Women’s eNews is thrilled to announce:

Coming in January 2022

In collaboration with Women’s eNews, Amy Ferris and Beth Broday have created and curated a column designed to inspire, encourage, awaken and enlighten MEN. We are bringing together an amazing team of men who will write about such topics as love, family, sexuality, compassion, tolerance, empathy and vulnerability, just to name a few. Our fervent wish is to not only include male voices in conversations that are often reserved for women, but to inspire all men to open up their hearts and their minds so that they may stand with us, by us, and for us; to champion our causes, to support our missions, to march with us, and to help shoulder & lift all of our stories.

We are thrilled to launch this column so men can raise their voices, share their stories, join in and stand side-by-side with women.

In gratitude,

Amy Ferris Beth Broday Author/Writer/Screenwriter Producer/Director

Honoring

Kluane Adamek

Dr. Michele Bratcher Goodwin

LaTosha Brown

Devika Bulchandani

Ting Ting Cheng

Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas

Kylie Hunts-in-Winter

Patrisha McLean

Sydney Montgomery

Kimberly Peeler-Allen

Karine Jean-Pierre

2021

Sophie Poldermans

Cynthia Richie Terrell

Marcie Roth

Assembly Member

Rebecca A. Seawright

Nahid Shahalimi

Lisa Sharkey

Mary Kim Titla

Yasmin Vafa

Tracey E. Vitchers

Brooke Warner

Breakthrough Film of the Year

DISCLOSURE

Kluane Adamek

Yukon Regional Chief Kluane Adamek (Aagé) is a proud northerner and citizen of Kluane First Nation, and she acknowledges the Matriarchs who have welcomed her into the Dakl’aweidi (Killerwhale) Clan. Kluane is an Indigenous woman with mixed ancestry in Canada. Having lived in both northern and southern parts of the country, her lived experiences give her the ability to analyze the world around her from several different perspectives.

As the youngest serving Yukon Regional Chief, and the youngest ever female Regional Chief, she continues to press for change in the ways that women, young people and the next generation are included in decision-making forums, and she is committed to advancing solutions while approaching leadership from a place of values.

As the AFN’s lead on climate change and the environment, she has succeeded in establishing the environment as a top priority for the organization by being a key representative at international conferences and a powerful voice within global conversations on climate. Most recently, she served on the Net-Zero Advisory Body to the Minister of Environment and Climate. She has also served as the Co-Chair of the COVID-19 Northern and Remote Communities Working Group. She holds the Modern Treaties portfolio where she is actively working to resolve and enforce the treaties signed after 1975. Kluane is deeply committed to the 14 Yukon First Nations and works closely with the leadership and members to advance their priorities and interests, both regionally and nationally.

Since 2009, she has worked with Yukon First Nations and local communities in the areas of education, economic development and governance serving on several boards and committees including the Yukon College Board of Governors, Kluane Dana Trust, Actua, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, and the Aboriginal Sport Circle.

Kluane is enriched and inspired daily by the Matriarchs, Elders, and youth who guide her work and the future of Yukon First Nations.

Latosha Brown

At the intersection of social justice, political empowerment, human development and the cultural arts one will find LaTosha Brown. As a catalyst for change, thought leader and social strategist, her national and global efforts have been known to organize, inspire and catapult people into action—not just lip service—enabling them to build power and wealth for themselves and their community. Honored to receive the 2010 White House Champion of Change Award, the 2006 Spirit of Democracy Award and the Louis Burnham Award for Human Rights, it is more than evident that LaTosha is passionate about leading social change for the purpose of advancing humanity, creating a more equitable redistribution of wealth and power around the globe.

Where other leaders see nothing but poverty, despair and destitution, this 2018 Bridge Jubilee Award and Liberty Bell Award recipient sees great opportunity. To her, there is more than enough resources on the planet to comfortably sustain every human being. Affectionately known by many as a “Black Renaissance” woman, her southern roots, coupled with her global thoughts toward people, ideas and money, have opened doors for her to maximize her voice in the U.S., as well as over 30 countries abroad. In addition to being recognized as a well-respected leader in the South who has led numerous initiatives, campaigns and special projects to empower marginalized communities, LaTosha is leading several international efforts to provide training, support and funding for women-led institutions based in Guyana, Senegal, Belize and Tanzania.

Ting Ting Cheng

Ting Ting Cheng is the Director of the ERA Project at Columbia Law School’s Center for Gender and Sexuality Law.

Ting Ting is also a civil rights attorney and activist. Before joining the ERA Project, she litigated gender discrimination cases at Legal Momentum, and the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund. Earlier, she was an attorney at the New York City Commission for Human Rights and a public defender and immigrant defense attorney at Brooklyn Defender Services.

Ting Ting was the Legal Director of the 2017 Women’s March on Washington and served on the National Organizing Committee. She was a foreign law clerk to Justices Albie Sachs and Edwin Cameron of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. In addition, Ting Ting was a Fulbright Scholar to South Africa where she received the Amy Biehl Award.

