Board President and 2015 Inductee Jean Kilbourne will lead the Hall in executing a strategic plan prioritizing national growth and the completion of the museum
SENECA FALLS, NY: The National Women’s Hall of Fame is pleased to announce that 2015 Inductee Jean Kilbourne has been elected president of its Board of Directors. Jean is the first Inductee to serve as president in the Hall’s 54-year history.
“Jean’s leadership comes at an extraordinary time for the National Women’s Hall of Fame as our Board and staff have been working to create a five-year strategic plan to allow the Hall to meet its full potential,” said executive director Jennifer Gabriel. “I am thrilled to be working with Jean and the Board to implement efforts that will allow for significant regional and national growth.”
Jean succeeds Board President Betsy Wayne Fantone, who completed her term as president in December. Roger G. Schwartz was named Vice President and Anjana Samant was named Secretary; Marianne O’Connor will continue to serve in her role as Treasurer. Mridula Raman and Elisa Siegel are also beginning terms as members of the Board this month.
“I am honored to be the first Inductee to serve as president of the Board at this exciting time,” said Jean. “I look forward to engaging more Inductees as the Hall expands its reach and its vision. It is more important than ever to share women’s stories.”
The National Women’s Hall of Fame is the nation’s first and oldest nonprofit and museum celebrating the achievements of great women. In 2020 the Hall moved to the historic 1844 Seneca Knitting Mill, ensuring that women’s stories forever have a home in Seneca Falls, the birthplace of the women’s rights movement. As the Hall works to complete the remaining three floors of its museum, it is also expanding programming nationally. Learn more and get involved by visiting womenofthehall.org.
The Hall will announce the date for its 2023 Induction Ceremony, as well as the women to be honored, in March.
President: JEAN KILBOURNE (inducted in 2015)
Jean Kilbourne is the first Inductee to serve as President of the Board, a position she will hold for two years.
Jean Kilbourne is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising and for her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. In the late 1960s she began her exploration of the connection between advertising and several public health issues, including violence against women, eating disorders, and addiction, and launched a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these problems. A radical and original idea at the time, this approach is now mainstream and an integral part of most prevention programs.
The creator of the renowned “Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women” film series, she is also the author of award-winning books Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel and So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids.
Ms. Kilbourne has lectured at over half of the universities in the US and her films and television appearances have been seen by millions of people throughout the world. She has served as an advisor to two past Surgeons General and has testified before the United States Congress. She has received many honors and awards, including an Alumnae Achievement Award (Wellesley College’s highest honor).
Officers:
Roger G. Schwartz (Vice President) is a finance partner in the New York office of King & Spalding. Roger represents public and private companies, private credit, direct lending and hedge funds, strategic and financial buyers, and investors in a broad range of restructuring and special situations matters. Roger joined the Board of the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2018.
Anjana Samant (Secretary) is a senior attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project with over 15 years of experience in civil rights litigation, movement lawyering, and intersectional justice work. Anjana was elected to the National Women’s Hall of Fame Board in 2022.
Marianne O’Connor (Treasurer) is a retired certified public accountant. Her career spanned 4 years in public accounting, 21 years as a financial officer for an upstate NY community bank, followed by 10 years as a business administrator at the Auburn Enlarged City School District.
New Board Members:
Mridula Raman is Clinical Supervising Attorney for the Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic after five years as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Arizona.
Elisa Siegel is an award-winning strategic communications and public affairs executive. In her 40-year career in Washington, DC, she helped elevate and engage non-profit organizations, associations, corporations, and C-suite leaders on national issues through groundbreaking advocacy and digital campaigns. Most recently, she served as chief communications and marketing officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges, where she led efforts to advance public understanding and support of the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals and their innovative contributions to health.
