in India, Indonesia and Singapore, Pramila has worked for over 20 years in international and domestic social justice. In May 2013, Pramila was recognized by President Barack Obama as a White House Champion of Change. Pramila is the founder and former Executive Director of OneAmerica, Washington state’s largest immigrant advocacy organization. She has led a successful nationwide class action against the Federal government to prevent the deportation of 5,000 Somalis, led the largest voter registration of new citizens in Washington state, and built coalitions that include business, labor unions, faith, government and law enforcement organizations. In 2012 she left OneAmerica to become co-chair of We Belong Together, a national campaign to engage women in immigration reform. Pramila believes in connecting grassroots organizing to policy change with an ultimate goal of building power amongst immigrant communities and people of color who are often not represented fully in our democracy. Pramila is a sought-after speaker, has appeared on television and radio, and writes regularly for publications including Reuters, The Nation and Crosscut. She is a Distinguished Taconic Fellow at the Center for Community Change and a Distinguished Fellow at the University of Washington Law School.

Janaye Ingram
Acting National Executive Director, National Action Network

Janaye Ingram is the Acting National Executive Director of National Action Network (NAN), whose founder and president is Rev. Al Sharpton. Janaye oversees NAN’s action agenda and legislative advocacy on numerous issues including education, criminal justice, housing, technology, economic development and healthcare. She was a lead organizer of the “National Action to Realize the Dream Rally and March” in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. Janaye is a recognized voice on politics and activism with a weekly blog on Loop21.com, a weekly segment on the syndicated radio show, “Keepin’ It Real with Rev. Al Sharpton” and appearances and features in other media including MSNBC, TVOne’s “Washington Watch with Roland Martin”, The Huffington Post and TheGrio.com. Janaye is a founder of Ambassadors of Hope, a scholarship and involvement campaign, serves on the National Board of the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network and the Editorial Board of emPower Online Magazine (and is a mentor for Brown Girls Lead. Janaye holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Clark Atlanta University and a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from The New School University. She is a graduate of the National Urban Fellows America’s Leaders of Change executive leadership program and a Fellow of the Give1 Project.

Annie Hill
Secretary-Treasurer, Communications Workers of America

Annie Hill was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Communications Workers of America on July 11, 2011, by delegates to the Union’s 73rd Convention.

With the CWA President, Hill works to advance the membership’s top priorities and initiatives.

Hill has been a leader in CWA since her earliest days as a union member. Most recently, she has served for three years as CWA Vice President for District 7, representing workers in 14 states. She was elected to that post in 2005.

As Vice President, Hill bargained critical contracts for members at Qwest Communications, among other employers, and put in place new structures in the district to better represent members across that region.

Hill also was a member of the executive board committee on diversity which was created to help give persons of color, women and local union leaders a greater voice on the executive board committee on diversity which was created to help give persons of color, women and local union leaders a greater voice on the executive board. That measure was adopted by convention delegates in 2007.

She joined CWA in December 1976 as an outside technician for Pacific Northwest Bell, and was elected to two terms as president of Local 7904 in Salem, Oregon. She joined the District staff in Minneapolis in 1990. She went on to serve as an administrative assistant to the Vice President in 1994, then assistant to the Vice President in 1999, and then Executive Vice President in 2008.

Dara Richardson-Heron
CEO, YWCA

Dara Richardson-Heron, M.D. is the CEO of the YWCA USA, leading one of the nation’s oldest and largest multicultural organizations for women and girls. Richardson-Herron oversees the YWCA’s national operations and leads the development and implementation of innovative, value-added supports for the 229 YWCA local associations throughout the country that offer community-based services in over 1,300 locations. She also represents the organization on Capitol Hill, at the White House, and in the media. The YWCA USA is dedicated to eliminating racism and empowering women, advocating for women’s economic advancement, racial justice and health equity. The organization is also the largest provider of domestic violence services and women’s shelters in the nation, serving 500,000 women and children annually. Richardson-Heron has been honored with numerous awards, including the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers, Woman of Excellence in Philanthropy and “25 Influential Black Women in Business.” In 2013, she was named one of the “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” by Women’s eNews and was also listed on The Nonprofit Times “Power & Influence Top 50” list. Richardson-Heron received her Doctorate in Medicine from New York University School of Medicine and her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology at Barnard College of Columbia University. She also completed a Human Resources Executive Program at the University of Michigan.

Eesha Pandit
Writer/Activist

Eesha Pandit is a writer and activist – her writing can be found at The Crunk Feminist Collective, The Nation, Feministing, Salon, RH Reality Check, Feministe and In These Times. She most recently worked as Executive Director of Men Stopping Violence, a social change organization dedicated to ending men’s violence against women. She’s also served as as Women’s Rights Manager at Breakthrough, a global human rights organization. At Breakthrough Eesha worked on the Bell Bajao! (Ring the Bell!) Campaign that asks men and boys to take action, get involved and help end violence against women. Previously, Eesha served as Director of Advocacy at Raising Women’s Voices (RWV). RWV is a national initiative working to make sure women’s voices are heard and women’s concerns are addressed as policymakers put the new health reform law into action. At RWV, Eesha coordinated a national field network of 22 state-based regional coordinators working to include women’s health access in local, state and national policy efforts. Eesha has also served as Associate Director of Programs at the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program at Hampshire College where she coordinated the organization’s New Leadership Networking Initiative and the Reproductive Rights Activist Service Corps. She’s worked with the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University, and Amnesty International USA’s Women’s Rights Program. Eesha currently serves on the board of the National Network of Abortion Funds. She has a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and an M.A. from the University of Chicago.

