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Georgia State University

Georgia Women’s Movement Spring Event: Women Organize for Change!

The Georgia Women’s Movement Project Spring Event is held annually to highlight collections in the Georgia State University Library Women and Gender Collections, and to celebrate the lives of the unsung heroines of the women’s movement in Georgia.

The 2014 event brings together three inspirational women who have organized for social, legal and economic justice in Georgia by agitating, negotiating and collaborating. Their stories and insights will educate and inspire current and future generations of activists to continue the task of transforming our world.

Thursday, May 22, 5:30-7:00 pm
Special Collections And Archives
University Library South, 8th Floor
100 Decatur St. SE
Atlanta, GA 30303
Register for event
or RSVP to mgerrard@gsu.edu / (404) 413-2888

Stephanie Davis
Stephanie Davis is the executive director of Georgia Women For a Change, a non-profit public policy institute with a gender lens, that represents Georgia activists across a spectrum of issues including health care, economic justice and challenging violence against women and girls. Georgia Women for a Change introduced legislation to combat human trafficking and institute flexible sick leave policy. Davis served as the first Policy Advisor on Women’s Issues to Mayor Shirley Franklin and in that role, coordinated the “Dear John” campaign to end the prostitution of children in Atlanta. As the first director of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation, where she served for 11 years, Davis was responsible for raising several million dollars, establishing an endowment and positioning the Foundation to be the fastest growing women’s fund in the country. Davis currently serves on the Board of Synchronicity Theatre and the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She is a graduate of Skidmore College and received one of the country’s first Masters in women’s studies from Goddard College.

 

Becky Rafter
A graduate of Agnes Scott College and New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, Becky Rafter is the Executive Director for Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND). She has previously served as Director of Stakeholder Engagement for Funding Exchange, Development Director and Program Manager for Fund for Southern Communities and Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia. She currently serves on the program committee of Grantmakers for Southern Progress and the board of the Calamus Foundation, where she focuses on narrowing the gap between philanthropy and grassroots communities. Most recently, Becky joined the Accountability, Resource and Action Teams for Showing Up for Racial Justice, a national network of white activists identifying and creating models for organizing white people to address structural racism. Becky served on the boards of Georgians for Choice (now SPARK! Reproductive Justice NOW), Feminist Women’s Health Center, Georgia Shares and the Little Five Points Community Center.

 

Janelle Yamarick
Throughout her 24-year non-profit career, Janelle Yamarick has worked tirelessly to advance reproductive health, rights, and justice. Starting in 1990, Janelle spent six years as the Executive Director of GARAL, the Georgia affiliate of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL). She then moved to the Feminist Health Center, where, for 18 years, she served as the Center’s Community Education & Advocacy Director, building the Center’s advocacy/public policy programs to ensure underserved communities had access to and knowledge about comprehensive gynecological care and health services. In April 2014, she became the Center’s Executive Director. Janelle has participated in many community activities, including a 15+-year stint for the Citizen Review Panel of DeKalb County Juvenile Court. She also served on the boards of the League of Women Voters – Atlanta/Fulton Chapter, the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition, as well as being a member of Refugee Family Services’ Medical Advisory Board, and the advisory board to the Women’s Resource Center at GA Tech.

 

The Women and Gender Collections
Established in 1995, the Georgia State University Women and Gender Collections document the experiences of women active in the second wave of the women’s movement, in particular their efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in Georgia. It also chronicles women and men participating in women and LGBTQ-centered activism and advocacy in Georgia and the Southeast. In addition, the collection highlights Georgia State University faculty, staff and students involved in feminist activities, including the development of continuing education and academic classes in women’s studies and the establishment of the Women’s Studies Institute.