The news about Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s death has hit all of us hard.

Everything Justice Ginsberg did in her career was to better the lives and strengthen the legal treatment of women and girls. She herself faced religious and gender discrimination in her own career, but she did not let it deter her.

It was well known that she routinely worked until 3 or 4 am throughout her adult life. While a law student herself, she helped her husband finish his law education while he battled cancer and raised their first child – and she still made the Harvard Law Review. Justice Ginsberg never stopped working to devise and execute legal strategies to advance equal rights for women. In the face of adversity, she just worked harder. While diminutive in size, her intellect and conviction towered above her peers. 

As we collectively face the despair of her loss and praise her legacy, it’s clear that the very best way we can truly honor her is to model the principle she lived by – to redouble our work on behalf of equal treatment for women and girls and all marginalized people. The advancement of gender equality is her lasting legacy and for the Vermont Women’s Fund, it is ours as well.

Our hearts are full of gratitude for her grit and grace. And thanks to her, we all benefit from the giant leaps forward she championed in the spirit of equity. 

Peace be with you, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Thank you for all you did to make our country a more just society.

Sincerely,

Meg A. Smith

P.S. We hope you will join us on October 6 for our virtual annual celebration to honor the #EqualPay movement and women’s equality in athletics with ’99 World Cup Goalie, Briana Scurry. Visit our website to learn more about this exciting event.