Kimberly Peeler-Allen
Co-Founder, Higher Heights for America

A highly skilled political fundraiser and event planner, Kimberly Peeler-Allen is respected as the only African American full-time fundraising consultant in New York State.

After completing the 2002 gubernatorial campaign of H. Carl McCall where she served as the deputy finance director, Kimberly founded her New York City-based consulting firm to help develop capital for clients, organizations, and issues affecting people of color that have historically been kept outside of the mainstream. She built her company to help ensure that systemic change would be created for the causes in which she believes.

Peeler Allen Consulting, LLC has raised in excess of $10 million for its clients. As finance director on major political campaigns, Kimberly also provides overall vision and tactical strategy for fundraising operations.

In 2010, Kimberly was named to the Crain’s New York Business 40 Under 40 list as well as named one of The Feminist Press’ 40 Under 40: The Future of Feminism.

Kimberly took her commitment to women candidates and candidates of color one step further. In 2011, she founded with Glynda Carr, Higher Heights for America, a nation organization seeking to elevate Black women’s voices to shape and advance progressive policies and politics.

Kimberly’s work on political campaigns has continued and she most recently served as Finance Director for Letitia James’ successful bid to become Public Advocate of the City of New York and the first African American woman elected city-wide in New York’s history.

Kimberly currently makes her home in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband and daughter.

Chitra Panjabi
Membership Vice President, National Organization for Women

Chitra Panjabi is an intersectional feminist activist with a professional background in non-profit management and fundraising. Panjabi was elected membership vice president in 2013 in an uncontested election. She joins a small group of national officers elected prior to their 30th birthday.

Raised in Hong Kong, Panjabi’s parents were immigrants from India. Prior to moving to the United States in 2008, she lived in the United Kingdom for four years. Due to her experiences of living as a minority in three diverse countries, she has seen firsthand how discrimination and inequality persist worldwide, and has thus committed herself to the fight for equality. The lessons she learned from her upbringing inspire her daily to transcend boundaries and borders in fighting the intersecting oppressions that women face.

Panjabi has served as president of 51st State NOW and as a leader of the DC NOW chapter. She played a vital role in revitalizing the anniversary programming for Roe v. Wade, expanding the event from a small vigil to a large activist celebration which has become a cornerstone of DC NOW’s annual actions. She has extensive experience working in a variety of capacities at progressive non-profit organizations, including South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT); The Women’s Foundation in Hong Kong; and the Sewall-Belmont House & Museum in Washington, DC.

Panjabi holds a bachelor’s degree from King’s College London, a master’s degree in international journalism from City University, London, and a master’s degree in women’s studies from George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Atima Omara
President, Young Democrats of America

Atima Omara is a recognized leader and speaker on engaging youth, women, and people of color in the political process. She is the first African American and the fifth woman President of the Young Democrats of America (YDA), the nation’s largest youth partisan organization, in YDA’s 82 year history. Atima oversees the day-to-day operations, fundraising, and strategic planning of an organization with 150,000 members, 46 state chapters, and over 2300 local chapters. As President, she also sits on the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) Executive Committee and serves as Secretary of the DNC Youth Council.

Outside of the Young Democrats of America, Atima is an active member of local, state, and national women’s organizations as a board member of Emerge Virginia, the DC Abortion Fund and Planned Parenthood Metro Washington. Atima has also served as a state officer of the Virginia Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and a founder and Co-Chair of National NOW’s Young Feminist Task Force.

Atima grew up in Richmond, Virginia and graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in American Studies and Foreign Affairs and received a Masters Degree in Public Administration at George Mason University in Virginia.

Martha Burk
Co-Founder, Center for Advancement of Public Policy

Martha Burk is a political psychologist and women’s issues expert who is co-founder of the Center for Advancement of Public Policy, a research and policy analysis organization in Washington, D.C. She serves as the Money Editor for Ms. magazine, and is a syndicated newspaper columnist and frequent blogger for Huffington Post. In January 2012 she launched a new national show on public radio, “Equal Time with Martha Burk.” Her latest book Your Voice, Your Vote: The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Power, Politics, and the Change We Need (2012) is a Ms. magazine book selection. The 2008 edition won NM Book award for best political book of 2008..

Burk is a frequent speaker on women’s issues, civil society, and the role of media in shaping public discourse. She is an active contributor to the Journalism and Women Symposium, and holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her background includes experience as a university research director, management professor, and advisor to political campaigns and organizations.

Dr. Burk has long been active in public debate and political analysis. She has provided briefing papers for presidential candidates, including Bill Bradley, Wesley Clark, and Howard Dean, and has worked closely with members of the United States Congress on issues of importance to women. She most recently served as a Senior Adviser for Women’s Issues to Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, where she developed a ground-breaking national model on gender pay equity.

