ERA Coalition / Fund For Women’s Equality Launches Digital Hub Centering Historically Underrepresented Voices

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2022
Contact: cwest@eracoalition.org

Equal Voice | Equal Future will be the first of its kind digital epicenter for equity and justice, influencing policymakers and fueling change

Equal Voice | Equal Future also announced collaboration with Global Girl Media-Chicago

Washington, DC –– Today, The ERA Coalition / Fund for Women’s Equality announced Equal Voice | Equal Future, a new digital hub to elevate the voices of historically underrepresented communities. Equal Voice | Equal Future is the brainchild of women and gender expansive people of color, and puts the voices of young people, LGBTQIA+ people, BIPOC, and other underrepresented communities front and center to tell their first-hand stories for the purpose of influencing policymakers and fueling economic and cultural change in support of these communities — including enshrining the Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution.

“Women’s lived realities have never been the center of our cultural narrative, nor our national policy. And we’re still fighting to force recognition of equal rights in our Constitution,” said ERA Coalition and Fund for Women’s Equality President and CEO Carol Jenkins. “Job losses, increased risks to physical safety, and burdens from caretaking and school resulting from the pandemic have impacted women, girls, and LGBTQI+ people of color the most. Mainstream media exacerbates these harms by failing to center their voices, perpetuating misrepresentations and erasure, and not lending enough urgency to calls for systemic change. That’s why we started Equal Voice | Equal Future: to center underrepresented voices in our culture and our politics to fuel change.”

Equal Voice | Equal Future will amplify issues of importance to BIPOC, LGBTQI+ people and commission storytellers from these communities. To do this, Equal Voice | Equal Future is cultivating an ecosystem with a team of content creators and journalists representing the BIPOC, LGBTQI+, and other historically underrepresented communities that focus on gender justice, equity across all groups, and social justice. Equal Voice | Equal Future will also serve as a resource to highlight, feature, and connect like-minded organizations, journalists, content creators and education institutions focused on equity and social activism in media.

One of Equal Voice | Equal Future’s first collaboration with like-minded organizations is with Global Girl Media-Chicago. GGM develops the voice and media literacy of teenage girls and young women, ages 14-22, in under-served communities by teaching them to create and share digital journalism designed to improve scholastic achievement, ignite community activism and spark social change.

“Global Girl Media-Chicago is proud to announce our collaboration with the Fund for Women’s Equality and the ERA Coalition. The ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment is key in advancing the opportunities available for all womxn and girls.” said Global Girl Media Program Manager Ceeba Loomis. “It is critical to include a diverse range of voices when exploring this complex issue, and GGM-Chicago is excited to do its part in providing a collaborative platform to further amplify our participants’ stories.”

“Global Girl Media-Chicago is thrilled to be partnering with the Fund for Women’s Equality and ERA Coalition to support the Equal Voice | Equal Future initiative,” said GGM-Chicago Executive Director Antiope Loomis. “During the GGM-Chicago Spring Program, our teens explored the issues around the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and how it affects the everyday well-being and life of girls and womxn. GGM-Chicago participants worked in teams to create digital stories, and reflect their own unique voice and perspective on the issues that they deem vital in their own lives and communities. We are looking forward to seeing the stories that come out of this important collaboration.”

Equal Voice | Equal Future is supported by a growing list of partner organizations, including Breakthrough U.S., Center for Intersectional Media and Entertainment, Color Congress, Feminist.com, Global Girl Media, Global Girl Media-Chicago, Latin Media Co., Ms., Occidental College, The Representation Project, Women’s eNews, and World Pulse. 

Equal Voice | Equal Future is also supported by an Editorial Advisory Board, including: 

• Alixa Garcia, Multi-Disciplinary Artist, Poet, Activist, Filmmaker, Co-Founder, Climbing Poetree
• Dr. Brittney Cooper, Ph.D. Associate Professor- Department of Africana Studies/ Women’s and Gender Studies, Rutgers
• Dr. Caroline Heldman, Executive Director, The Representation Project & Chair, Critical Theory and Social Justice at Occidental College
• Cristina Escobar, Co-Founder, Latin Media Co.
• Deborah Calla, Writer, Producer, Activist, Co-CEO, Media Access Awards (MAA)
• Fran Zone, President/CEO, Zone Communication
• Jamia Wilson, Vice President/Executive Editor, Penguin Random House
• Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, Vice President , Brennan Center for Justice & Executive Editor for Partnerships and Strategy, Ms.
• Joanna Friedman, Director, Writer, Producer, LA Program Director & Board Member Global Girl Media
• Jyoti Sarda, Founder and CEO, Nimble Media
• Lela Meadow-Conner, Creative Producer and Founder of mama.film
• Lori Sokol, PhD, Executive Director & Editor-In-Chief, Women’s eNews
• Nakisha M. Lewis, CEO & Founder, Breakthrough U.S.
• Dr. Nicole Haggard, PhD, Co-Founder, Center for Intersectional Media & Entertainment (CIME), Professor, Gender and Media- Mount Saint Mary’s University
• Sahar Driver, Co-Director, Color Congress & Impact Strategist: Beyond Inclusion: Critical Role of People of Color in the U.S. Documentary Ecosystem
• Stacey Marbrey, Award-Winning Filmmaker
• Vivian Wenli Lin, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Voices of Women in Media & Professor, Media
  Arts and Culture Department-Occidental College 

There is an open-call to share and submit stories in various formats. Find more information on submission guidelines, organizational partners, and the editorial advisory committee at www.equalvoice.org.

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The ERA Coalition was founded in 2014 to bring concerted, organized action to the effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA Coalition has a sister organization, the Fund for Women’s Equality, which promotes public education and outreach on the need for constitutional equality. Composed of more than 260 organizations across the country, the Coalition provides education and advocacy on Constitutional Equality. 

While the effort to amend the constitution to include sex equality began nearly a century ago, our renewed efforts are centered on women of color (African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Latina, and Native American), gender-nonconforming and transgender women and girls, and nonbinary people – those who are most impacted by systemic inequities.
www.eracoalition.org | www.fundforwomensequality.org