Episode Description: The theme of this season is “women uplifting women.” Domestic violence is an issue that affects many women in this country, but the ongoing criminalization of survivors is often overlooked in our conversations about ending gender-based violence. For our last episode of the season, NOW National President Christian F. Nunes sits down with Becki T. Kondkar, Director of the Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic and Founding Director of the Tulane Law School Women’s Prison Project to discuss how some women end up unjustly incarcerated, and what other women can do about it.

Links:

Women’s Prison Project

Report from the Sentencing Project on women serving life without parole and death sentences in the US

Guest: Becki Kondkar is Director of the Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic and founding Director of the Law School’s Women’s Prison Project (WPP). Kondkar has represented hundreds of survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, trafficking, and child sex abuse in civil and criminal courts, has trained generations of law students through Tulane’s clinical programs, and has educated attorneys, judges, mental health professionals, and advocates nationwide on legal system responses to gender-based violence. Since its founding in 2019, the WPP has been recognized for its groundbreaking work by the Conference on Crimes Against Women, the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Louisiana Association of Defense Lawyers, and the American Association of Law Schools. The program's mission is to end the criminalization of survival for women who experience gender-based violence and to free those unjustly incarcerated for killing an abusive partner or for participation in crimes under duress or coercion. Working alongside the law students they train, the WPP team has won freedom for 15 women who had served a combined total of 279 years in Louisiana's prisons.

Take Action NOW: This is our final episode of season 3, which means it’s time to plan for season 4 of Feminism NOW! Reach out to us at feminismnow@now.org to let us know what issues you’d like to hear covered on the show.

Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

Social Media Handles:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tulanelawschool/

Twitter: https://x.com/TulaneLaw

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TulaneLawSchool

The theme of this season is “Women uplifting women.” Indigenous women in North America experience some of the highest rates of violence in this nation. This week, NOW National President Christian F. Nunes sits down with Kansas State House Representative Christina Haswood, who is also a member of the Navajo Nation, to talk about how to support those searching for Murdered and Missing Indigenous persons.

Links:

Rep. Christina Haswood

HB 2008 | Bills and Resolutions | Kansas State Legislature

National Caucus of Native American State Legislators (NCNASL)

NOW on Native American and the Violence Against Women Act

Guest: Christina Haswood, a proud Dine’ (Navajo) from Lawrence, Kansas, embarked on her academic journey at Haskell Indian Nations University, earning an A.S. in Community Health. Transitioning to Arizona State University, she secured a B.S. in Public Health, followed by a Masters in Public Health from the University of Kansas Medical Center in 2020. Committed to elevating Native American representation, Christina, a Kansas State House Representative, is actively engaged in government and politics. Recognized for her advocacy, she serves on key committees, leads as the House Democrats' Policy Chair, and champions equity policies. A multi-award recipient, she continues to inspire through leadership and community service.

Take Action NOW: Make an end-of-year contribution to NOW’s 2024 campaign to empower feminists to support and enshrine reproductive rights in the United States.

Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

Socials:

Representative Christina Haswood:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/haswoodforks
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/haswoodforks
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/haswoodforks
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@haswoodforks

Episode Description: The theme of this season is “women uplifting women.” One issue that women often face is poverty. This episode, NOW National President Christian F. Nunes speaks with Leslie K. Gill, the President and CEO of Rung for Women, about why investing in women doesn’t just uplift those women, but their communities too.

Links:

Economic Justice | National Organization for Women

Guest: Leslie K. Gill is President of Rung for Women, a nonprofit organization in St. Louis that helps women climb the economic opportunity ladder so they can live equitable and abundant lives.

Recognized for her leadership and work empowering women, Leslie was awarded the Titan 100 Award recognizing top CEOs and executives in 2024, listed in St. Louis Magazine’s 50+ People Working Toward Solutions in St. Louis (2023), and named St. Louis Business Journal’s Most Influential Businesswomen (2022). In 2024, she gave the Commencement Address at Maryville University.

Take Action NOW: Learn more about Native American Heritage Month here, and the challenges that Native American women in particular face in this country.

Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

Socials:

Rung for Women:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rungforwomen/
• Twitter: https://x.com/rungforwomen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RungforWomen/

The theme of this season is “Women uplifting women." And women come in all shapes and sizes. This episode, NOW National President Christian F. Nunes sits down to speak with Tigress Osborn, the Executive Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance, about bodies, fat liberation, and why uplifting women shouldn’t require a pants size.

Links:

NOW Love Your Body campaign

Fearing the Black Body by Dr. Sabrina Strings

Saartjie Baartman

NIDDK Overweight and Obesity Statistics

Guest: Tigress Osborn (she/her) is a fat rights advocate and the Executive Director of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA). Tigress is a co-founder of and spokesperson for the Campaign for Size Freedom, which supports legal protections against height and weight discrimination. A two-time women’s college grad, she is an intersectional feminist teacher and writer whose fat liberation work has been featured on CNN, BBC, ABC News, and Free Speech TV. In 2024, Tigress was named to the Time100 Health list of most influential global health leaders in recognition of her work to fight size discrimination.

