Center for American Progress

: Charting a Path Forward for Women’s Progress
Past Event


Charting a Path Forward for Women’s Progress

Reflections on the White House Council on Women and Girls and Looking Forward to the Work that Lies Ahead


Center for American Progress
3:30 - 5:15 PM EDT

This event is full.
Due to overwhelming demand, we will not be able to accommodate additional guests for this event.

The heated, divisive rhetoric of the 2016 presidential campaign raised troubling questions about the prevalence of entrenched gender stereotypes; persistent use of derogatory language about women; and stubborn structural barriers that shape women’s experiences, limit their opportunities, and ultimately hold women back. In the 2017 aftermath, women from across the country have reclaimed the conversation, engaging in renewed activism to elevate their diverse experiences and demand change in response to the challenges they face.

To explore which strategies best address today’s needs of women and their families, it is useful to reflect on the important achievements made during the Obama administration to make women’s progress central to the conversation about how best to move the nation forward. From equal pay to health care, gender equity, sexual assault prevention, paid family leave, paid sick days, and more, the Obama administration’s efforts to respond to the changing dynamics of families, modernize workplaces, reduce inequality, combat gender discrimination, and level the playing field for all can inform the current conversation about the gains that must be preserved and the progress still needed.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a conversation with Valerie Jarrett and Tina Tchen to recognize their leadership spearheading the Obama administration’s White House Council on Women and Girls and discuss both the accomplishments made on key women’s priorities and the work that remains on the agenda. A panel discussion with leading experts and advocates will follow to discuss how to continue to make progress in support of women and their families in the current environment, resist rollbacks, and secure concrete policy changes that respond to women’s diverse experiences and needs.

Opening remarks:
Neera Tanden, President and CEO, Center for American Progress

In discussion:
Valerie Jarrett, former Senior Adviser to the President and Chair, White House Council on Women and Girls
Tina Tchen, former Assistant to the President and Executive Director, White House Council on Women and Girls

Moderated by:
Michele Norris , Founding Director,The Race Card Project; Executive Director, The Bridge, The Aspen Institute’s Program on Race & Cultural Identity

Featured panelists:
Wendy Chun-Hoon, Co-Executive Director, Family Values @ Work
Serene Jones, President of the Faculty and Johnston Family Professor for Religion and Democracy, Union Theological Seminary
Catherine E. Lhamon, Chair, United States Commission on Civil Rights

Moderated by:
Jocelyn Frye , Senior Fellow, Center For American Progress