Women's Rights Major Players

by Jen Nedeau

Published October 05, 2008 @ 05:51AM PT

When it comes to the women's rights movement there are several major players that serve various purposes and agendas. These include, but are not limited to: the Feminist Majority, National Organization for Women, Business and Professional Women Foundation, National Congress of Black Women, Women's Information Network, Women's Vote, Women's Voices, Third Wave Foundation, NARAL, EMILY's list, and Women's Media Center.

Feminist Majority Foundation

The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) was founded in 1987, and is dedicated to women's equality, reproductive health, and non-violence. Feminist Majority Foundation President, Eleanor Smeal, is a well-known activist, political analyst, lobbyist, and grassroots organizer. She has served as president of the National Organization for Women twice and is considered one of the major leaders of the modern day feminist movement.

The organization considers both women and men, girls and boys as the majority, but believes this majority must be empowered. FMF utilizes research and action to empower women economically, socially, and politically in order to advance the legal, social and political equality with men. The FMF also works to counter the backlash to women's advancement, and does this by recruiting and training young feminists to encourage future leadership for the feminist movement in the United States.

To carry out these aims, FMF engages in research and public policy development, public education programs, grassroots organizing projects, leadership training and development programs, and participates in and organizes forums on issues of women's equality and empowerment. The sister organization, the Feminist Majority, engages in lobbying and other direct political action, pursuing equality between women and men through legislative avenues.

National Organization for Women

NOW is the largest, most comprehensive feminist advocacy group in the United States. The purpose of NOW is to take action to bring women into full participation in society - sharing equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities with men, while living free from discrimination. One of the few multi-issue progressive organizations in the United States, NOW also stands against all oppression- racism, sexism, homophobia, classism and the disabled. NOW was founded in 1966 by a small but determined group of women's rights advocates, and has more than 500,000 contributing members, as well as hundreds of chapters across the U.S. NOW's top six priority issues are: Advancing Reproductive Freedom, Promoting Diversity and Ending Racism, Stopping Violence against Women, Winning Lesbian Rights, Achieving Constitutional Equality and Ensuring Economic Justice.

Business and Professional Women Foundation

The Business and Professional Women/USA provides career advancement resources, work life strategies and personal and professional connections. Founded in 1919, it is one of the few multi-generational, bipartisan membership organizations. It was first established to focus on issues of workingwomen, and has since become a historic leader in grassroots activism, policy influence and advocacy for millions of workingwomen. BPW/USA has 20,000 members, 1,300 Local Organizations in 54 states and U.S. territories, including members in almost every congressional district. It was one of the first women's organizations to endorse the Equal Rights Amendment in 1937 and it continues to be a successful leader in promoting and supporting legislation affecting workingwomen. In addition, BPW educates its members on policy issues and provides the tools to become effectively involved in policy development in their own workplaces and through grassroots efforts at the local, state and federal levels. BPW's Political Action Committee (BPW/PAC) provides contributions and endorsements to women and pro-women federal candidates who support the BPW legislative agenda.

• 89% of BPW members are women working in business
• 45% of members are professionals in law, medicine, government, finance, education, and engineering
• 25% of members are CEOs, executives and managers
• 45% of members are small business owners
• 30% of members have a graduate or post graduate degree

National Congress of Black Women

The National Congress of Black Women, Inc. (NCBW) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the educational, political, economic and cultural development of African American Women and their families. NCBW also serves as a nonpartisan voice and instrument on issues pertaining to the appointment of African American Women at all levels of government, and to increase African American women's participation in the educational, political, economic and social arenas. Currently, NCBW provides opportunities for women for leadership and decision-making positions in government, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector.

NCBW is made up of local chapters in communities across the country, as well as at-large national members. Each chapter sends delegates to the Biennial Convention that elects national officers and sets NCBW policies for the next two years. Chapters also serve their communities directly in programs such as College for Kids, youth training, candidates' forums, voter education, and mentoring young people.