Monica Simpson
Executive Director, SisterSong

Monica Raye Simpson is a native of North Carolina, and a proud graduate of Johnson C. Smith University, one of the country’s historical black universities. Her decision to come out as a same-gender loving woman while attending college led her to become deeply involved in LGBT organizing on and off campus. Upon graduation, she was hired as the first person of color at the Lesbian & Gay Community Center in Charlotte. She has served in various capacities at SisterSong since 2010 and is currently its Interim Executive Director. Before joining SisterSong, Monica was the Ujamaa Coordinator for Grassroots Leadership where she trained young African Americans in philanthropy, fundraising, and activism. Monica is a nationally sought-after facilitator and organizer. She has been featured in numerous publications and has written articles on LGBT issues, philanthropy and activism. Monica is a founder of Charlotte’s first Black Gay Pride Celebration, and Charlotte’s African American Giving Circle. She also sits on the board of Resource Generation and the Fund for Southern Communities. Living by the Paul Robeson quote “If the artist does not create, the world suffers,” Monica uses her talents of song and spoken word in the community, for example in the Atlanta production of “For Colored Girls.” Her first solo album is “All About LOVE.”

Miriam Yeung
Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum

Miriam W. Yeung, Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), guides the country’s only national, multi-issue, progressive organization dedicated to social justice and human rights for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls. With chapters in 13 cities, NAPAWF’s priorities include winning rights for immigrant women, reproductive justice, and conducting community-based participatory research with young AAPI women. NAPAWF leads coalitions such as We Belong Together (with the National Domestic Workers’ Alliance) organizing women for common sense immigration policy reform, as well as a broad coalition of groups educating the public about the racist underpinnings of so-called “sex selection” abortion restrictions. Miriam is a sought after public speaker and is published on new media including Huffington Post and RH Reality Check, and in print in Medical Issues, The Shriver Report, and A New Queer Agenda. Miriam has received recognition from the National Council for Research on Women, the New York City Council, and ChoiceUSA. Born in Hong Kong and raised in the projects of Brooklyn, Miriam is a proud queer Asian-American immigrant committed to social justice and raising her two young daughters to be fearless. Miriam holds a master’s degree in public administration from Baruch College and a bachelor’s degree from New York University.

Dr. E. Faye Williams
Speaker, Activist, Attorney, Author

An expert on politics, women’s rights, foreign a¬ffairs, human rights and diversity, Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. is a woman of many trades and talents. She is National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women (NCBW) and PRESIDENT/CEO of Natural Health Options (NHO) where she acquired the exclusive rights to natural products created by Dr. George Washington Carver; she continues to be a leader in the women’s movement and catalyst for social change

Dr. Williams has been in the forefront of social change for decades. She demonstrated her expertise in Politics during the 2008 Presidential election, where she was a surrogate for the“OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT” Campaign and is now a “PRESIDENTIAL PARTNER” who works with the Administration on many subjects. During the campaign, she was a highly sought after rally program speaker and debater and she traveled throughout the country for numerous campaign events.

Appointments and Accomplishments:

• 2009-2016 Obama Administration Presidential Apppointee (Commissioner -Presidential Scholars Commission)
• National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women (NCBW)
• Respected Attorney, and
• Author, “The TRUTH, Shall Set You Free.”

Nancy Lopez
Associate Professor of Sociology, University of New Mexico

Nancy López (nlopez@unm.edu), Ph.D., is associate professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico. She directs and co-founded the Institute for the Study of “Race” and Social Justice, housed at the RWJF Center for Health Policy. López’s scholarship, teaching and service is guided by the insights of intersectionality and the importance of understanding the “racialized-gendered social determinants of health.” Dr. López co-edited a volume entitled, Mapping “Race”: Critical Approaches to Health Disparities Research (Rutgers, 2013).  The paper in this volume were part of a NIH-funded workshop that convened multidisciplinary scholars from the social sciences and the health sciences as well as from diverse empirical traditions. A central theme of the volume is that “race” is as a multidimensional and multilevel social construction has profound methodological implications for health disparities research and policy. Her book, Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys: Race and Gender Disparity in Urban Education (Routledge, 2003) focuses on Dominicans, West Indians, and Haitians to explain why girls are succeeding at higher rates than boys. The daughter of Dominican immigrants, Dr. López was born and raised in New York City Baruch Public Housing in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In 1987 she graduated from Washington Irving H.S., the last large public vocational high school for girls. Spanish is her first language.

Shireen Mitchell
Chair, National Council of Women’s Organizations and Director, Digital Sisters

Shireen is the founder and Executive Director of Digital Sisters/Sistas, Inc. a non-profit organization focused on using media and technology to access self-sufficiency tools for women and children who are traditionally underserved. Shireen has twenty years of technology, human services, and non profit experience. She has combined information and communication technologies (ICT) with policy, advocacy, and education to support underserved communities.

Shireen works to promote equity and access for women as the Co-Chair of the Media and Technology Taskforce of the National Council of Women’s Organizations. She is also the Chair and has served as the Younger Women’s Taskforce Co-Chair.

As an author she has written “Gaining Daily Access to Science and Technology” in the book 50 Ways to Improve Women’s Lives and “Access to Technology: Race, Gender, Class Bias” in the publication The Scholar and Feminist Online. Shireen has written articles including “What Does Tech Have to Do with Women’s Rights” and continues to blog about women, tech, policy, and media issues.

Isha Punja
Teen Coordinator, NOW Orange County High School Clubs

Isha Punja is 17 years old and a junior at Northwood High School in Irvine California. As a sophomore in high school, Isha started the only NOW club in  Orange County, California.  Isha volunteers as the teen coordinator for NOW Orange County high school clubs and mentors other teens who want to start NOW clubs. In addition to her interest in women’s rights, Isha was one of the five runners that led her high school to a fifth place finish at the California State Cross Country Championships. As a runner with asthma, Isha’s  determination helped her overcome challenges — a message  she shares with other girls. She is an honors student with a 3.9 GPA, and plans to become a doctor, lawyer or business woman. She wants to inspire girls to dream big and believe in themselves. In her spare time Isha loves creating trendy attire from discarded clothing, playing with her dog Rocky and baking cookies.

