Fall Events, Ginsburg Tribute & Video Tour

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER • OCTOBER 2020

SHE Leads Road Rally participants surround the pace car, driven by Vision 2020 volunteer and race car driver Maureen McVail, at the Scranton pit stop.

View gallery of photos from the Road Rally.

SHE Leads Road Rally Illuminates History of Women Voting to Shape the Future

Forty-four women and men joined the Women 100 SHE Leads Road Rally for an overnight journey Oct. 16-17 from East Falls in Philadelphia to Seneca Falls, New York, to celebrate the birth of the women’s suffrage movement and draw attention to the importance of women voting in the Nov. 3 election.

A motorcade of 23 cars made its way from the Drexel University College of Medicine (DUCOM) campus to a pit stop in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where it was welcomed by the Women’s Whistle Stop Scranton — a Women 100 Proud Partner — along with Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, U.S. Senator Bob Casey and other public officials.

The road rally continued to Seneca Falls for a visit to the Women’s Rights National Historical Park and the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Park rangers gave the history of Wesleyan Chapel, where the first women’s rights convention was held in 1848 — organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Quaker abolitionists Jane Hunt, Mary Ann M’Clintock, Lucretia Mott and Martha Wright.

On the return trip, the rally group stopped at NASCAR’s Watkins Glen International raceway and left behind SHE Leads Road Rally t-shirts signed by all the participants for placement in the history museum there.

Road Rally participants Terese Casey, Tammy Williams and Margye Solomon (l-r) under the historic marker in Seneca Falls denoting the site of the 1848 women's rights convention.

DUCOM’s Senior Vice Dean Verdi DiSesa joined the group for a finish line celebration, where Vision 2020 President Lynn Yeakel toasted the travelers for “driving change and the vote” and singer-songwriter Meghan Cary performed her women’s empowerment anthem River Rock. Cary also broadcast a playlist for the trip on the internet radio station Folk Music Notebook.

Vision 2020 Delegate Tammy Williams recalled being filled with emotion upon sitting in the same place where pioneers in the women’s suffrage movement convened for that historic meeting along with abolitionists, including famed African American orator Frederick Douglass. Williams noted that while Black women had not been invited to that first convention, she was honored to represent all women of color on Vision 2020’s commemorative trip. See more photos here.

Vision 2020 thanks SHE Leads Road Rally sponsors Drexel University College of Medicine and Holman Enterprises.

What

We Owe

Justice Ginsburg

A message from

Lynn Yeakel,

President,

Vision 2020

Like the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I was a young woman pursuing a career in the second half of the 20th century. Like RBG, I experienced the humiliation and anger of sex discrimination. And like her, in the mid-1960s I was turned down for a job the male employer first admitted I was qualified for, then told me, “We aren’t ready for a woman at that level.”

That patently unfair rationale led me to make advocating for women’s rights my life’s work. Decades later, after I had campaigned for a U.S. Senate seat in what was called the Year of the Woman, I ran into the man who had turned me down and thanked him for setting me on my career path.

All of us have RBG to thank for changing the laws that perpetuated discrimination on the basis of sex. We owe it to her leadership legacy to complete the unfinished business of women’s equality.

Women 100 Events

A dozen prominent women leaders in business, finance, law, education, journalism, politics, government and civic advocacy will take part in panel discussions at the Women's Leadership Forums on November 4, the day after the national election. Three panels, all free and open to the public, will explore the past, present and future of women’s leadership.

The Pew Research Center will give a special briefing on its new report about American perceptions of the status of gender equality in a lunchtime session hosted by Eileen McDonnell, CEO of The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. Register now for one, two or all three panels and the briefing.

Many of the participants have written books. Links to their work are available below.

Vision 2020 thanks The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company for sponsoring this event.

