Erin Matson (born 1980) is an American writer and feminist activist. Matson was 23 when she became the youngest-ever state chapter president in the history of the National Organization for Women (NOW). In June 2009, she was elected Action Vice President of NOW. She is a co-director of the activist organization Reproaction with

Pamela Merritt Pamela Merritt is an American writer and reproductive justice activist who advocates for women's rights and against white supremacy. Merritt is the executive director at Medical Students for Choice (MSFC), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with ...

. Matson is a native of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. In 2002 she graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

with a degree in Women's Studies. Matson was elected as part of a four-member team called "Feminist Leadership NOW" that took office July 21, 2009. Members of the team included Terry O'Neill of as President,

Bonnie Grabenhofer Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

of Illinois as executive vice president, and Allendra Letsome as membership vice president. Matson was NOW's Prairie States Regional Director before taking national office and served on National NOW's Board of Directors for three years. During this time, she traveled to Iowa to participate in NOW PAC's campaign to elect Hillary Clinton president of the United States. To date, Matson has served as the longest standing member of the National NOW Young Feminist Task Force (2003-2008). She co-authored a resolution that created the 2006 Young Feminist Summit in Albany, N.Y., and also authored and passed a bylaws amendment to incorporate virtual chapters in the organization. Matson was also the youngest-ever President of a state chapter when she was elected to lead Minnesota NOW in 2004. Matson has said that her personal experience as an anorexia survivor led her to feminist activism. Recently she has spoken out against Ralph Lauren's extreme digital retouching of model Filippa Hamilton. “Certainly apologies are due to her personally,” Matson told Radar Online. “But what I’m really concerned about here is the message that that this has sent to millions of pre-teens, daughters, mothers, sisters – women around the country and the world." Matson left her position at National NOW in 2012. In 2015, she and Pamela Merritt co-founded Reproaction, a direct action group formed to increase access to abortion and advance reproductive justice. She also serves on the board of directors of

NARAL NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

Pro-Choice Virginia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matson, Erin 1980 births Living people American feminists Writers from Minneapolis Georgetown University alumni National Organization for Women people 21st-century American women writers