Irene Vasquez
Director, Chicano Hispanic Mexicano Studies Program at the University of New Mexico

Irene Vásquez received her Ph.D. from the History Department at the University of California, Los Angeles. Currently, she is Director of the Chicano Hispano Mexicano Studies Program at the University of New Mexico. She is an Associate Professor in American Studies.

Irene Morris Vásquez’ research and teaching interests include Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Afro-Mexican/Latino relations, U.S. Social Movements, Women of Color Feminism, and Intercultural Collaboration and Peace Building. Presently, she is co-authoring a book on the Chicana/o Movement entitled, Aztlan Making: The Chicana/o Movement: Ideology and Culture, 1966-1977. She has written several essays in English and Spanish on the historic and contemporary relations between African Americans and Latin American descent peoples. In 2006, Irene Vásquez co-edited the Borders Within Us: Three Global Diasporas, published by New World African Press.

In the area of K-12 Education service, Irene Vásquez has served as a co-founder and Council of Trustees member for Academia Semillas del Pueblo, a public charter school located in El Sereno, California. In 2005, she was appointed to the Mayor’s Education Advisory Council for the City of Los Angeles.

Adelita Medina
Executive Director, Alianza-National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence

Ms. Medina has more than 30 years of experience working in a wide-range of fields in both the private and public sectors. She has worked as head administrator for numerous non-profit organizations at the local and national levels in New Mexico, New York City, and Washington, DC, as well as for the State of New Mexico and City of New York. Before her first stint at Alianza, Ms. Medina was a private consultant for several years, and in that capacity helped raise funds for various non-profit organizations serving women, children and families, including several that addressed domestic violence. She worked for the Sister Fund as editor of its newsletter and for the Ms. Foundation for Women, where she was a Program Officer in charge of the Women’s Safety and Girls Empowerment areas.

Throughout her career, Ms. Medina has been a keynote speaker at various local, state, and national forums and conducted various training workshops both within and outside the domestic violence field. She has also published numerous articles on a variety of topics ranging from worker, immigrant, veterans’ and women’s rights, to women’s health & safety, business, and arts and culture.
She holds an M.S. degree in Journalism from Columbia University’s School of Journalism and a B.A. in English and Art from New Mexico Highlands University. She lived and worked in New York City for 30 years and returned to her native New Mexico in December 2004. She has one son, one grandson, and one granddaughter.

Christine Sierra
Director, Southwest Hispanic Research Institute at the University of New Mexico

A member of the UNM faculty since 1986, Professor Christine Sierra teaches and researches in the field of American politics with a focus on race, ethnicity, and gender. Her publications include work on Mexican American activism on immigration policy, Hispanic politics in New Mexico, and the politics of Latina women in the United States. Sierra has been a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, the University of Arizona, and the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. As an expert in American and Latino/a politics, she appears frequently in local and national media outlets. During presidential elections, she has also appeared in the international press, including Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), Libération (Paris), Carta Capital (Sao Paulo), Suddeutsche Zeitung (Munich), Franfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Frankfurt), Neue Zurcher Zeitung (Zurich), and the Asahi Shimbun (Japan).

During the Clinton administration, she served as a presidential appointee to the Good Neighbor Environmental Board, which advised the President and Congress on environmental and infrastructure needs of the U.S.-Mexico border region. More recently, she was a member of the Immigration Policy Roundtable co-sponsored by the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University and the Brookings Institution.

Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun
Advisory Committee Co-Chair, National Organization for Women

In 1992, Carol Moseley Braun made the leap to the national political arena: She ran for the Illinois seat in the U.S. Senate, looking to unseat incumbent Democratic Senator Alan Dixon in the Democratic primary. Up against a seasoned politician who had spent decades in office, Braun appeared to be the underdog. But many responded to Braun as a chance for political change. Although she had tough opposition from her Republican opponent, she was endorsed by NOW PAC and had NOW activists working with her campaign. She won the election, becoming the first African-American woman to win election to the U.S. Senate. As a senator, Braun tackled many issues, including women’s rights and civil rights. She served as the first permanent female member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee. Moseley Braun served as Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. Ambassador Braun is a former candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. After nearly 30 years of public service, Ambassador Braun transitioned to the private sector and started an organic foods company called Good Foods Organics.

Kaolin
Feminist Activist

In 1991 Kaolin moved to Seattle and legally adopted her present name but was born Patricia Anne Graham in Brooklyn, NY in 1951, Kaolin married George Allen Williams, an African American gentleman, in 1970 and they have two adult children. Over her career, Kaolin has worked in the Arts, politics and taught in pre-schools. She has been a substitute teacher in elementary, middle and high schools and she has worked in a residential treatment center for children and young adults ages seven thru twenty-two. Kaolin received her B.A. degree summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2000. Her second book, Protocol: Welcome to Paradise, Watch Your Step co-authored by Henry White will be launched in the Fall of ’14.

 

Workshops

Re-energizing the ERA and Putting Diversity at the Center

A renewed interest in securing full ratification of a federal Equal Rights Amendment is growing. One reason is that feminists see the ERA as a way to push back against the War on Women.  In the 32 years since the ERA fell three states short of ratification, feminist thinking has evolved into an expansive vision of what an ERA must accomplish. For all women across the socioeconomic and age spectrum, an ERA must address the disparate treatment many experience with pay discrimination, hiring and promotion, pregnancy discrimination, gender-based violence, access to health care and preservation of reproductive rights.  Legislation is pending in Congress to remove the old deadline, breathing life into the three state strategy. Come hear about recent developments, organizing and even new ERA language.

