THE WOMEN'S MEDIA CENTER hosted their 2019 WOMEN’S MEDIA AWARDS on October 22nd at the Mandarin Oriental in New York City.
The WMC AWARDS were presented to outstanding leaders and champions for women in media. This year’s WMC 2019 Women’s Media Awards honorees were: Julie K. Brown, Joy Buolamwini, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Lauren Embrey, Laura Flanders, Gayle King, Zerlina Maxwell, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Maysoon Zayid, and the “You Are Not Alone” Querida Familia campaign organizers: America Ferrera, Diane Guerrero, Eva Longoria, Alex Martinez Kondracke, Mónica Ramírez, and Olga Segura.
WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER Co-Founders Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem; founding Co-Chair and current board Co-Chair, Pat Mitchell; and WMC President, Julie Burton, gave remarks at the gala.
The 2019 WOMEN’S MEDIA AWARDS Honorees were:
● Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald journalist who reported the decades of sexual abuse and assault perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein, received the WMC Investigative Journalism Award.
● Joy Buolamwini, the computer scientist and digital activist who exposed race and gender bias in commercial artificial intelligence, received the WMC Carol Jenkins Award.
● Maria Grazia Chiuri, a feminist force and history maker as a designer and as the first woman creative director of Dior women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear, and accessories collections, received the WMC Sisterhood is Powerful Award to celebrate her creation of such “wearable media” as the Dior Sisterhood is Powerful, Global, and Forever T-shirt Collection, and for advancing women’s visibility and power.
● Lauren Embrey, artist, activist, and philanthropist, received the WMC Catalyst Award.
● Laura Flanders, the broadcast journalist and host of The Laura Flanders Show, received the WMC Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award.
● Gayle King, co-host of CBS This Morning and Editor-at-Large, Oprah Magazine, received the WMC Visible and Powerful Award.
● The WMC Progressive Women’s Voices IMPACT Award was presented to:
▪ Zerlina Maxwell, Senior Director of Progressive Programming at SiriusXM and MSNBC Political Analyst.
▪ Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Executive Editor of Teen Vogue.
▪ Maysoon Zayid, comedian, actor, and disability advocate.
● The WMC Solidarity Award was presented to five of the organizers of the “You Are Not Alone” letter of the Querida Familia campaign:
▪ Diane Guerrero, Orange is the New Black, author of In the Country We Love: My Family Divided, and an advocate for immigration reform.
▪ Alex Martinez Kondracke, writer, co-producer of Showtime’s The L Word.
▪ Eva Longoria, award-winning actor, producer, director, activist, entrepreneur, and founder of The Eva Longoria Foundation.
▪ Mónica Ramírez, activist, author, civil rights attorney, speaker, and founder of Justice for Migrant Women.
▪ Olga Segura, actor, producer, and activist.
The 2019 WOMEN’S MEDIA AWARDS Co-Chairs were: Loreen Arbus, Abigail Disney, Jane Fonda, Maya Harris, Mellody Hobson, Cindy Holland, Victoria Jackson, Pat Mitchell, Robin Morgan, Susan Pritzker, Sheryl Sandberg, Bonnie Schaefer, Gloria Steinem, and Mary & Steven Swig.
Proceeds from these awards support the work of the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER to make women visible and powerful in media.
In addition to the WMC leadership and honorees, VIPs attending included: Mary & Steven Swig, Cindy Holland, Christine Lahti, Kathy Najimy, Marisa Tomei, Janet Dewart Bell, Erica Gonzalez, Anita DeFrantz, Samantha Berry, Cherríe Moraga, Celia Herrera Rodriguez, Anish Melwani, Kate Mulgrew, Selenis Leyva, and Carol Jenkins.
