Teresa Younger, outgoing CEO of Ms Foundation, reflects on the pursuit of equality
ABC News
The outgoing head of the Ms. Foundation says the fight for political equality in the U.S. is far from over
NEW YORK -- Teresa Younger's term leading the Ms. Foundation, the first national philanthropy run by women and for women, has spanned the #MeToo movement and the rollback of national abortion rights and is now ending during Donald Trump's second presidency.
“We are currently not in the best shape,” Younger said, of the pursuit for political equality for everyone, part of the Ms. Foundation's mission. But even as she prepares to step down from her role as CEO in June, Younger said she is not walking away from the fight.
“I believe feminism is still alive and well," Younger said in an interview with The Associated Press. "In fact, it has been the one thing that has been the preservation of democracy and our constitutional rights in some way over the past 12 years.”
As CEO, Younger took on domestic abuse by professional football players, expanded the foundation's investments in grassroots groups in the South and Midwest and raised more than $100 million for its endowment. In 2018, the foundation embraced a strategy to advocate for resources to go to girls and women of color. Younger said that change was a long time coming, but it resonated differently under her leadership as a Black and Indigenous woman.
“The institution was explicit in our strategic plan to say that we want to center women and girls of color as a point of inclusion, not exclusion," Younger said. "And now we are sitting in a spot where quote-unquote DEI is looked at as bad. And we refuse to accept that.”
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