Take Action NOW: Learn more about Native American Heritage Month here, and the challenges that Native American women in particular face in this country.

Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

Socials:

Tigress Osborn/NAAFA:

• Tigress Osborn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iofthetigress
• NAAFA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naafaofficial
• NAAFA Twitter: https://x.com/NAAFAofficial
• NAAFA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EqualityAtEverySize/

The 2024 Presidential election was historic in so many ways. Instead of electing the first woman, and woman of color, to the highest office in the land, voters again elected Donald Trump. For those who are invested in the rights of women, it’s a hard time. This week, we sit down with NOW National President Christian F. Nunes to reflect–and to learn where we go from here.

Links:

https://now.org/media-center/press-release/racism-sexism-misogyny-and-hate-won-this-election-but-we-wont-let-our-democracy-be-destroyed/.

Guest: Christian F. Nunes, MBA, MS, LCSW, became NOW president in August 2020. She was previously appointed Vice President by the board in May 2019. As the second African American president in the organization’s history, the youngest person of color, and the youngest president in more than 40 years, Nunes is leading the organization through an intersectional lens, bringing a diverse coalition of grassroots activists to work against structural sexism and racism.

Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

Socials:

Christian F. Nunes

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christian_prez4now/
• Twitter: https://x.com/chrisfnunes
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NationalNOW/

The theme of this season is “women uplifting women.” And one of the ways that women have power to uplift others is through the power of the vote. But many people don’t use that power. Why don’t people vote, and what can we do about it? NOW National President Christian F. Nunes sits down this week with Emily Wasserman, the senior director of Voter Contact at Vote Forward, to talk about what the research says about getting out the vote.

Links:

NOW and Vote Forward

Why people don’t vote

Knight Foundation study on non-voters

Guest: Emily Wasserman is the Senior Director of Voter Contact at Vote Forward. She leads Vote Forward's data and research team, and is responsible for designing, executing, and assessing the organization's grassroots voter contact programs. She’s worked in educational technology at the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, and in social psychology and neuroscience at Boston College. She graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. in Cognitive Science and is based in San Luis Obispo, California.

Take Action NOW: Get out the vote with NOW and Vote Forward! https://votefwd.org/now

Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

this is in the world of sororities, particularly members of the Divine Nine. For those on the outside, sororities might look like opportunities to party. They are far, far more than that. NOW National President and honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho, Christian F. Nunes, sits down with International Grand Basileus of Sigma Gamma Rho, Marica T. Harris to talk about the important role sororities play in uplifting women and their communities.

Guest: Mrs. Marica T. Harris is the 26th International Grand Basileus of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Previously, Mrs. Harris has led as an Assistant Director and Regional Director in the Northeastern Region. Most recently, she served as the International Vice-president from 2020 to 2024, where she played a crucial role in advancing the sorority’s R3 initiatives—Recruitment, Retention, and Reclamation membership initiatives. Mrs. Harris has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, a Master of Arts in counseling, and a Master’s in Social Work from prestigious institutions. In addition to her educational experience, Mrs. Harris brings over 25 years of professional expertise working in the non-profit sector as a senior administrator; leading teams, program operations, talent acquisition, and fiscal oversight.

Take Action NOW: Get out the vote, speak with your friends and loved ones, and join the NOW PAC https://www.nowpac.org/

Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

Welcome to season 3 of Feminism NOW! This season, our theme is “Women Uplifting Women,” and we are thrilled to open with a field where women need a lot of uplift: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. NOW National President Christian F. Nunes speaks with Dr. Jamika Burge, Co-Founder and Board President of blackcomputeHER.org, INC, Head of Enterprise Design Research at Capital One, and a contributor to the 2022 National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Consensus study report, “Transforming Trajectories for Women of Color in Tech.”

Guest: Jamika D. Burge, PhD, is Co-Founder and Board President of blackcomputeHER.org, INC. Dr. Burge is an authority in research and programming that investigates the intersectionality of Black women and girls in computing, and she is also a tech founder (and principal) of Design & Technology Concepts, LLC. Jamika is also Head of Enterprise Design Research at Capital One. She is also the Founder of Capital One’s Intersectional Symposium. Jamika was a contributor to the 2022 National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Consensus study report, “Transforming Trajectories for Women of Color in Tech,” and the host of its podcast, Transforming Tech: Advancing Innovation through Inclusion.

Take Action NOW: Get out the vote, speak with your friends and loved ones, and join the NOW PAC https://www.nowpac.org/

Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

Listen to Dr. Burge speak about innovation and inclusion in tech on Transforming Tech: Advancing Innovation through Inclusion.