As a youth she was a concert oboist and performed with various orchestras in the United States, including the American Symphony. She is a graduate of the City University of New York School of Law and Bard College. .

Honoree

KYLIE HUNTS-IN-WINTER

Kylie Hunts-in-Winter, of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, is a veteran activist who has created an ever-expanding movement; one that empowers women, especially those in Native American Communities. A movement she calls “Brave Woman”, she has been training in martial arts her entire life, and Brave Woman not only shares her story but provides a place for female martial artists to feel safe and supported. With the help and encouragement of her parents, Veronica and Timothy Hunts-in-Winter, Kylie has become a local celebrity as a result of her skill in martial arts, her advocacy, and her leadership. Kylie’s Instagram account, @bravewoman, currently has more than fifty thousand followers. She has used that platform to empower women around the world.

As a board member and chief youth lobbyist for the Indigenous Peoples’ Initiative, Kylie is advocating for the rights of Indigenous Peoples. “We are a nonprofit organization that is youth led, based here in Arizona... advocating for the rights and equality of all marginalized populations, with a specific focus on Indigenous and Native American peoples,” she says. The group is currently advocating for Indigenous Peoples’ Day and abolishing Columbus Day. “We have been successful in getting Arizona governor Doug Ducey to sign our proclamation, [proclaiming] October 12, 2020 Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Arizona.”

Kylie is currently a first year student at Harvard University.

Patrisha Mclean

Patrisha McLean is a photojournalist, a human rights activist, and the founder/president of Finding Our Voices. In 2016, Patrisha’s secret of 29 years was outed by worldwide headlines over the domestic violence arrest of her celebrity husband, Don. Dozens of women in her small community in Maine told her they too had been terrorized by an intimate partner: They hadn’t known about her and she hadn’t known about them and they all had felt alone.

This led her to create Finding Our Voices: Breaking the Silence of Domestic Abuse, a grassroots non-profit organization powered by survivors standing proud and speaking loud to educate everyone about the pervasiveness, insidiousness and complexity of domestic abuse. The organization empowers girls and women to recognize, avoid, safely leave and heal from dangerous relationships, reframes domestic abuse away from false and harmful stereotypes and provides sister-to-sister services for victims.

Patrisha also created a multimedia exhibition called Finding Our Voices: Breaking the Silence of Domestic Abuse that features portraits of 21 women, from all over Maine, all ages, and all walks of life, along with audio of their voices telling their story of domestic abuse and their journey out of it. She provides a platform for women to join her in speaking out about the domestic abuse in their lives for personal healing, to help other women, to educate communities, and to get accountability and justice.

The Edie Windsor Champion for LGBTQIA Equality Honoree

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE

Karine Jean-Pierre currently serves as the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary. She was the Senior Advisor to President-Elect Joe Biden and Chief of Staff to Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris on the Biden-Harris Campaign. Prior to her role on the campaign, she served as Chief Public Affairs Officer for MoveOn.org and was an NBC and MSNBC Political Analyst. Jean-Pierre also served as Regional Political Director for the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Obama-Biden administration and as Deputy Battleground States Director for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She served as Southeast Regional Political Director for President Obama’s 2008 campaign, Deputy Campaign Manager for Martin O’Malley for President, Campaign Manager for the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Initiative, and Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Legislative and Budget Affairs for two members in the New York City Council. Previously, she worked at the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, pushing major companies to change their business practices. Born in Martinique and raised in New York, Jean-Pierre is a graduate of Columbia University.

Karine Jean-Pierre is also the author of the memoir, Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of America.

Sophie Poldermans

Sophie Poldermans is an expert on women leaders in times of conflict. She founded her own business, “Sophie’s Women of War,” to shed light on women leaders in times of conflict, crisis and change. She is a best-selling author, international speaker, lecturer and consultant on women and war, women’s leadership and business innovation, advocating for women’s rights around the globe. Poldermans is also the author of the New York Post & Amazon best seller, Seducing and Killing Nazis. Hannie, Truus And Freddie: Dutch Resistance Heroines of WWII (USA, 2019). She personally knew Truus and Freddie Oversteegen of the book for 20 years and worked closely with them for over a decade as a board member of the Dutch National Hannie Schaft Foundation.

Sophie currently resides in The Netherlands and has degrees in Dutch Law, International Criminal Law and Human Rights (University of Amsterdam); Peace and Conflict Studies (UC Berkeley, USA); Human Rights and Democratization (EIUC, Venice, Italy; Vienna, Austria) and certificates in Women’s Leadership (Yale School Of Management, USA), Business Innovation (Columbia Business School, USA) and Negotiation (Columbia Business School, USA).

