Cecile Richards

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Cecile Richards
Cecile Richards (crop).jpg
Cecile Richards in 2012
President of Planned Parenthood
Assumed office
February 2006
Personal details
Born (1957-07-15) July 15, 1957 (age 59)
Waco, Texas, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Kirk Adams
Children 3
Parents Ann Richards
David Richards
Alma mater Brown University

Cecile Richards (born July 15, 1957)[1][2] is an American pro-choice activist who serves as the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America since 2006 and president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.[3] In 2010, Richards was elected to the Ford Foundation board of trustees.

Early life, education and political activism[edit]

Richards was born in Waco, Texas, and is the daughter of former Texas governor Ann Richards (née Dorothy Ann Willis), an American politician and activist. Her father, David Richards,[4] practiced law and had built a practice dealing with civil-rights plaintiffs, newspapers and labor unions, and also won several landmark cases, including a voting-rights lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court.[5] She initially went to public school, but in ninth grade she was disciplined for protesting the Vietnam War by wearing a black armband and she was moved to the progressive St. Stephen's Episcopal School for high school.[5]

Richards' parents were immersed in political activism from when she was young, and at the age of 16 she helped her mother campaign for Sarah Weddington, a lawyer for Roe v. Wade, for the Texas state legislature.[6]

She graduated with a bachelor's degree in history from Brown University in 1980.[7] When she was 30 she moved back to Texas to help with her mother Ann Richards with her campaign for Governor.[8] She is currently on the board of the Ford Foundation, a global private foundation with the mission of advancing human welfare.[9] She was one of the founders of America Votes, a 501(c)4 organization that aims to coordinate and promote progressive issues, and is currently serving as president.[8] Richards previously founded and served as president of America Votes, a coalition of national Democratic Party-affiliated organizations.[10] Before that, she was deputy chief of staff to the U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives.[11] She has also worked at the Turner Foundation.[12] In 1996, she founded the Texas Freedom Network, a Texas organization formed to counter the Christian right.[13]

Writing[edit]

She contributed the piece "Combating the Religious Right" to the 2003 anthology Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium, edited by Robin Morgan.[14]

Personal life[edit]

Richards speaking at an event for Hillary Clinton, October 2016

Richards is married to Kirk Adams, a labor organizer with the Service Employees International Union, and has three children.[9][15] She lives in New York City.[16]

Awards and honors[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Cecile Richards". The Guide to the Political Left. Retrieved 29 September 2015. 
  2. ^ Finn, Robin (May 2, 2010). "Strategy for the Produce Aisle". The New York Times. pp. MB2. 
  3. ^ Somashekhar, Sandhya (2015-07-16). "Planned Parenthood head apologizes for 'tone' of doctor in covert video". The Washington Post. 
  4. ^ Johnson, Darragh (March 25, 2006). "Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood's Choice Leader". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved 2009-04-06. 
  5. ^ a b "Daughters of Texas". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2016-08-15. 
  6. ^ "About Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards - Research, Statistics, and History on Abortion & Human Rights". Retrieved 2016-08-15. 
  7. ^ "Nelson Mandela To Receive Honorary Degree in Absentia, One of Eight Candidates" (Press release). Brown University. April 27, 2010. Retrieved 2011-04-11. 
  8. ^ a b Galanes, Philip (2016-06-18). "Cecile Richards, Barbara Bush and the Sisterhood of Political Progeny". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-08-15. 
  9. ^ a b "Cecile Richards :: Planned Parenthood". www.plannedparenthood.org. Retrieved 2016-08-15. 
  10. ^ Farhi, Paul (March 24, 2004). "Democratic Spending Is Team Effort". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved 2009-04-06. 
  11. ^ "Groups collecting contributions in hopes of defeating Bush". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Associated Press. August 17, 2003. p. 11A. 
  12. ^ Herman, Ken (April 7, 2001). "Tax-cut ad campaign players: throwback to '94 governor race". The Austin American-Statesman. 
  13. ^ Green, John (2000). Prayers in the Precincts. Washington: Georgetown University Press. p. 53. ISBN 0-87840-775-8. 
  14. ^ "Library Resource Finder: Table of Contents for: Sisterhood is forever : the women's anth". Vufind.carli.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2015-10-15. 
  15. ^ Richards, Cecile (October 6, 2014). "Ending the Silence That Fuels Abortion Stigma". Retrieved August 17, 2016. 
  16. ^ Martinez, Gebe. "Texans in Washington". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers Partnership, L.P. Retrieved 2009-04-06. 
  17. ^ Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, official website.
  18. ^ Fluke, Sandra (2012-04-18). "Time Magazine: 100 Most Influential People in the World: Cecile Richards". Time.com. Retrieved 2013-04-24. 

External links[edit]

Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by
Gloria Feldt		 President of Planned Parenthood
2006–present		 Incumbent
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