Vision 2020 President and Women's Leadership Forum host Lynn H. Yeakel, Majority Rules: Completing the Journey to Women’s Equality

Panelist Angela P. Dodson, Remember the Ladies: Celebrating Those Who Fought for Freedom at the Ballot Box

Panelist Ellen Goodman, I Know Just What You Mean: The Power of Friendship in Women’s Lives, with Patricia O’Brien

Honorary Co-chair Jennifer Granholm, A Governor’s Story: The Fight for Jobs and America’s Future, with Dan Mulhern

Moderator Roberta Liebenberg, Esq., Walking out the Door: the Facts, Figures, and Future of Experienced Women Lawyers in Private Practice, with Stephanie A. Scharf

Panelist Signe Wilkinson, Herstory: 19 cartoons in celebration of the 19th Amendment

Panelist Jean Chatzky, Women with Money: The Judgement-Free Guide to Creating the Joyful, Less Stressed, Purposeful (and Yes, Rich) Life You Deserve

Panelist Lynn Perry Wooten, PhD, Leading Under Pressure: From Surviving to Thriving Before, During and After a Crisis, with Erika Hayes James

Moderator Renée T. White, PhD, Putting Risk in Perspective: Black Teenage Lives in the Era of AIDS

Panelist Erin Vilardi, Athena CORE10: Leadership Reimagined, Co-author

Seat at the Table Exhibition

Take Video Tour of Women's Equality Exhibition

Now you can visit the Women 100 Seat at the Table exhibition virtually! Watch the 15-minute video to learn about the progress of American women toward economic, political and social equality with men — 100 years after women won the right to vote. The video is closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

TEACHERS: Download the Educator’s Guide and access the virtual tour for use with students.

The exhibition is installed in the lobby of Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. It will reopen in 2021 when the Kimmel Center reopens.

Vision 2020 News

Two Vision 2020 Leaders Honored for Achievements

Women 100 Visionary Leaders Committee member Michelle Hong (top right) and Women 100 Advisory Committee Co-chair Dianne Semingson (bottom right) are being honored for their professional achievements and civic leadership.

Hong, a senior vice president with Northern Trust investment bank, has been named a 2020 Woman of Distinction by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Semingson, president and CEO of DLS Enterprises Inc., is being honored for her civic leadership by the Greater Philadelphia YMCA.

All of the people — men and women —serving on the Women 100 Visionary Leaders Committee and the Women 100 Advisory Committee are listed on the About page of Women100.org.

Vision 2020 Coalition

Inquiring Women Discuss Voting Rights

Angela P. Dodson, a Vision 2020 Delegate from New Jersey and author of Remember the Ladies: Celebrating Those Who Fought for Freedom at the Ballot Box, participated with Joyce Lewandowski, Vision 2020 program director, in a virtual discussion of women’s voting rights hosted by the Inquiring Women employee resource group at the Philadelphia Inquirer this month.

In an informative conversation moderated by Jenice Armstrong (bottom), Angela (top right) and Joyce (top left) addressed topics including the obstacles that women have overcome to vote and the need to continue advocating for voting rights.

KPMG Panel Features Three Allies and a Delegate

Vision 2020 Allied Organizations participated in a virtual celebration of the 19th Amendment centennial with KPMG, the global accounting and professional services firm. Vision 2020 Delegate Marni Puente, a KPMG senior director, spoke during an internal webcast Sept. 8 that explored the history of women’s suffrage and voting rights over the last 100 years. About 1,500 employees registered for the event. The discussion included representatives from three of our Allies: Vote Like a Woman, League of Women Voters and Women Voters USA.

View Puerto Rican Heritage Presentation

Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month!

National Conference of Puerto Rican Women So-Cal, a Vision 2020 Ally, has created an informative and sweeping presentation on the rich culture and complex history of Puerto Rico, from the conquests of the Conquistadors to the influence of Taino, Spanish, European and African traditions on life in the island territory.

Vision 2020 Voting Coalition in the Media

Members of the Vision 2020 Voting Coalition collaborated on an opinion piece titled "A century after the 19th Amendment, the women’s vote is as critical as ever" that has been published in the San Francisco Chronicle. The members also created this video encouraging women to vote on November 3. Please share the video on social media and follow these coalition members:

@votelikeawoman2020

@voterparticipationcenter

@womenvotersusa

@vision2020women100

The Vision 2020 Voting Coalition created this 15-second video for social sharing on Facebook.

Welcome New Coalition Members

We are pleased to welcome one new Vision 2020 Delegate, one new Allied Organization, and two new Women 100 Proud Partners to the Vision 2020 family. Many of our Proud Partners are hosting women-themed events in 2020. Check the Women 100 Events Calendar regularly to learn about upcoming events.

Delegate

Nina Russell (Washington, DC) legislative aide, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Allied Organization

Urban League of Philadelphia

Women 100 Proud Partner

Thank You to Our Sponsors and Partners!