Eleanor Smeal

Co-Founder and President · Feminist Majority Foundation · company speakers →

As Co-Founder and President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, Publisher of Ms. Magazine, and former President of the National Organization for Women (NOW), Eleanor Smeal has led efforts for the economic, political, and social equality and empowerment of women worldwide for over four decades. She has been an activist leader in the passage of landmark legislation, such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, Equal Credit Act, Civil Rights Restoration Act, Violence Against Women Act, and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Smeal also led the fight for the U.S. ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (from 1977-1982). Never giving up the fight for the ERA, Smeal and the Feminist Majority, a lead organization in the ERA Coalition, have worked tirelessly first for ratification of the ERA and currently for recognition of the ratification by the 38th state (Virginia), and the enshrining the ERA into the U.S. Constitution as the 28th Amendment. Known as a political analyst, strategist, and grassroots organizer, Smeal has played a pivotal role in defining the debate, developing the strategies, and charting the direction of the feminist movement. She was the first to identify the “gender gap” – the difference in the way women and men vote – and popularized its usage in election and polling analyses to enhance women’s voting clout. In October 2015, Smeal and her achievements were honored as she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Smeal is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University and holds an M.A. degree from the University of Florida. She received an honorary Doctor of Law from Duke University in 1991 and an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Florida in 2003, and an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey in 2010. Smeal was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2015.

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