Chair of the Board, Feminist Majority Foundation.
Peg Yorkin is a philanthropist, women’s rights activist, and Co-Founder and Chair of the FMF. Prior to her extensive involvement in women’s rights, she produced live theatre in Los Angeles. In 1986, Yorkin worked with Ellie Smeal, then President of NOW, and produced NOW’s 20th anniversary with over 100 television and film celebrities at the Ahmanson Theatre, which chronicled in music and script the leading role of NOW and the feminist movement in advancing women’s rights. Yorkin also produced a videotape of the show, which is used in women’s studies and is in many libraries.
In 1991, Yorkin announced her $10 million gift, subsequently raised to $15 million, to endow the Feminist Majority Foundation and ensure its future. Yorkin then purchased a building for FMF to give feminism a permanent home.
Yorkin has been involved in all of the major campaigns of FMF, including the successful campaign to bring RU486 to this country, drawing the world’s attention to the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, and the acquisition of Ms. magazine at the behest of Gloria Steinem.
Yorkin’s two grown children, Nicole and David, are working television writers in the industry. She has 4 grandchildren who are all feminists, including her grandson.
