Long before #MeToo there was Anita Hill.
In 1991, she riveted and divided a nation as she testified before the Senate that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her during the years she worked for him at the United States Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Thomas would be confirmed and Hill would go on to become a professor of law, public policy and women’s studies at Brandeis University, a PEN Courage Award-winning author and a human rights advocate as explored in her new book, “Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence.” (Her autobiography, “Speaking Truth to Power,” shares her story of testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.)
On Friday, April 22 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich, Hill will deliver the keynote address at the luncheon for Fairfield County’s Community Foundation’s Fund for Women & Girls.
Now in its 24th year, the Community Foundation’s Fund for Women & Girls is the largest women’s fund in New England, helping tens of thousands of underserved women and girls in the region with more than $8 million in grants.
The annual luncheon – which is back to an in-person format although still available virtually – attracts more than 800 supporters each year and has featured such speakers as Maya Angelou, Gloria Steinem, Billie Jean King and Tracee Ellis Ross. Serving as the flagship fundraiser for supporting the fund’s work, the luncheon will also spotlight the work of its newest signature initiative, the emme coalition, a program that puts women and girls in the driver’s seat of their lives as partners in their own care.
“‘Dream. Believe. Achieve’ is more than a theme,” Fairfield County’s Community Foundation President and CEO Juanita James said. “Elevating women and girls to believe in their own power – and enabling them to amplify that power by working together – has always been at the heart of the Community Foundation’s Fund for Women & Girls. Having Anita Hill – one of the most compelling and respected voices in the fight for ending gender-based violence – deliver this most important message at the annual luncheon only makes it that much more empowering.”
The FCCF requires proof of full vaccination checked against government-issued IDs for any guests on-site at the luncheon. Masks will also be required when not actively eating or drinking.
Tickets and tables for the in-person luncheon and program, or virtual live stream, can be purchased here. https://fccf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/list/event?event_date_id=9844 For more, contact FWGLunch@FCCFoundation.org or call 203-750-3200.