Tracey Vitchers

As a non-profit executive and nationally recognized expert on sexual violence prevention and survivor advocacy, Tracey Vitchers currently serves as the Executive Director of It’s On Us, a nonprofit founded in 2014 as an initiative of the ObamaBiden Administration to combat campus sexual assault through peer-to-peer prevention education programs and activating the largest student organizing program of its kind. It’s On Us is the only national sexual assault prevention nonprofit in the United States to combine grassroots organizing and prevention education with large-scale culture change campaigns through partnerships with creative agencies, influencers, PR and communications firms, and media. Tracey joined It’s On Us in November of 2017 following its transition out of the White House to Civic Nation.

Tracey is also an active member of the Advisory Boards of Culture Of Respect, The Every Voice Coalition, and SafeBAE, and she previously served on the Governing Boards of End Rape On Campus, Safe Haven of Pike County, and SAFER.

Tracey was named a 2014 Women’s Media Center Progressive Women’s Voices Fellow, and, in May 2011, Tracey founded the national youth service-learning program, The 9/12 Generation Project, and served as Director until the fall of 2013.

Devika Bulchandani

Devika Bulchandani is the Chief Executive Officer of Ogilvy North America and Global Chairwoman of Advertising. She is responsible for driving all aspects of Ogilvy’s core business across the United States and Canada which spans Advertising, Brand & Content, Public Relations & Influence, Experience, Growth & Innovation, and Health.

Devika is deeply devoted to social causes that promote equality, diversity and inclusiveness. She is a founding member of Times Up Advertising, where she has tirelessly championed equality for women in advertising, particularly for women of color. To mark International Women’s Day in 2019, Devika brought together her industry peers for a discussion in partnership with NYWICI, AAF and Bloomberg Media that featured the pioneering women of Madison Avenue. In 2017, she was named to the “Working Mothers of the Year”list by She Runs It, and is a previous recipient of the AdColor Innovator Award.

ELAINE GOLDSMITH-THOMAS

Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas is an American film producer and the President at Goldsmith-Thomas Productions. As one of the few female Hollywood film producers, she has represented such prominent artists such as Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Connelly, and Susan Sarandon. Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Jennifer Lopez currently serve as co-presidents of film and television production company Nuyorican Productions.

In June 2021, Netflix announced a multi-year first look deal with Nuyorican Productions to produce a slate of films, television series, scripted and unscripted content, with an emphasis on projects that support diverse female actors, writers and filmmakers.

Michele Goodwin

Trained in sociology and anthropology, Professor Goodwin has conducted field research in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, focusing on human trafficking (marriage, sex, organs, and other biologics). Her books include Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood (2020); Biotechnology, Bioethics, and The Law (2015); Baby Markets: Money and the Politics of Creating Families (2010); and Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts (2006).

Professor Goodwin has also long recognized the transformative power and value of education and access. After earning her juris doctorate, she moved south and guided one of the largest southern school districts in the United States through desegregation, equity and inclusion efforts across 52 K-12 schools, more than 35,000 students, with an operating budget exceeding $350 million. She later served as an assistant dean at the University of Wisconsin to help galvanize equity and inclusion efforts, followed by directing university programs and institutes.

She is also host of the On the Issues with Michele Goodwin podcast at Ms. Magazine. A prolific author, Goodwin’s publications include six books and over 100 articles, essays, book chapters, and commentaries.

Sydney Montgomery

Sydney Montgomery is the owner and founder of S. Montgomery Admissions Consulting, LLC which provides personalized law school admissions consulting and college counseling services. As the first lawyer in her family, and as a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, Sydney has used her platform since 2012 to help students break down generational barriers and step confidently into their future.

Sydney is also a Co-Founder of College Equity First, Inc. a Maryland 501(c)(3) non-profit with a mission to motivate colleges and universities to become places where women and BIPOC students are as safe, valued, supported, developed, and celebrated as other students. In 2021, through data collection, analysis, and substantive interviews, College Equity First, Inc. synthesized quantitative and qualitative data about each institution into the College Equity Index™. Using an alphanumerical rating system, the College Equity Index™ ranked 105 top private colleges on 19 different criteria as they related to the Black experience on campus.

Sydney also sits on the Board of the Institute for Anti-Racist Education, a New Jersey 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to creating decolonizing pedagogy and anti-racist curriculum.

KIMBERLY PEELER-ALLEN

Kimberly Peeler-Allen has been working at the intersection of race, gender and politics for almost 20 years. Kimberly is the Co-founder of Higher Heights, a national organization building the political power and leadership of Black women from the voting booth to elected office.

Kimberly and her Co-Founder, Glynda Carr, have built Higher Heights from an idea on the back of a placemat into a network of over 90,000 members, donors and activists across the country that have helped elect 10 Black women to Congress, one Black woman to the US Senate and grow the number of Black women in statewide executive office and leading our nation’s largest cities.

Higher Heights has helped drive the national narrative about the power of Black women voters and has inspired countless Black women to step into their power whether it is as voters, activists or elected leaders.