A Beautiful Celebration of Six Intrepid Women

July 31, 2008

By Lisa Bennett, Communications Director

It was a beautiful and moving affair to remember. On July 17, the National Organization for Women and the NOW Foundation held their fifth annual Intrepid Awards Gala at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.

A full house of social justice leaders and activists, elected officials, media executives and NOW supporters were present to celebrate six courageous, fearless and bold women from a variety of fields. The evening was emceed by Maureen Bunyan of ABC News 7 in D.C., who shared with the crowd how thrilled she was to have emceed the event every year since its inception.

Another Intrepid tradition is to feature a work of art from a woman artist that conveys the spirit of the awards, to illustrate each year's gala. Bunyan thanked this year's artist, Marta Sanchez, who created the stunning painting entitled "A Continuous Celebration of All Things Beautiful," which appeared on the invitations, program books and the awards themselves. She also introduced, to a standing ovation, special guest Lilly Ledbetter, the courageous plaintiff in last year's Supreme Court equal pay case.

NOW President Kim Gandy kicked things off, recognizing the many leaders in the room, including past NOW presidents Eleanor Smeal and Patricia Ireland, and presenting the first two awards of the night. Civil rights icon Dr. Dorothy I. Height, chair and president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women, received the first award. At the age of 96, Height has a storied background, having organized with Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Church Terrell, and marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., among countless other achievements.

Height told the crowd: "This is a historic moment in our country when women can make the difference . . . Whatever we have to face, always remember that there was a woman, Harriet Tubman -- and I say to you what she said to the people she was taking from slavery to freedom -- 'Look backward, move forward, and keep going.'"

The first woman and the first person of color to be elected to one of the AFL-CIO's three highest offices, Linda Chavez-Thompson was the highest ranking woman ever in the U.S. labor movement. The second honoree of the evening, Chavez-Thompson is now the federation's executive vice president emerita.

Speaking of her 40 years in the labor movement, Chavez-Thompson said: "I wonder, sometimes, if I was fearless. There were many times when it was kind of scary, because I had so much on my shoulders. I had so many beautiful union women who were saying 'you're going to be the one who is going to do this for us.' I did the best I could . . . We need more women standing up for women, and that's what I tried to do."

After breaking for an elegant dinner and more than a little mingling and networking, NOW Action Vice President Melody Drnach took the stage to present the Intrepid Award to the first (and still only) woman to serve as U.S. attorney general, Janet Reno. Drnach reminded the attendees of the many dramatic events that occurred during Reno's tenure, from 1993-2001. Reno is active in her retirement, despite Parkinson's disease, serving as a strong voice for policy reform integrating science and law to prevent wrongful convictions.

After extolling the importance of family and friends, Reno thanks NOW for the award, saying: "[I]t comes at a great time when I am shaking, rattling, and rolling, and it makes me realize that you can continue to contribute sitting on the sidelines, but doing it with the public, the people, the nation in mind."

Latifa Lyles, NOW's Membership Vice President, presented the next award to Marna S. Tucker, Esq., a trailblazing lawyer who was the first woman president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents. Tucker has practiced law in the domestic relations field for over 30 years and is a founding board member of the National Women's Law Center.

Tucker described the courage of the women lawyers she met in China during the Tiananmen Square protests, and spoke of the progress we've made in the U.S. over the last 40 years: "Together, we organized. We did the hard work…the demonstrations, the politicking. We gave up our vacations, we nursed our babies in ladies rooms, at interminable meetings. Let there be no mistake, the women in this room and thousands like you, changed our little corner of the world, but more than that, you lit a beacon for the rest of the world."

NOW Executive Vice President Olga Vives presented the next Intrepid Award to groundbreaking television journalist Katie Couric. Anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News, Couric is the first female solo anchor of a weekday network evening news broadcast. Recently, women's rights supporters applauded Couric when she called out the sexism directed at Hillary Clinton by her colleagues in the media.

Couric's speech, in which she proudly described herself as a feminist, won frequent applause from her many fans in the room.

"I think a lot about my two daughters who are now 12 and 15, and about the world they'll inherit, and how they're being shaped by the way women are perceived today. I think my children's generation is accustomed to seeing women in the workplace, and working mothers are good examples for both little girls and little boys, but I wonder in some ways if we haven't regressed," said Couric. "In this year's presidential primary season, sexism was tolerated by too many men and women. All candidates deserve tough media coverage. . . . But no candidate should be disrespected simply because of gender. Sexism in our society needs to become as repugnant as racism. Covering by the media should focus less on what women are wearing, and more on what women are saying."

Feminist Majority Founder and President Eleanor Smeal, also a former NOW president, presented the final award of the evening. President Kim Gandy was honored for her 35 years of service to NOW with a special Intrepid Award. Smeal told stories of Gandy's early days in NOW and paid tribute to her hard work, dedication and passion for the women's movement and the struggle for equality for all.

Gandy was visibly moved by the award. She told the crowd that the other NOW officers and staff at the National Action Center had tried their best to keep the award a surprise -- and they had almost succeeded.

Keeping her remarks brief, and acknowledging all the other amazing women honored that night, and the leaders in the room, Gandy concluded, "I thank you from the very bottom of my heart for this great honor, and for all that you do for women."

Everyone in attendance agreed that the event was a smashing success and would be hard to top next year. But that won't stop us from trying!

View photos from the Gala.