2008 Summit on Economic Justice for Women: Empowering Women in Business, Health, Economics, and Public Policy

Atlanta, Georgia, will be the host city for the 2008 Summit on Economic Justice for Women, April 11-12 at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel. This unusual collaboration of activists and academics is being convened by some of the nation’s leading women’s organizations – The National Organization for Women Foundation, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the National Council of Negro Women.

“This is a unique approach to talking about women’s economic status,” says NOW President Kim Gandy. “Usually grassroots activists have their own conferences, and researchers and academics have theirs, but we are joining forces because it will take a concerted effort by women, working together across race and class, to deal with the realities of our economy and the impact today’s decisions will have on our future,” said Gandy.

The Summit will address issues that the three presidential candidates are talking about, such as health care and immigration, but also issues they are not talking about enough, like work/family balance, living wage jobs, pay disparities, access to reproductive health care, child care, mid-life momentum, the economics of caregiving, planning for retirement with or without Social Security, and much more.

In addition to over 30 issue and skill-building workshops and panels, keynote speakers will include:

  • Dr. Dorothy I. Height, Chair and President Emerita, National Council of Negro Women
  • Kim Gandy, President, National Organization for Women (NOW) Foundation
  • Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D., President, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
  • Julianne Malveaux, Ph.D., President, Bennett College for Women
  • Lilly Ledbetter, Plaintiff in landmark U. S. Supreme Court pay discrimination case
  • Hon. Carol Mosley Braun, President/CEO, Ambassador Organics
  • Gail Perry-Mason, Author, “Girl, Make Your Money Grow!”
  • Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq., National Chair, National Congress of Black Women
  • Eleanor Smeal, President, Feminist Majority Foundation
  • Jane Smith, Ed.D.., Exec. Dir., Spelman College Center for Leadership & Civic Engagement
  • Loretta Ross, Nat’l Coordinator, SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective
  • Janice L. Mathis, Esq., Vice-President, Rainbow PUSH Citizenship Education Fund
  • Dr. Martha Burk, Author, “Your Money and Your Life”

“Some believe women already have economic equality,” said Gandy, “but the reality is that we are still lagging behind. Women are paid an average of 76 cents to a man’s dollar; and for African-American and Hispanic women it is even lower. We represent only 16 percent of Congress, 18 percent of governors, and 16 percent of top U.S. corporate leaders. Women still suffer discrimination at work, and we are the primary caretakers of our children and elders. The time is now – before we elect a new president – to discuss and determine how we want our voices to be heard, and how this next administration can make a difference in the lives of women and families,” said Gandy.

Learn more about the Summit on Economic Justice for Women.

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Contact: Caitlin Gullickson, media[at]now.org, 202-628-8669 ext 123