Ep 04: Teresa Younger, Ms. Foundation: Create the World We Deserve

Equality Talks: The Official ERA Podcast

Meet Teresa Younger, Executive Director of the Ms. Foundation and ERA Coaltion partner. Host Elisa Parker speaks with Teresa about their mission to to build women’s collective power in the U.S. and advance equity and justice for all. Celebrating the organization's 50th anniversary, Teresa has set out on a 50 state tour to listen, to learn and to ask the question, "How do we create the world we deserve."

Hosted by nationally acclaimed radio host and Equal Voices Elisa Parker, Equality Talks bridges the intersections of equality, justice, and social activism to unify as a collective and change the status quo.

Equality Talks focuses on the key facets of equality across all communities, including everything from gender, racial, economic and reproductive justice, to labor, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ rights. Programming for the month of June highlights Generation Ratify speaking about the youth movement for the Equal Rights Amendment, advocates supporting LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and members of the Congressional ERA Caucus speaking about Juneteenth.

For more information on Equality Talks go to www.ERACoaltion.org and www.EqualVoice.org.

The ERA Coalition was founded in 2014 to bring concerted, organized action to the effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA Coalition has a sister organization, the Fund for Women’s Equality, which promotes public education and outreach on the need for constitutional equality. Composed of more than 290 organizations across the country representing millions of people, the Coalition is a movement of movements focused on overall equality in the United States.

While the effort to amend the constitution to include sex equality began nearly a century ago, our renewed efforts are centered on women of color (African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Latina, and Native American), gender-nonconforming and transgender women and girls, and nonbinary people – those who are most impacted by systemic inequities.

www.eracoalition.org | www.fundforwomensequality.org

About Teresa:

Teresa C. Younger, President and CEO

Teresa C. Younger is an activist, advocate, renowned public-speaker, organizational strategist, and a proven leader in the philanthropic and policy sectors. Having spent over 20 years on the frontlines of some of the most critical battles for comprehensive equity and the elimination of institutionalized oppression, she now serves as the President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Prior to joining the Ms. Foundation for Women, Younger served as the executive director of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women and as executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut — the first African American and the first woman to hold that position.

Younger is a thought leader at the critical intersections of gender and race. Within the philanthropic sector she serves on initiatives to shape and change the narrative of women and girls, including Grantmakers for Girls of Color, Funders for Reproductive Equity, Philanthropy New York and Black Funders for Social Justice.

Additionally, Younger serves on a number of boards including the Ethel Walker School and Essie Justice Group.

She has appeared on MSNBC’s UP with David Gura, NBC News, NPR Radio, Elle Magazine, Cosmopolitan, SiriusXM, and in USA Today, AP, Rewire, BadassWomenLeaders.com podcast and the New York Times.

Younger is a graduate of the University of North Dakota and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in Humanities from the University of New Haven in 2018. She is also a proud lifetime Girl Scout and Gold Award recipient.

Ms. Foundation for Women

The mission of the Ms. Foundation for Women is to build women’s collective power in the U.S. to advance equity and justice for all.

We achieve our mission by investing in, and strengthening, the capacity of women-led movements to advance meaningful social, cultural and economic change in the lives of women.

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