The International Women's Forum (IWF), founded in 1974 as the Women's Forum of New York, is an invitation-only women's organization with some 7,800 members.
Its mission is "to support the women leaders of today and tomorrow". The IWF hosts two conferences each year to address women's issues and it provides intensive leadership training programs for women. The Leadership Foundation, Inc., a supporting organization, provides a Fellows Program and the Women Athletes Business Network (WABN) Program.
Members
The IWF has been described as "highly influential." Notable members have included
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
,
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Körbelová, later Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political science, political scientist who served as the 64th United States Secretary of State, United S ...
,
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor (March 26, 1930 – December 1, 2023) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, O' ...
,
Coretta King,
Betty Friedan, and
Katharine Graham
Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, ''The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, wh ...
,
and include "inventors, entrepreneurs, CEOs, heads of state, academics, scientists, astronauts, Olympic athletes, artists, filmmakers, financiers, philanthropists, and more".
History
The group started as the Women's Forum of New York, founded in 1974 by
Elinor Guggenheimer,
Muriel Siebert
Muriel Faye Siebert (September 12, 1928 – August 24, 2013) was an American businesswoman who was the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and the first woman to head one of the NYSE's member firms. She joined the 1, ...
,
Eleanor Holmes Norton, and
Muriel Fox. Over the next few years it expanded to Atlanta, Chicago, Colorado, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. In 1982 it became international with the addition of the United Kingdom and was renamed the International Women's Forum in 1987.
It is active in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East as well as the United States.
"Women Who Make a Difference"
The IWF maintains an International Hall of Fame and confers an annual "Women Who Make a Difference" award. Past awardees have included:
* 2000: Italian politician
Beatrice Rangoni Machiavelli
* 2010: American judge
Leigh Saufley
* 2011: Singaporean urban planner and architect Dr.
Cheong Koon Hean
* 2012:
Nyamko Sabuni, Swedish Minister for Gender Equality
* 2014:
Zanele Mbeki, founder of the Women's Development Banking Trust and former First Lady of South Africa
* 2015:
Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, founder of
Focus Ireland
* 2016: American lawyer
Gloria Allred
* 2016:
Ilya Espino de Marotta, engineer who led the
Panama Canal Expansion Project
The Panama Canal expansion project (), also called the Third Set of Locks Project, doubled the capacity of the Panama Canal by adding a new traffic lane, enabling more ships to transit the waterway, and increasing the width and depth of the lane ...
* 2017: American lawyer and academic
Danielle Conway
* 2018: American author and organizer
Charlotte Bunch
Charlotte Anne Bunch (born October 13, 1944) is an American feminist author and organizer in women's rights and human rights movements. Bunch is currently the founding director and senior scholar at the Center for Women's Global Leadership at ...
References
{{Reflist, 30em
External links
International Women's ForumThe Phenomenal Women Group
Organizations established in 1974
International women's organizations
Women's organizations based in the United States