Moderator: Sylvia M. Ramos, M.D.

Panelists: Cindy Nava, Jacqueline Nantier-Hopewell, Bettina Hager, Jan Erickson, and Desiree Jordan

Radical Relationships: Allyship and Solidarity in Social Justice Work

In social justice movements, there is an increased focus on the role of allies as a key component for social change. However, little attention is paid to the process of becoming an ally and ways to engage allies in social justice work. This workshop will provide participants with tools to deepen the practice of being in relationship with allies and tools to act as an ally. By using a successful allied relationship, this workshop will explore the difference between solidarity work, ally work, and charity work; stages of ally development; intersectionality including power and privilege; self help; and engaging allies. The concepts discussed will be useful for both organizations seeking ways to engage allies in their work, as well as individuals who would like to become or deepen their ally or solidarity work.

Moderator: Monica Simpson

Panelist: Mandolin Restivo-Walsh

Increasing Support for Marriage Equality Within and Beyond Communities of Color

With 19 states and DC now having the freedom to marry and several dozen cases winding their way through the federal courts, what can your chapter do to help advance marriage equality? After we give you an update on the state of play and active lawsuits, this panel discussion will give you some options to get involved as part of NOW’s National Action Campaign. Mandy Carter of the National Black Justice Coalition and Tracy Hollister of Marriage Equality USA will share their experiences with messaging and strategies to win hearts and minds within and beyond communities of color, including ways to engage the moveable middle and share our stories.

Moderator: Bonnie Grabenhofer

Panelists: Tracy Hollister, Mandy Carter, and Bonnie Grabenhofer

Victory in Albuquerque: Building a Successful Coalition

Victory in Albuquerque will describe the history and structure of the New Mexico Coalition for Choice and the development of the campaign Respect ABQ Women. Panelists will discuss the Coalition’s involvement in the Campaign to ban abortions in Albuquerque, and effectively the entire state since all three of New Mexico’s abortion providers are located in Albuquerque, after 20 weeks. This initiative was extreme and provided for no exceptions in cases of rape, incest, fetal anomalies or the health of the mother. Four key players in the Coalition will provide powerful information on working with coalitions and campaigning against anti-choice groups.

Moderator: Janet Gotkin

Panelists: Steven Robert Allen, Julianna Koob, Adriann Barboa, Rebecca Langford, Danna Middleton, and Janiece Jonsin

Transgender Know Your Rights

In this workshop we will discuss the legal issues transgender people face as well as introduce information about legal rights and remedies available to trans people for discriminatory practices. Additionally, we will provide sufficient information for people to become emissaries for the information to the trans community and connect New Mexico trans community to resources available to assist them in enforcing their legal rights

Panelists: Adrien Lawyer and Kate Walsham

Engaging Men to End Violence Against Women

This workshop aims to expand on the previous year’s presentation on engaging men on college campuses in an effort to end violence against women. A culture of violence is pervasive in our communities including gendered violence and criminalization of men of color. In addition, men of color have some of the lowest retention and graduation rates in higher education across the country. This presentation will include information sharing as well as interactive activities for participants to learn how to replicate some of the programmatic models in their communities.

Moderator: Summer Little

Panelists: Angela Catena, Cristopher Ramirez, Larry Hinjos, Carlos Flores, and Sandro Anguiano

Global Feminism Movement Building in the Americas

Expanding feminism around the Americas can be a very successful endeavor. Collaborating with activists from Latin American countries gives us the opportunity to focus on both the local and global struggles of today’s feminist activists. Global Feminism is extremely difficult to limit by selecting only one-issue-focus because it impacts all of NOW’s priority issues and the future of our planet. In this workshop, we will focus on the Americas Region – the US, Central and South America – concentrating on preventing violence and all forms of discrimination against women; eliminating sex discrimination while advancing global constitutional equality; and strengthening our solidarity with economic and environmental justice struggles facing the diversity of women in the Southwest and throughout the Americas. Panelists will share their experiences collaborating and working on women’s rights, movement-building, positively impacting the status of women and girls and creating at the grassroots a more feminist international relations in the global world.

Moderator: Jan Strout

Panelists: Zenaida Mendez, Yanet Stable Cardenas, and Irene Morris Vazquez

Women of Color in Academia: Seeking Allies in Our Fight against Workplace Inequality and Discrimination

Women, especially women of color, continue to experience bias, hostility, and discrimination in the academic workplace. Macro- and micro-aggressions, harassment, bullying, mobbing, dismissal, and the persistent presumption of incompetence plague women based on race, gender, class, sexuality, and the intersection of these identities. Workplace bias threatens the careers and the physical, psychological, and emotional health of women of color, and reinforces the marginalization of historically under-represented groups in the nation’s colleges and universities. The workplace norms that contribute to the attacks against women of color have become institutionalized, and it is very disturbing that we do not have yet a way to document how many women leave academic careers because of this mistreatment. This panel will discuss the obstacles that female faculty of color encounter in academia, strategies to address these challenges, and the importance of building a movement within and outside of academia to draw attention to these problems and devise solutions.

