McCloskey Speaker Series – 100 Years after the 19th Amendment: Where are Women Now?
Featuring Katherine Grainger, adjunct professor at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU and partner at Civitas Public Affairs Group, Ai-jen Poo, co-founder of Supermajority and co-founder and executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and Cecile Richards, co-founder of Supermajority and former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in conversation with Peggy Clark, vice president of Policy Programs and executive director of Aspen Global Innovators Group at The Aspen Institute. In light of the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment, the panel will examine the strides women have made towards gender equality in the last 100 years and what hurdles still remain.
Virtual Event || 2:00pm PT | 3:00pm MT | 4:00pm CT | 5:00pm ET
With over 20 years of policy, legal, and advocacy experience Katherine Grainger is a leading thought leader on gender, race and sexuality. A lawyer by training Katherine has a unique ability to combine big-picture vision with real-world solutions to generate tangible results. Katherine spent several years working in New York state government, which she describes as a master class in learning how to build, harness and generate power. She now uses that knowledge to help clients come up with solutions to disrupt systems and generate transformational change. As assistant counsel in civil rights to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Katherine was responsible for crafting and implementing several major legislative initiatives, including the Marriage Equality Act. One of Katherine’s greatest honors is teaching the next generation of policy makers, as an Adjunct Professor at Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University as well as being a co-founder of Supermajority. While she is more often than not on the road, Katherine loves nothing more than being home in her beloved New York City.
Ai-jen Poo is an award-winning organizer, social innovator, author, and a leading voice in the women’s movement. She is the Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Co-Director of Caring Across Generations, Co-Founder of SuperMajority and Trustee of the Ford Foundation. Ai-jen is a nationally recognized expert on elder and family care, the future of work, gender equality, immigration, narrative change, and grassroots organizing. She is the author of the celebrated book, “The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America.”
Cecile Richards is a co-founder of Supermajority, an organization fighting for gender equity. She was president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018 and before that, served as deputy chief of staff to Nancy Pelosi. In 2004, Richards founded and served as president of America Votes, a coalition of national grassroots organizations working to maximize registration, education, and voter participation. Author of the New York Times best-seller Make Trouble and a frequent speaker and commentator on politics and progressive issues, she was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2011 and 2012.
Peggy Clark is Vice President of Policy Programs and Executive Director of Aspen Global Innovators Group. Peggy has had a 30-year career working on issues of poverty alleviation, global health, social enterprise, and development finance. Serving in founding and leadership roles at the Aspen Institute, the Ford Foundation, Save the Children, Realizing Rights, and on boards including Root Capital, Last Mile Health, Impact Assets, the African Leaders Malaria Alliance and the Calvert Foundation, Peggy has been a leading figure in identifying and building industries, movements, and creative advocacy on key issues of our times. Peggy received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Microenterprise from President Bill Clinton, and was instrumental in passage of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the Ethical Recruitment of Health Workers. Currently, Peggy directs a portfolio of programs promoting breakthrough solutions to global development in the areas of health innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship. Previously, Peggy served as the Executive Vice President of the Aspen Institute, co-founder and Managing Director of Realizing Rights, Chair of the Women’s Program Forum at the Ford Foundation, and as the first Director of Small Scale Enterprise and Credit at Save the Children Federation.
