Meet the Badass Black Women Running This Feminist Institution

The Ms. Foundation is led by two women who are putting girls and women of color back on the map

Donna M. Owens
ZORA

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Credit: Monica Schipper/Getty Images

DDecades before the powerful #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, the Ms. Foundation for Women has been at the forefront of building women’s collective power in America, fighting to advance gender equality and justice for all. Now 45 years since founding mothers such as feminist icon Gloria Steinem and actress and child advocate Marlo Thomas helped launch the nation’s oldest women’s foundation, there’s still a focus on sisterly empowerment — but there’s been a shift. To wit, the sistas in charge are Black women.

Left to right: Jocelyn Frye and Teresa C. Younger

Teresa C. Younger, president and CEO, and Jocelyn Frye, board chair, each boast stellar credentials. Younger is a former community organizer who, since taking the helm at Ms. in 2015, has launched campaigns such as #MyFeminismIs to spark dialogue on feminism, funded a report on the sexual abuse to prison pipeline, and led a campaign to hold the NFL accountable for violence allegations against women. Frye is an alum of the Obama administration who worked closely with former first lady…

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