Moderator:  Maritza Reyes

Panelists: Sherree Wilson, Stephanie Wildman, and Kieu-Linh Valverde

Proactive Policy Approaches to Advancing Reproductive Health, Justice, and Rights

This workshop will discuss proactive policy approaches to advancing reproductive health, justice, and rights. Across the country, legislators and activists are pushing against the onslaught of anti-choice legislation to create dialogue and momentum for policies that will help women and families access the health care they need and deserve. Legislation to be discussed will include federal bills such as the Women’s Health Protection Act and the HEAL Act for immigrant women’s health, as well as innovative approaches at the state and local levels.

Moderator: Marisa Spalding

Panelists: Kelly Baden, Kimberly Inez McGuire, and Shivana Jorawar

How to End Gender Based Discrimination in Pay and Keep the Promise of Ensuring Quality and Equity in Child Care for Working Families

We will become familiar with the history of the Equal Pay Act and The Lily Ledbetter Act. In addition to the provisions of the Paycheck Fairness Act, and share the findings of Equal Pay: A Conversation Guide, the latest toolkit. Parents, teachers and childcare providers in New Mexico are working together on a shared interest – to secure an adequate and permanent state funding stream for early education. Dedicated funding will ensure working families have access to high-quality programs while at the same time ensuring early educators who provide services in homes and childcare centers can take home a wage that allows them to support their own families. This is a win-win effort for young children, families and workers; and an effort that should be replicated in other states.

Moderator: Toni Van Pelt

Panelists: Aida Zuniga, Connie Cordovilla, and Lindsay Theo

Building solidarity with Latinas: Solidifying Cross Generational Strength to Further Advance the Feminist Movement

As we move forward in this century to develop concrete direction and strategies for the women’s movement, this panel will address critical issues of how we’ve built this movement to date and what’s needed to sustain this multicultural movement. What goals do we share that bring us together as a movement? What have been the barriers and points of conflict that continue to prevent us from becoming a more cohesive force? How do we grow and incorporate the various sectors of this growing movement? What does solidarity means within this movement and with other movements? What does leadership of this multicultural movement look like and what is expected of the leadership? How do we hold each other accountable? This workshop hopes to be both a critical reflection and a visionary discussion about what it really is going to take to build solidarity and sustain this multicultural women’s movement.

Moderator: Linda Velarde

Panelists: Zenaida Mendez, Nancy Lopez, and Addison Davidove

Engaging All Stakeholders to Achieve Statewide Policy Changes to End Sexual Exploitation

Combating sex-trafficking/prostitution is a task that increasingly calls for the attention and collaborative efforts of public officials, community organizations, and individual advocates. This workshop will explore collaborative efforts in Minnesota at the community, city, and state levels leading to statewide legislative changes. The workshop will begin by highlighting two case studies that are examples of local and state collaborative efforts. Presenters will address the process of engaging local and state stakeholders and provide tips on how to push collectively for policy changes for their specific communities.

Moderator: Vednita Carter

Panelist: Joy Friedman

Respect the Bump: Fighting for Pregnancy Fairness at Walmart

As the nation’s largest employer of women, Walmart’s employment policies have a huge impact on workplace standards. Members of Organization United for Respect at Walmart have joined the national movement for pregnancy fairness by launching the Respect the Bump campaign, which calls on Walmart to end pregnancy discrimination. This workshop will both explore the links between the Respect the Bump campaign and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and discuss concrete ways women everywhere can take action on this issue.

Moderator: Silva Fabela

Panelists: Mackenzie Baris, Girshriela Green, and Tiffany Beroid

Online organizing 201: Using the Internet to augment offline activism

Feminists are utilizing the internet to leverage offline activism. This is especially true for marginalized groups, as exemplified by the globally viral #solidarityisforwhitewomencampaign hashtag. The first virtual chapter of NOW, Young Feminists and Allies, is enjoying the benefits of online organizing with members from across the nation. Its Twitter, completely volunteer run, has almost 10,000 followers, with people like Senator Kristen Gillibrand following and retweeting. The chapter has hosted successful Tweet chats and a Google Hangout, as well as been mentioned on various media outlets. This workshop will discuss the successful campaigns and online tools feminists can use.

Moderator: Jerin Arifa

Panelists: Marian Bradley, Joanne Tosti-Vasey, and Micah Bochart

The lack of access to emergency contraception for Native American women constitutes a Human Rights Violation!

The potential for Native American women to need emergency contraception because of a violent incident statistically far exceeds that of the general population. Native Americans are raped at a rate nearly double that of rapes reported by all races annually, more than one third of Native American women will be raped in their lifetime. The Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center once again calls upon the Indian Health Service to provide equal access to safe, emergency contraception in the form of Plan B, especially for survivors of sexual assault. Although, Plan B is available over the counter to all women seventeen years and older, Native American women are not provided access to Plan B over the counter by their primary health care provider, the Indian Health Service. With sexual violence statistics off the charts for Native American women, it is even more important that Native American women have unrestricted access to Emergency Contraception.

Moderator: Pamela Kingfisher

Panelists: Charon Asetoyer, Micha Bitsinnie, and Alyssa Begay

Walking the Walk – NOW Political Activism: Working to elect feminists while staying true to feminist values

How do we balance conflicting feminist political goals? What if a young feminist woman of color challenges an incumbent male who has always voted our way? Would it make a difference if the incumbent was a woman and the challenger was a man who had championed feminist legislation in a previous political office? Without a crystal ball how do we make sure that the candidates we support come through for feminism once elected? And how do we make sure that the Rising American Electorate – young voters, women voters, and people of color – vote in historic numbers? Join three seasoned NOW leaders and political organizers for a discussion of considerations for making some of those difficult endorsement decisions and how to work with NOW, NOW PAC, and the Rising American Electorate to achieve our goal of electing feminists to all levels of political office.

