POST SHOW TALK-BACK PANELISTS

moderated by

RUTH MESSENGER

​

 

ANDREA YOUNG

Andrea Young is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. She is a life-long advocate for civil and human rights. The ACLU of Georgia is a trusted, ethical, nonpartisan defender of our civil liberties: Opposing threats to civil liberties; combatting voter suppression; supporting criminal justice reform; protecting freedom of speech, immigrant rights, and women’s rights, especially reproductive freedom.

​

CATHERINE LEDERER-PLASKETT

President and Chair of WCLA – Choice Matters

is an internationally-recognized advocate for women’s reproductive rights. Her lifelong civil rights activism has focused on gender, race and economic disparities. As its President and Chair for two decades, Catherine has spearheaded the growth and revitalization of WCLA – Choice Matters, the oldest ongoing pro-choice advocacy organization in the nation. Key to Catherine’s work is advancing comprehensive reproductive health policies and legislation. Frequently, Catherine can be heard discussing abortion rights issues on radio and television, as well as found running educational workshops and seminars at colleges, high schools, and community centers. Catherine is a founding member and former co-chair of the New York State Alliance for Women’s Health, a primary focus of which was the drafting of the Reproductive Health Act which passed into law in NYS on January 22, 2019.

​

MIMI ZIEMAN

Mimi Zieman is a physician, speaker, and reproductive rights advocate who writes about medical topics to empower people with information and writes creatively to explore the meaning behind experiences we share. Her memoir, Tap Dancing on Everest, is about the risks we take to become our truest selves. Her writing has appeared in The Sun, Ms. Magazine, Newsweek, Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, NBC News THINK, The Forward, and other publications. Her free newsletter combines medical news, art, and nature, available at www.mimiziemanmd.com

​

RUTH W. MESSINGER 

is the Global Ambassador for American Jewish World Service, an international human rights organization which she ran from 1998-2016 and where she now teaches leadership and moral courage. Additionally, Messinger does social justice and organizing work at the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Meyerson JCC and teaches Jewish women and social justice entrepreneurs. Ruth is a trained social worker and previously had a 22-year career in elected office in NYC.