Women Speakers

Danzy Senna

The daughter of a black father and a white mother, both writers and activists in the Civil Rights Movement, Senna grew up in Boston in the 1970s. Her experience in this intense racial battleground, a place her mother described as the worst place to raise biracial children, was to serve as the backdrop of her childhood, eventually b...

Sonia Nazario

Sonia Nazario, a projects reporter for The Los Angeles Times, has spent more than two decades reporting and writing about social issues, earning her dozens of national awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her series, “Enrique’s Journey,” about the experiences of Latin American children who immigra...

Tonya Pinkins

Oprah described Tonya Pinkins as one of the “Ten Women in America Who Will Take Your Breath Away in 2004.” This Tony Award-winning actress and modern day Renaissance woman most recently starred on Broadway in Tony Kushner’s critically acclaimed, hit Broadway musical “Caroline, or Change.”

Jennifer Miller

Writing with fierce honesty, Miller has created an extraordinary synthesis of history, reportage, and coming-of-age memoir in Inheriting the Holy Land. Her groundbreaking perspective on the conflict is presented through interviews with young Israelis and Palestinians and conversations with some of the most influential official...

Shirin Ebadi

An extraordinary woman of many firsts, Iranian lawyer and activist Ebadi has made history as the first Muslim to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous defense of human rights in Iran. One of the most intelligent, passionate, and respected voices of dissent from within this complex nation, she speaks to the world about demo...

Valerie Hemingway

Hemingway has evoked the magic and the pathos of Papa Hemingway’s last years in Running with the Bulls, published by Ballentine Books in 2006. The account of what she enjoyed, and what she endured, during her astonishing years of living as a Hemingway, Running with the Bulls fully captures the mystique of one of our g...

Leslie Bennetts

A contributing editor at who has explored women's issues in society, Bennetts is the author of The Feminine Mistake Are We Giving Up Too Much?, the groundbreaking bestseller that presenting a cautionary tale about the dangers of women giving up their careers.

Nieca Goldberg

Author of the award winning book Women Are Not Small Men: Life Saving Strategies for Preventing and Healing Heart Disease, recently started her own practice "Total Heart Care" in Manhattan. Her research and publications are concerned with exercise, exercise imaging and cardiovascular disease in women and she serves as a spoke...

Julianne Malveaux

Recognized for her provocative, progressive and insightful observations, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, an economist, author and commentator, is the 15th President of Bennett College for Women. Dr. Cornel West describes her as "the most iconoclastic public intellectual in the country."

Susan L. Taylor

As editorial director of Essence magazine, Taylor is the driving force behind one of the most celebrated black-owned business success stories of the past three decades. Her firm belief that tapping into the power within and motivating her employees to adopt the best practices they can achieve has led Essence to become...

Marie Savard

Dr. Savard is a nationally-recognized internist, women’s health expert, and champion of patients’ rights. She is author of new book, Apples & Pears: the Body Shape Solution for Weight Loss and Wellness. She founded the Patient Power Program, which demystifies the health care system and gives practical and potentially life...

Patty Duke

A young oscar winner for her role in The Miracle Worker, Duke stunned the world when she shared her story of living with bi-polar disorder in her best-selling book, A Brilliant Madness. Now an outspoken, yet compassionate advocate for those suffering from mental illness, she is honored for her ongoing efforts to create...

Janine Latus

Author of The New York Times bestseller, If I Am Missing or Dead, a heart-wrenching journey of discovery as she traces the roots of her own -- and her sister's -- victimization, she shares a call to action to break the cycle of abuse and to live life to the fullest.

Maria Hinojosa

Senior Correspondent for PBS news program NOW and Managing Editor of the radio program, "Latino USA," Hinojosa hosts a new PBS series, One-on-One, interviewing some of America's foremost Latino leaders. A prominent voice in the Hispanic community, she brings her wit, warmth, and professional wisdom to the dialogue about celeb...

Jo Ellan Dimitrius

Named the "The Seer" by American Lawyer magazine for her uncanny ability to anticipate human behavior in the courtroom, Jo-Ellan Dimitrius has served as a jury consultant in many of the most high profile cases of the 1980s and '90s. These include the Richard Ramirez "Nightstalker" trial, the Rodney King case, and most famously...