The United State of Women Summit was a summit held in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

focused on

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

in the United States. The summit was hosted by the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

, the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

, the

U.S. Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the United States federal executive departments, executive departments of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of fede ...

, and the Aspen Institute.

Background

The White House first announced the summit on January 29, 2016, with the theme "Today we change tomorrow." Originally scheduled for May 23, the summit was postponed to June 14. On June 7, First Lady Michelle Obama announced the summit on a video, alongside

Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

, Oprah Winfrey,

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

Laverne Cox Laverne Cox (born May 29, 1972) is an American actress and LGBT advocate. She rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black'', becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a Pr ...

Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...

Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. She is best known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the television medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'', ...

Cecile Richards Cecile Richards (born July 15, 1957) is an American activist who served as the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018. In 2010, Richards was elected to the ...

, and Jessica Williams.

Agenda

The summit was dedicated to discussing a number of topics, including economic empowerment, equal pay for equal work,

women's health Women's health differs from that of men in many unique ways. Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not mer ...

women's education Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often con ...

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

, and civic engagement. Mikaila Ulmer

Ciiru Waithaka, a Kenya entrepreneur, was lauded by Michelle Obama. She recognised their common ancestry and said "You Go Girl". Obama noted that Waithaka had doubled her production of school furniture thanks to a loan of 10,000 by Goldman Sachs. Obama recognised her as a woman who was helping other women and families to follow her lead. Joe Biden at the United State of Women Summit 2016

Joe Biden at the United State of Women Summit 2016

President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, one of the key speakers at the summit, was introduced by child entrepreneur Mikaila Ulmer. He discussed

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, violence committed against women by groups such as

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

and Boko Haram, and the progress made by his administration in supporting

family leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" a ...

and the minimum wage. Vice President Joe Biden was another key speaker, citing

campus sexual assault Campus sexual assault is the sexual assault, including rape, of a student while attending an institution of higher learning, such as a college or university. The victims of such assaults are more likely to be female, but any gender can be victi ...

as a major issue.

Participants

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

* Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States * Joe Biden,

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

Valerie Jarrett Valerie June Jarrett ( Bowman; born November 14, 1956) is an American businesswoman and former government official. She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Obama Foundation. She previously served as the senior advisor to U.S. ...

Senior Advisor to the President Senior Advisor to the President is a title used by high-ranking political advisors to the president of the United States. White House senior advisors are senior members of the White House Office. The title has been formally used since 1993. Res ...

Loretta Lynch Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American lawyer who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the Un ...

U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

* Thomas Perez,

U.S. Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...

Heather Higginbottom Heather Anne Higginbottom (born July 15, 1972) is currently the head of the new JPMorgan Chase ''Policy''Center. Prior to her current role, she served as CARE USA’s Chief Operating Officer beginning in 2017. Higginbottom was the U.S. Deputy Secr ...

Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources The United States Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources is the third in charge of the United States Department of State. Along with the United States Deputy Secretary of State, other Deputy Secretary of State, the Deputy Secretary ...

Walter Isaacson Walter Seff Isaacson (born May 20, 1952) is an American author, journalist, and professor. He has been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C., the chair and CEO of CNN, ...

, President of the Aspen Institute * Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader *

, President of Planned Parenthood *

Connie Britton Constance Elaine Britton ( Womack; born March 6, 1967) is an American actress. Britton made her feature film debut in the independent comedy-drama film '' The Brothers McMullen'' (1995), and the following year, she was cast as Nikki Faber on th ...

* Oprah Winfrey *

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net ...

Camila María Concepción Camila María Concepción (December 20, 1991 – February 19, 2020) was an American screenwriter and transgender rights activist. Biography Concepción was born in California and grew up in Inland Empire and El Monte. She graduated from Yale ...

* Fay Cobb Payton

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:United State of Women Summit 2016 conferences 2016 in Washington, D.C. Feminism and health Obama administration initiatives United States Department of State United States Department of Labor June 2016 events in the United States

Background

Agenda

Participants

See also

References

External links