Moderator: Linda Berg

Panelists: Nina Ahmad and Zenaida Mendez

What’s up with New Mexico: Criminal Justice Involved Women in New Mexico

This workshop will address conditions of women incarcerated in prisons in New Mexico. Currently, there are over 50 women on in-house parole that should be released into the community. At the same time, there is a projected increase in the women’s prison population. Women are isolated in solitary confinement for long periods with minimal, if any, consideration for their mental health needs. This is at a time when 77% of women are on psychotropic medications and 75% of the women are incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses. Finally, we will discuss gender specific needs of women incarcerated.

Moderator: Bette Fleishman

Panelist: KC Quirk

Foresight 2020: Political Strategies for Feminist Progress

A 2013 resolution encouraged the PAC to elect a feminist woman president in 2016, but our work begins in 2014 and continues through 2020. The PAC has committed to a plan of foresight 2020, working to elect more feminists from the state level up, knowing that redistricting in 2020 could make or break voting rights, representation, and the possibility of the ERA finally being ratified. This workshop will aim to support the PAC’s efforts by offering a grassroots brainstorming session during which members will be tasked with developing tactics, strategies, and plans that will help the PAC and feminists throughout the country to accomplish these critical and lofty goals.

Moderator: Lis Harper

Panelists: Patricia Ireland, Atima Omara-Alwala, and Kellye McIntosh

The Basics of Grassroots Lobbying

Throughout the EuroZone, there are 11 countries are on the verge of implementing the first regional financial transaction tax, the Robin Hood Tax (a tiny tax on big banks that would move up to $350 billion from the private sector into the public sector), leaving the U.S. as the only major financial market without one. Ensuring economic justice, protecting and improving our social safety net and providing for women’s health needs are all strong priorities for NOW members, and the Robin Hood Tax is the mechanism with which to fund all of these goals. This workshop will provide members with a general overview of the tax, the campaign and how to get involved in ongoing advocacy efforts. As the campaign is composed of both legislative and grassroots initiatives, there are an array of ways that NOW members can participate.

Moderator: Monica Owens

Panelists: Susan Mottet, Jeanine Johnson, Francesca Lo Basso, Jennifer Flynn, and Amanda Lugg

Religion, Race and Female Oppression

The role played by religion in the lives of women is often revered as being positive and culturally necessary. However, as more Americans shed religion, non-theists are the fastest growing segment of the “faith” populations. Women are beginning to talk about how religion has been used as a force to oppress and control them. From women’s health and access to a full range of reproductive rights, to economic factors that stem from women being considered of lesser value.

Moderator: Jamila Bey

Panelists: Maggie Ardiente and Bridgette Crutchfield

Through Her Eyes: How Social Media Has and Can Continue to Facilitate Better Understanding among Women of Color

The democratizing nature of social media has made it easier for white feminists and feminists of color to engage in dialogue, thus improving the overall fight for gender equity. Historically, women of color have felt left out, silenced, and even paternalistically told what’s “best” for them by white feminists, while not having a seat at the larger Women’s Rights table. Because of social media, women of color are no longer venting among themselves. They can speak directly to other women, in addition to the media and others, through action on Twitter and other social media, creating real positive change in how we discuss gender and race.

Moderator: Jennifer Farmer

Panelists: Danielle Belton and Ciara Taylor

Building the Pipeline: Recruiting and Electing Young Women and Women of Color to Public Office

This roundtable discussion will highlight different aspects of the work being done to build a pipeline of young women and women of color running for office. Challenges with the current political landscape and potential solutions will be discussed. Panelists will draw from research about the inequalities in political representation, personal experience and from trainings conducted with women interested in running for public office to discuss steps and strategies that can be used to bridge the gaps in political representation. Additionally, we will hear from roundtable speakers about the training, skills, experience, and knowledge about their communities a candidate should have to achieve success.

Moderator: Chitra Panjabi

Panelists: Kimberly Peeler-Allen, Rep. Georgene Louis, Pauline Lucero, Judge Beatrice Brickhouse (Tentative)

The Spirit of Change: Working the Racial Equality Muscle

In the spirit of change we want to discuss the resistance one has to talking about race. We understand family-of-origin issues such as incest, often interfere in the process of healing which can impact one’s ability and willingness to remain mindful of white privilege. We will address the effect this has on activism, policy and how one can influence & accelerate change in these areas. We’ll discuss the ‘bystander syndrome’ & demonstrate how you might stand up and out when confrontation is necessary to make your position on racial equality clear in your circle. You will form a ‘solid identity’ that gives you the knowledge & ability to transform the meaning of whiteness, therefore becoming a game-changer where racism is concerned.

Moderator: Coline Jenkins

Panelists: Desiree Jordan and Kaolin

Economic Independence for Survivors of Domestic Violence: we can make One Billion Rising

One Billion Rising was the biggest mass global action to end violence against women and girls in history, bringing together activists, women’s organizations and social justice groups working across a range of issues, demonstrating the diverse nature of this movement against abuse of women and girls. Many Domestic Violence victims/survivors and their children are forced to stay in abusive relationships. Not having an education, job experience, a trade or not having financial literacy, prevents many victims/survivors from achieving their full potential. The discussion will point out factors and supportive measures that help victims/survivors achieve independence and build safe and healthy relationships for themselves and their children while providing a framework to build on skills to grow movements and learn how to collaborate with diverse groups in a mutually beneficial environment.

