National Organization for Women's Intrepid Awards Gala on July 17

Honoring Katie Couric, Dr. Dorothy Height, Hon. Janet Reno, Linda Chavez-Thompson and Marna S. Tucker, Esq.

Since 2003, the National Organization for Women and the NOW Foundation has honored resolutely courageous, fearless and bold women from a variety of fields at our annual Intrepid Awards Gala. On Thursday, July 17, we will continue that tradition and recognize five phenomenal women at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.

"We look forward to gathering all these fabulous women in one room, to celebrate their dedication, strength and passion," says NOW President Kim Gandy. "Dr. Dorothy Heights, Linda Chavez-Thompson, Marna Tucker, Janet Reno and Katie Couric embody the definition of Intrepid: Fearlessly courageous and bold. These women took the road less traveled and never considered failure an option," said Gandy.

Intrepid honoree Hon. Janet Reno is one such woman, as the only female United States Attorney General and the second longest serving Attorney General. In 1960, when Ms. Reno enrolled at Harvard Law School, she was one of only 16 women in the class of more than 500 students. Although she has retired from public office, Ms. Reno continues to offer her experience, intellect and passion to issues ranging from education to terrorism.

CBS News Anchor Katie Couric is another Intrepid honoree who shattered the glass ceiling in network nightly news, becoming the first woman to solo anchor a network news show. She recently received attention for her comments supporting the claims of media sexism during Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

"I'm very grateful to be included in this event celebrating the achievements of such an accomplished and diverse group of women," says Intrepid honoree Katie Couric. "Hopefully we can develop positive messages to encourage others to focus primarily on the substance of someone's work and not just their gender," said Couric.

The evening will be emceed once again by D.C. news anchor Maureen Bunyan, an award-winning journalist and trailblazer in her own right.

What: 2008 Intrepid Awards Gala

When: Thursday, July 17

Where: National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., 1250 New York Avenue, NW (two blocks north of Metro Center)

Who: Honored Guests include (alphabetical):

Katie Couric, CBS News Anchor and Managing Editor
Dr. Dorothy Height, Chair and President Emerita of the National Council of Negro Women and civil rights icon
Hon. Janet Reno, the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney General
Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President Emerita of the AFL-CIO and the highest ranking woman ever in the U.S. labor movement
Marna S. Tucker, Esq., Attorney and first woman president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents

A full list of speaker bios, photos, and other information is available at www.now.org/organization/gala/2008

Media Credentialing:

Media interested in attending the gala or to interview the speakers please contact NOW Press Secretary Mai Shiozaki, 202-641-1906 or E-mail press@now.org.

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669, ext. 116; cell 202-641-1906

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