Ms. Foundation for Women - 2011 Gloria Awards - A Letter from Gloria

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2011 Gloria Awards - A Letter from Gloria

On this night in May….

… I’m grateful to Marie Wilson, our longest serving president, who had the idea for this, our one big annual party. She wanted to share the pleasure the staff has every day in meeting the grassroots leaders who are making this a more compassionate and just country in the only lasting way it can be done -- from the ground up.

Because I’m on the road so much, I, too, meet some of these heroes. Indeed, I often see a courageous self-help project, a successful piece of legislation, a job-creating effort or a group changing patterns of violence — and only later do I discover that its early support came from the Ms. Foundation for Women. Tonight, you, too, will be meeting leaders who are able to do their work because of you. Each one stands for many more.

But this is also a big night because you will meet Anika Rahman, our new president. I congratulate the board members who took on the task of searching the country for someone who could keep the heart and soul of Ms. as the first multi-issue, multi-racial national women’s fund, advance its innovative work on the ground and its role as a catalyst within the foundation community, and also expand in a time when old boundaries are giving way. Read Anika’s letter to see how lucky Ms. is to have her experience as an immigrant to this country, as a scholar, a lawyer, a skilled leader and a global activist.

Anika is the eighth leader of the Ms. Foundation in our nearly four decades. Since every organization is a living thing composed of people who have gone before, I want to name and thank the other seven, especially because many of you in this room may not know them.

When the Ms. Foundation began with contributions from Ms. Magazine, Ronnie Eldridge was its one-woman energy cell. An early grant brought the elected women in California together for the first time, including a young woman named Dianne Feinstein. Now Ronnie, a former member of the New York City Council, works with Connect against family and gender violence, organizes on behalf of women in prison, and hosts her own show on CUNY TV.

From 1974 to 1979, Brenda Brimmer, a former vice president of American Express, took on the not always easy task of introducing a new feminist foundation to the world of corporate foundations. She left to head Joint Foundation Support, later retired but lost her life three years ago due to complications after heart surgery. Her work is with us still.

From 1979 to 1980, Rochelle Korman, a brilliant young lawyer and activist, shaped the structure of the Ms. Foundation, and made it a reliable, respected member of the foundation community. She left to join Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler, and to become one of this country’s most respected experts in tax-exempt law. She remains a friend and advisor to Ms.

From 1980 to 1982, Joyce Yu, a leader in feminism with a global consciousness, gave us her energy and ideas. She helped Ms. to be effective while also struggling to raise money itself, and went on to a career in the United Nations, first with UNIFEM and now as a coordinator of U.N. volunteers.

From 1982 to 1984, Julia R. Scott, a nurse as well as an organizer, made Ms. a leader in local multi-racial coalitions for reproductive justice by establishing grassroots groups to counter restrictive efforts state by state. She went on to work with Marion Wright Edelman at the Children’s Defense Fund and become president of the National Black Women’s Health Project and join the Advisory Committee of the National Women’s Law Center.

From 1985 to 2004, Marie C. Wilson – an elected member of the Des Moines City Council – expanded the Ms. Foundation from a movement event to a grown-up foundation. Thanks to Marie and Alida Rockefeller Messinger, a board member and our first million dollar donor, Ms. was able to plan more than a few months into the future, create an endowment, and become a permanent institution. Marie herself became a foundation, media and movement leader nationally, and left to create the White House Project, which has trained thousands of diverse women for political office.

In 2004, Sara Gould became president. Thanks to Marie, she had been with Ms. as a vice president since 1986, bringing her pioneering expertise in economic development. She became one of the most trusted and influential leaders in the foundation world, and left to do her own work and writing. We miss her, but appreciate her wisdom in living the change she teaches.

Tonight, I honor the past, I welcome Anika -- and I celebrate each of you for creating the future.

Gloria Steinem

23rd Annual Gloria Awards a Great Success!

The "gala was a tremendous success," says Anika Rahman, Ms. Foundation president and CEO. "We celebrated Women of Vision who -- whether advocating for the rights and well-being of women, workers, immigrants or youth -- are tackling the most urgent issues of our time." Play the slide show below or see larger images.

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2009 Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awardee Naina Khanna, Director of Policy and Community Organizing at Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Disease (WORLD), supports, educates and mobilizes women living with and affected by HIV/AIDS encouraging them to advocate for policy change that meets their unique and, often, unmet needs. Learn more and view video

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Ms. Foundation for Women, 12 MetroTech Center, 26th Fl, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Telephone:(212) 742-2300|Fax: (212) 742-1653|Email: info@ms.foundation.org