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 Ford Foundation board of trustees. In spring 2019, Richards co-founded Supermajority, a women's political action group.

Early life, education, and political activism

Richards was born in Waco, Texas, and is the daughter of former Texas Governor Ann Richards (' Willis), an American politician and activist. Her father, David Richards, practiced law and built a practice dealing with civil-rights plaintiffs, newspapers, and labor unions. He also won several landmark cases, including a voting-rights lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court. Cecile Richards initially went to public school, but, in ninth grade, she was disciplined for protesting the Vietnam War, after she wore a black armband. She then attended the progressive St. Stephen's Episcopal School for the remainder of high school. Richards' parents were immersed in political activism from her early years on. In January of 1971 at the age of 13 she was named an honorary page to the 62nd Texas State Legislator. At the age of 16, she helped her mother campaign for Sarah Weddington, the attorney who won ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...

'', in her bid for the Texas state legislature. Richards graduated with a bachelor's degree in history from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

(1980). After graduation, she became a labor organizer for service workers across several states, running union campaigns for garment workers, nursing home workers, and janitors. When she was 30, she moved back to Texas to help with her mother, Ann Richards', campaign for governor. She is currently on the board of the Ford Foundation, a global

private foundation A private foundation is a tax-exempt organization not relying on broad public support and generally claiming to serve humanitarian purposes. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private foundation in the U.S. with over $38 billion ...

with the mission of advancing human welfare. She was one of the founders of America Votes, a

501(c)4 A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...

organization that aims to co-ordinate and promote progressive issues, and is currently serving as president. Before that, she was deputy chief of staff to

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

, the Democratic leader in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. She has also worked at the

Turner Foundation Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he ...

. In 1996, she founded the Texas Freedom Network, a Texas organization formed to counter the Christian right. She also serves on the board of advisors of Let America Vote, an organization founded by former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander that aims to end voter suppression. Richards stepped down as president of Planned Parenthood in 2018 and was succeeded by

Leana Wen Leana Sheryle Wen (; born Wen Linyan; January 27, 1983) is an American physician, an op-ed columnist with ''The Washington Post'' and a CNN medical analyst. She is a practicing physician, a former Health Commissioner for the City of Baltimore, ...

. In April 2019, Richards co-founded a new political action group, Supermajority, to educate and train women to further women's political agenda for the 2020 elections.

Supermajority

In April 2019, Richards co-founded a new political action group, Supermajority, that "aims to train and mobilize 2 million women over the next year to become organizers, activists, and leaders ahead of the 2020 election" to create a "multiracial, intergenerational movement for women's equity." Founded with activists

Alicia Garza Alicia Garza (born January 4, 1981) is an American civil rights activist and writer known for co-founding the international Black Lives Matter movement. She has organized around the issues of health, student services and rights, rights for dome ...

and

Ai-jen Poo Ai-jen Poo (, ; born 1974) is an American labor activist. She is the president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She is also the director of Caring Across Generations, a national coalition of 200 advocacy organizations working to tran ...

, the group hopes to "push politicians to adopt an agenda akin to what Richards called 'a women's new deal'", with issues like "voting rights, gun control, paid family leave, equal pay, and others" viewed as "soft issues" being seen as "issues that impact everyone". Since women comprised the majority of the electorate in the 2018 midterm election, Supermajority hopes to further this trend, educating women on "basic organizing skills like voter registration" and building a larger platform for female candidates in the

2020 election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **Cro ...

. Richards says "

he group will be successful He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

if 54% of the voters in this country are women and if we are able to insert into this country the issues that women care about and elect a president who's committed to doing something about them."

Writing

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. In 2018 Richards published her memoir ''Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead''. The memoir discusses her upbringing and career.

Personal life

Richards is married to Kirk Adams, a labor organizer with the Service Employees International Union, and has three children. Their eldest, Lily Adams, served as press secretary for Tim Kaine, later as an advisor of communications for Hillary Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign and communications director for Kamala Harris's presidential campaign. Richards and her husband live in New York City. Richards was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in mid 2023.

Awards and honors

* 2010

Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship The Puffin Prize for Creative Citizenship is an American award given jointly by Type Media Center (a nonprofit media organization previously associated with ''The Nation'' magazine) and the Puffin Foundation. The annual $100,000 award honors artists ...

* 2012 '' Time'' magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World * 21th of May 2024 Legion of Honour

References

External links

Supermajority.com
*
Coverage of Cecile Richards
at '' The Texas Tribune'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Cecile 1957 births Activists from New York City American abortion-rights activists American feminists Brown University alumni Living people New York (state) Democrats Activists from Austin, Texas People from Waco, Texas Presidents of Planned Parenthood Texas Democrats