BALTIMORE, MD – Over 6,000 feminists of all ages from throughout the United States and the world are meeting at the Baltimore Convention Center to ignite the feminist movement for the 21st Century. Literally, a who’s who of the feminist movement, both in the United States and worldwide, as well as hundreds of new young leaders will be speaking and presenting ideas for the future that will impact advances for women for decades to come. FEMINIST EXPO 2000 for Women’s Empowerment is produced and sponsored by the Feminist Majority Foundation together with some 575 USA, campus and global co-sponsoring organizations. Delegations are expected from 65-plus countries in all regions of the world and nearly every state in the country. “This historic exposition and convention will generate ideas, a special synergy, and galvanize action that will benefit women now and in years to come, both here and worldwide,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation. “The networking, the new alliances, commitments and shared ideas will be priceless in the struggle for women’s equality in the 21st Century.” This national and global feminist exposition and convention is bringing together feminists from all sectors of society – including law, politics, health care, business, the arts, media, education, technology, trade unions, advocacy, sports, religion, and philanthropy. The convention will feature many new ideas and will be a call-to-action to empower women both economically and politically. The exposition and convention, like the feminist movement, is intergenerational, with over 2,000 students (at least one third of all participants) from both two-year and four-year public and private colleges across the country attending. Every general assembly and virtually all symposia, roundtables and training sessions include young leaders. Many mothers and daughters are participating. FEMINIST EXPO 2000 is also designed to showcase the work, ideas, strength and diversity of the many organizations that comprise the feminist movement. “We think it is time for the world and ourselves to glimpse the vast size and power of the present day global women’s movement,” added Smeal. The grand exhibit hall, in the theme of “Envisioning a Feminist Future”, will feature some 250 women’s organizations and their work and vision for the future. A central hub of the exhibit hall will feature the Feminist Career Center that will provide information, resources and networking in feminist careers in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. Also, an interactive technology super booth will demonstrate online organizing techniques for spreading feminism worldwide. A signing marathon featuring more than 90 popular feminist authors will continue throughout the weekend. FEMINIST EXPO 2000 will kick-off with a salute by young feminist leaders to milestones for women in the 20th Century and will salute many of the key feminists who helped make these historic advances and are still working for women’s progress today. (A list of the salute recipients is provided.) Speeches by Eleanor Smeal, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Tyne Daly, Dolores Huerta, and Ann Lewis will also take place during the first general assembly session. Economic issues, ranging from winning pay equity to strengthening Social Security to ending sweatshops to socially responsible investing, will be notably featured throughout FEMINIST EXPO 2000. New ideas such as “care credits” will be featured to end the penalizing of women in our Social Security and taxation systems for taking care of children, the elderly and the sick. Political empowerment for women will be highlighted prominently on both Friday and Saturday, with a special emphasis on changing rules to increase representation of women in elected office. Currently, only 13 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress are women; the United States is ranked 47th in the world in w
###For Immediate Release
April 4, 2000