Women's Information Network

WIN is a professional, political, and social network dedicated to empowering young, Democratic, pro-choice women. Founded in 1989 on the idea that women can help women climb the ladder of success, WIN reports over 1,000 members.

WINners are politically engaged women who work everywhere in Washington, DC - Capitol Hill, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, political fundraising and consulting firms, policy think tanks, and more. WIN's Advisory Council includes over 60 prominent women in Washington who are dedicated to guiding and helping the next generation of Democratic, pro-choice women succeed.

WIN provides women with access to job and networking opportunities not available anywhere else in Washington. WIN women meet for networking events, resume swaps, happy hours, and panel discussions-all geared towards mentoring and helping women along the road to success. WIN women also volunteer on political campaigns, at nonprofit organizations, and on various event committees through WIN. WIN is a volunteer-run 501(c)4 nonprofit organization.

Women's Vote, Women's Voices

Women's Voices, Women Vote engages unmarried Americans, fastest-growing large demographic in the country, to participate in electoral politics and voter mobilization.

Marital status, along with age, education and length of residence, remains one of the top predictors of whether or not an individual will participate in an election. Married individuals are disproportionately represented in the electorate, while unmarried individuals - who now make up a majority of American households - are underrepresented.

In 2006, WVWV released its study of unmarried America and the first ever major poll of unmarried America. The study reported, how the 2006 election underscored the importance of the marriage gap as the defining factor in American politics in terms of who does and does not participate. Yet only Women's Voices, Women Vote was working to make sure that single women, who are underrepresented in the American electorate, realize their potential to influence the democratic process.

That year, Women's Voices also created registration and voter mobilization programs where they reached more than two million single women by Election Day. WVWV enjoyed great success in its 2006 programs, including a communications program that encouraged women to vote with over 2.8 million pieces of mail, 1 million automated phone calls and 695,000 live phone calls; completion of a same day registration program in Minnesota and Wisconsin with over 400,000 contacts; the registration of nearly 90,000 new voters across the country.

Third Wave Foundation

Third Wave Foundation is a feminist foundation that works nationally to support young women and transgender youth ages 15 to 30 through strategic grant making, leadership development, and philanthropic advocacy in support of groups and individuals working towards gender, racial, economic, and social justice.

The Third Wave Foundation was created in the early 1990s. Events such as the Rodney King trial and decision, the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, Clarence Thomas's confirmation to the US Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court's decision on Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, which upheld mandatory 24-hour waiting periods and other restrictions to abortion fueled a renewed sense of protest among feminists. Each of these pressing issues affected young women: sexual harassment, rape, race in America, reproductive health, economics, and class.

The Third Wave Foundation was inspired by Rebecca Walker who wrote an article titled, "Becoming the Third Wave" for Ms. Magazine examining the impact of the Clarence Thomas confirmation. Walker articulated a rage, anger, and hunger for action that resonated with young women and men across the country who wrote to Ms. Magazine declaring themselves part of the Third Wave. By May 1992, Walker and Shannon Liss had started the Third Wave Direct Action Corporation. The organization's initial mission was to fill a void in young women's leadership and to mobilize young people to become more involved socially and politically in their communities.

Sample resources provided by the Third Wave Foundation:

• Organizing and Advocacy Fund: Third Wave supports efforts to challenge sexism, racism, homophobia, economic injustice, and other forms of oppression.
• Reproductive Health and Justice Fund: supports activities that directly expand the scope and definition of reproductive justice and promotes reproductive health for young women.
• Scholarship Fund: available to full or part time women students thirty and under who are activists, artists, or cultural workers engaged in dismantling racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of inequality.
• Networking: ROAMS (Reaching Out Across MovementS) was developed to serve two purposes: informing Third Wave of the challenges facing progressive grassroots organizations and the strategies they have employed to address them, and simultaneously helping strengthen the networking connections between progressive groups in a region.
• Public education: Third Wave reaches out to both individual young women and the overall field of philanthropy through public education efforts, to raise awareness of sexism and provide an opportunity for young women to speak out.