Moderator: Zenaida Mendez

Panelists: Dawn Maestas, Jessica Montoya, Carrie McCarthy and Adelita Medina

Feminist Flicks

Saving Face

(2011, Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, co-directors, US/Pakistan) 40 minutes.  

Academy Award winner for Best Documentary (Short Subject), Saving Face is a harshly realistic view of violence against women in South Asia – where every year in Pakistan many women are victimized by brutal acid attacks with numerous cases going unreported.  Saving Face also depicts a Pakistan that is changing – one where the courage of women survivors and ordinary people can stand up and make a difference and marginalized communities can seek justice. –Women Make Movies

LaDonna Harris:  Indian 101

(2014. Julianna Brannum, USA)  63 minutes.

Comanche filmmaker Brannum, the great niece of Harris, chronicles the life of Comanche activist and national civil rights leader LaDonna Harris and the role she played in key Native and American social movements since the 1960’s.  This film justly celebrates her life and the personal struggles that led her to become a voice for Native people with her contemporary work to strengthen and rebuild indigenous communities and train emerging leaders around the world.  –Women Make Movies

After Tiller

(2014, Martha Shane and Lana Wilson, co-directors, USA)  88 minutes.

 After Tiller intimately explores the highly controversial subject of third-trimester abortions in the wake of the 2009 assassination of Dr. George Tiller.   The film’s Directors have created a moving and unique look at one of the most incendiary topics of our time and they do so in an informative, thought-provoking and compassionate way.   (co-sponsored by the Madison, WI, NOW Chapter).

With special guest Dr. Shelley Sella, abortion provider who worked with Dr. Tiller, will introduce and discuss.

Feminist:  Stories from Women’s Liberation

(2013, Jennifer Lee, director, USA) 64 minutes. 

“Best of the Fest” at the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival, Feminist: Stories from Women’s Liberation features the stories of feminists involved in the U.S. women’s liberation movement covering the years 1963 – 1970 including many of NOW’s co-founders and leaders.   Structured as a personal journey of rediscovery by the filmmaker, Feminist… brings the momentous first decade of the second wave Feminism vividly to life!  – Women Making Movies

Director Jennifer Lee will introduce and lead Q and A.

Miss Representation

(2012, Jennifer Siebel Newson, director, USA) 90 minutes.

“You can’t be what you can’t see”— claims director Seibel Newsom as she explores the under–representation of women in positions of power and influence in America and challenges the limited portrayal of diverse women in mainstream media.  Stunning evidence with solutions in a campaign for your Chapter to take on!

Mothers of Bedford

 (2011, Jennifer McShane, director, USA) 96 minutes.

Women are the fast growing US prison population today, eighty percent of whom are mothers.  Shot over 4 years at Bedford Hills maximum security prison north of New York City, Mothers of Bedford follows five women of diverse backgrounds and incarcerated for different reasons – in dual struggles to be engaged in their children’s lives and to better themselves.  A call to action for prison reform!  –Women Make Movies

Searching 4 Sandeep

(2007, Poppy Stockell, director, 2007)  56 minutes

Humorous and thoughtful, Searching 4 Sandeep explores the results of a deep online connection and virtual relationship – the collision of love and ethnic, religious and sexual identity.  Filmmaker Stockell raises serious questions about a new kind of global romance at odds with the cultural, social and geographical distances between people.  Wining numerous international filmmaking awards, Searching 4 Sandeep is a touching examination of sexuality, religion, globalization and culture seen through the lens of a uniquely modern love story.  –Women Make Movies

1912: Breaking the Silence

(2013, Gloria Rolando, director, Cuba)  60 minutes.

Part of a film trilogy devoted to the African ancestry, traditions and history of Cuba, 1912: Breaking the Silence documents the rise of the Independent Black Party of Cuba and its impacts on race, social justice and democracy in the development of Cuba as a nation before and following the Spanish-American War leading to the U.S. annexation of Cuba.  The extraordinary work of filmmaker Gloria Rolando (Eyes of the Rainbow) invites reflection on the contribution of documentary research on historical trauma and the construction of an alternative audiovisual archive film.

Discussion with Yanet Stable Cardenas, 1^st Secretary/Deputy Ambassador of Cuba to the United States 

ANITA: Speaking Truth to Power

(2013, Freida Mock, director, USA) 77 minutes.

Just past the 20^th anniversary of the Anita Hill – Clarence Thomas case, the weekend of shocking television of US Senate Hearings on Supreme Court Nominee Thomas, Academy and Emmy Award winner Frieda Mock

(Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Voice) revisits the extraordinary story of a woman who spoke truth to power.  Against a backdrop of race, sex and politics, ANITA: Speaking Truth to Power is both a celebration of Anita Hill’s legacy – to address sexual misconduct and abuse of power in the workplace that continues to resonate today – and a rare glimpse into her private life with friends and family.

Girl Rising 

(2012, Richard Robbins, director, USA) 101 minutes. 

Travel the globe to meet nine inspiring and unforgettable girls – striving beyond their circumstances, showing courage and resistance.  More than a film, Girl Rising is the heart of a movement that is promoting a powerful truth:  educating girls in the developing world can transform families, communities and entire countries and break the cycle of poverty in just one generation.  Global feminist actions highlighted to advocate for girls and women’s full human rights.