White House & WFU to Co-host Summit on Advancing Equity for Women and Girls of Color

Tomorrow the White House Council on Women and Girls and the Anna Julia Cooper Center at Wake Forest University will co-host a daylong summit on Advancing Equity for Women and Girls of Color, hosting a range of stakeholders from the academic, private, government and philanthropic sectors who are committed to increasing opportunity and empowerment for women and girls of color and their peers.

The Council on Women and Girls will also release a progress report as a follow up to the 2014 report, “Women and Girls of Color: Addressing Challenges and Expanding Opportunities.” A number of independent commitments to close opportunity gaps too often faced by women and girls, including women and girls of color, will be announced.

The summit will focus on a range of issues including economic development, healthcare, criminal justice, vulnerability to violence, hip-hop, and images of women in media.

What: White House Summit on Advancing Equity for Women and Girls of Color
When: Friday, Nov. 13 from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Where: White House South Court Auditorium

The event will be live-streamed at www.whitehouse.gov/live. You can also follow the conversation at #YesSheCan.

More than 40 speakers and panelists will participate, including:

  • Valerie Jarrett,White House Council on Women and Girls
  • Loretta Lynch, S. Attorney General
  • Tina Tchen,White House Council on Women and Girls
  • Cecilia Muñoz, White House Domestic Policy Council
  • Rogan Kersh, Provost, Wake Forest University
  • Melissa Harris-Perry, Professor, Wake Forest University
  • Teresa Younger, Ms. Foundation

Wake Forest’s Anna Julia Cooper Center is an interdisciplinary center that supports, generates, and communicates innovative research at the intersections of gender, race, and place. The Center is led by Presidential Endowed Professor Melissa Harris-Perry, who will speak and moderate a panel.

“The Anna Julia Cooper Center is thrilled to be partnering with the White House Council on Women and Girls to initiate ongoing efforts to craft a substantive research agenda focused on women and girls of color,” said Harris-Perry. “It is the mission of the AJC Center to advance justice through intersectional scholarship, and this conference is a tangible manifestation of that mission.”

Four Wake Forest students will have the opportunity to attend the summit as research fellows with the Anna Julia Cooper Center.

Categories: Media Advisory