NARAL

NARAL Pro-Choice America is one of the nation's leading advocates for privacy and a woman's right to choose. With more than one million members and supporters, NARAL Pro-Choice America works to protect the pro-choice values of freedom and privacy.

• Electing pro-choice candidates: NARAL Pro-Choice America elects pro-choice candidates through PAC support, direct voter contact, and political expertise. During the campaign season, NARAL educates and mobilizes voters through paid advertising, earned media, direct mail, online messaging, and other get-out-the-vote efforts.
• Organizing: NARAL Pro-Choice America uses online organizing to mobilize pro-choice Americans in all 50 states. The grassroots power helps to educate and mobilize pro-choice activists, stop anti-choice legislation, and defend reproductive rights against well-funded, emboldened anti-choice forces.
• Lobbying Congress: NARAL Pro-Choice America fights the relentless onslaught of anti-choice policies and legislation introduced in Congress and works with pro-choice legislators in support of bills to protect a woman's right to choose and expand women's access to reproductive-health care. Fortune Magazine has described NARAL Pro-Choice America as "one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America."
• Research and analysis: NARAL Pro-Choice America is the only organization that provides up-to-the-minute information about state bills, the enactment of new laws, and decisions handed down by state and federal courts related to reproductive rights through staff monitoring of state and federal activity on a daily basis.
• Affiliate network in the states: NARAL Pro-Choice America pursues state-based organizing, advocacy and constituency building in coordination with its state affiliate network. State affiliates work to advance pro-choice legislative strategies and defeat anti-choice measures in their state legislatures, elect pro-choice candidates, and educate and engage the public on choice issues.

EMILY's list

EMILY's List was founded in 1985 and serves as one of the nation's largest political resources for women. EMILY's list mission is to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office - through a variety of programs, including Campaign Services and Training, the Political Opportunity Program (POP), Campaign Corps, and WOMEN VOTE!.

These programs are funded by a powerful grassroots network of more than 100,000 members from across the country who are committed to building a progressive America by empowering women as candidates, campaign professionals, and voters.

EMILY's List helps to identify viable opportunities to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office, recruits qualified candidates, trains them to be effective fundraisers and communicators, and works with them throughout the campaign to make sure that they are executing a winning strategy.

To build the pipeline of women qualified to run for higher office, EMILY's List's Political Opportunity Program recruits, trains, and funds candidates at the state and local level. In the 2006 election cycle, EMILY's List held 49 training sessions in 28 states, educating 1,735 candidates and staff. In 2006 alone, we helped 196 pro-choice Democratic women win key positions in state and local government, where they are shaping the policies that affect women, our families, and our communities.

Women's Media Center

The Women's Media Center strives to make women visible and powerful in the media. Founded in 2004 by leaders of the feminist movement, the WMC seeks to hold the media accountable and assure that women's experiences are reflected in the media.

Every day when women turn on the news, open the paper, or log on to the Internet, they see a world that, as shaped by the media, is missing something - the women. From the reporter's desk to the executive suite, men are overwhelmingly the ones making the decision about what is seen in the media. The WMC resources page links to numerous studies and surveys about this crisis in representation, such as this critical stat: Women hold just 3 percent of so-called "clout" positions in the media. This dearth of women impacts everything from story selection to hiring practices. Without women decision makers in the news room, important stories too often go untold. Without women, our view of the world as shaped by the media is dangerously incomplete.

WMC believes that women's voices and women's stories are crucial components in creating a media that is truly reflective of our society. The mission is two-fold: first, help women to participate at the highest levels of media, as reporters, sources, and savvy consumers and second, hold the media accountable for accurately representing the 51+ percent of the world that is female.