Happy Women’s History Month

Women’s History MonthDuring Women’s History Month, we reflect on how far we have come and how far we still have to go. This year, we marked the occasion by hosting our Dechert Symposium on Constitutional Equality, a landmark gathering that also celebrated the transformational gift from Marcy Syms that renamed our initiative and deepened our commitment to advancing sex equality for all.

The conversations that unfolded that day — on the ERA, reproductive rights, LGBTQ protections, and the constitutional future we are working to build — reminded us that this moment, as challenging as it is, is also an invitation to be more ambitious and more intersectional than ever before. We are thrilled to share the recordings with you now, and we hope they inspire you as much as they inspired us.

Our first panel welcomed constitutional law experts in a robust discussion exploring constitutional doctrine around the ERA, moderated by Professor Kimberly Mutcherson (Rutgers Law School). Watch their panel here.

Berkeley School of Law), Professor Kate Redburn (Columbia Law School) and Professor Greer Donley (University of Pittsburgh Law), and moderator Professor Kimberly Mutcherson (Rutgers Law School). ©Slezak: Courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau.

In this off-the-record panel moderated by Katherine Grainger (Civitas, North Star Project), practitioners and litigators across the country shared strategies around state-level ERAs. 

(Drexel Kline School of Law), Diana Kasdan (UCLA School of Law), Ming-Qi Chu (ACLU, Women’s Rights Project), and moderator Katherine Grainger (Civitas, North Star Project). 
©Slezak: Courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau.

At lunch, former White House Gender Policy Council Director Jennifer Klein (Columbia SIPA), BWLC Faculty Director Professor Melissa Murray, and publisher and podcaster Jamia Wilson (Random House and Ordinary Equality Podcast) situated the ERA and its promise for reproductive justice in public discourse, moderated by MSEI Director Ting Ting Cheng. Watch their discussion here.

Our last discussion, moderated by Luna Borges (Columbia Law School), brought us lessons from international human rights frameworks, and how the ERA can be situated within movements happening around the globe in today’s moment. Watch their panel here.

To close us out for the day, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan shared her reflections on the ERA and democracy. Watch her powerful speech below. 

ABA: The Equal Rights Amendment: From Ratification to Realization | March 25 

At the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, we heard from a stellar panel of lawyers — MSEI Director Ting Ting Cheng, Linda Coberly of Winston & Strawn LLP, and Hon. Delissa Ridgway — on the current status of the Equal Rights Amendment and what we can do to make a difference. This conversation was moderated by Jill Wine-Banks, television and radio commentator & author of The Watergate Girl.

Join Our Team

The Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center invites applications for our Visiting Fellow-in-Residence for AY 2026-2027, open to legal scholars and advocates seeking to undertake research, writing and collaborating projects on women’s rights and gender justice. Visit Job Opportunities for more ways to join our team, including our Summer High School Internship. Please be in touch if you have any questions!