Girls for Gender Equity: It's the Legacy for Us
Join us for a conversation with Anita Hill about her new book, GGE's 20th anniversary, and our shared mission to end gender-based violence.
Following the release of her third book Believing, professor, legal scholar and advocate Anita Hill will join Girls for Gender Equity's (GGE) founding president and CEO Joanne N. Smith in an intergenerational conversation with GGE youth organizers to discuss the work to end gender-based violence.
Next summer, GGE will be celebrating its 20 Year Anniversary, and this conversation will kick off our celebrations. The release of Believing and this anniversary come ten years after we honored Anita Hill at our 10th anniversary and held an intergenerational conversation about her second book, Reimagining Equality. Her voice and leadership in the movement guide our practice and courage at Girls for Gender Equity as we work to end gender-based violence.
Her documentary Anita: Speaking Truth to Power featured our practice to end sexual harassment and violence in schools. This is a full-circle moment for all of us, and we hope you will join us.
About Anita Hill:
Anita Hill (she/her) is a lawyer, advocate, and the University Professor of Social Policy, Law, and Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University. Thirty years ago this fall, Hill faced down an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee—led by then-Senator Joe Biden—to testify that her boss, Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas, had sexually harassed her. It was a landmark moment for these issues and inspired countless women to come forward with their stories, to file complaints, and even to run for office. It also cemented Hill as a leading figure in the fight for women's rights and against gender-based violence. She has written for The New York Times and Newsweek, and is a sought-after speaker.
About Joanne N. Smith:
Joanne N. Smith (she/her) is the founding President & CEO of Girls for Gender Equity (GGE). She moves GGE closer to its mission through strategic advocacy, development, and leadership cultivation. Ms. Smith is a Haitian-American social worker born in NY. A staunch human rights advocate, she has co-authored Hey Shorty: A Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment and Violence in Schools and on the Streets. Smith’s leadership helped facilitate a $35M commitment from government and philanthropy to invest in community-driven recommendations of the Nations first Young Women’s Initiative. Smith is the co-founder of The Black Girl Freedom fund, a 10-year initiative to invest 1 Billion dollars into the advancement of Black girls and a member of Move to End Violence --an initiative designed to strengthen the collective capacity to end gender-based violence in the United States. Smith resides in Brooklyn, NY.
About Girls for Gender Equity:
Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) is an intergenerational organization committed to the physical, psychological, social and economic development of girls and women, particularly cisgender and transgender girls and gender non-conforming/non-binary (GNC/NB) youth of color. Through direct service, policy & organizing, and culture change, GGE encourages communities to remove systemic barriers and create opportunities for girls and women to live self-determined lives.
GGE’s work to combat sexual violence is featured in the 2014 documentary Anita: Speak Truth to Power and Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning that aired on Lifetime and Netflix in 2020.
Learn more about GGE by following on social: @ggenyc on Twitter and Instagram.
