EMILY’S LIST 5TH ANNUAL PRE-OSCARS EVENT
YVETTE NICOLE BROWN, GLORIA CALDERÓN KELLETT, CHINEY OGWUMIKE, MAITREYI RAMAKRISHNAN, BOZOMA SAINT JOHN, AMBER TAMBLYN, ROBIN THEDE & CONGRESSWOMAN KAREN BASS UNITE FOR EMILY’S LIST 5TH ANNUAL PRE-OSCARS EVENT
Event spotlighted ‘The Collective Power of Women’ ahead of the 94th Academy Awards
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PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images for EMILYs List; Video Credit: EMILYs List
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 22, 2022) – Today, EMILY's List, the nation's largest resource for women in politics, presented its fifth annual Oscars Week Discussion titled, The Collective Power of Women, ahead of the 94th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. The event and panel highlighted the successes achieved when women in politics and entertainment work together and lift each other up to create a better environment for all women to change policy, boost representation, fight for gender pay equity, and ensure unions are prioritized.
Emily Cain, executive director of EMILYs List, opened the event by welcoming guests and introducing a one-on-one conversation between author, actor and member of EMILYs List Creative Council Amber Tamblyn and WNBA star, ESPN host and activist Chiney Ogwumike. “Today's theme is the collective power of women,” said Emily Cain. “We're going to highlight the successes achieved when women work together, when we lift each other up and when we create better environments and opportunities for all women across the country and around the world. Right now, women are working in coalition with one another. They form powerful forces for justice, for peace, and for progress from women who are shaping mutual aid efforts.”
“It's really important to make sure that we are in alignment and we are a united front as far as getting as many women that represent that and believe in that in office as possible,” said Amber Tamblyn. “You have an influx of these voices that have really deserved to be here and deserve to be represented, specifically in the entertainment business, and I hope we see more of that.”
The one-on-one conversation called attention to Ogwumike’s career and the importance of women using their power and sisterhood to always be advocating for women in the spaces of leadership. “We are the best at what we do and should be treated as such. We don't have to be competitive, we have to be collaborative and celebrate the feeling of winning with each other,'' said Ogwumike.
Laphonza Butler, president of EMILYs List, noted that the room demonstrated what can be accomplished when women organize and the commitment to inspire other players. “When it comes to what women can accomplish, when we choose to utilize our platforms in the service of others, I know what we can do because I've experienced it,” said Laphonza Butler. “I'm excited about the work that I get to do on behalf of Democratic, pro-choice women who are running for office in this country.”
Butler then introduced actress, writer, producer, host and member of EMILY’s Board of Directors and moderator of the panel Yvette Nicole Brown who stated, “You get more in this life – not just in this industry, but in life – when you share what you know. If you know it, it's not just for you to know. It's for you to share your life, it should be about overflow. So remember that any time you feel yourself involved in something and you feel a little tight in your chest, like it's not enough to go around. It's not true. That is a sign that you need to give more when you feel that.”
Yvette then called up the panel consisting of showrunner, producer, writer, director, and actor Gloria Calderón Kellett; actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan; Hall of Fame marketing executive, author, and entrepreneur Bozoma Saint John; comedian, writer, actor, and producer Robin Thede; and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37), an EMILYs List-endorsed candidate for Los Angeles mayor.
“Women have fought for me, so who would I be to not fight for them?” said Robin Thede. “My life is full of women who support everything I do – we have to be willing to accept it as much as we give it.”
“It's important that we tell our stories because if we don't, other people will tell our story or they won't include us in the story,” said U.S. Representative Karen Bass. “They'll talk about what happened and what was done, and they'll say they did it, or they won't talk about who did it. So it's absolutely essential that we tell our stories. And you know what it might be that we weren't the first. It might be that some other woman was the first, but they just never told her story.”
“I think the collective power of women is happening in Hollywood right now. When I first entered this space as a Latino woman, I grew up to feel like I was less than because the story I was told consistently was if I was not thin, white and blonde, I would not find love,” said Gloria Calderón Kellett. “When I got into these rooms and I realized this is all old white men telling the stories, that’s when I realized the power of the pen. That's when I realized that I had female allies who were there to support me on my journey and that when we are in the room and when we tell stories about ourselves, everything changes.”
“The collective power of women is in my blood and in my culture,” said Bozoma St. John. “My mom is one of five sisters, I'm one of four sisters. I'm the mother of a daughter. And I know that when we are running the society, it runs so much better.”
“You have to be a true reflection of what the industry needs to be in front of the camera, behind the camera, and work where crew members are treated with respect with proper labor laws, proper working hours, and just, fair wages,” said Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.
This panel discussion was hosted by the EMILY's List Creative Council — a powerful mix of entertainment industry and elected leaders — coming together to spotlight the groundbreaking women who are leading the way in their fields. The women discussed collective power of women
EMILYs List’s vision is to be a driving force of progressive change in America. By electing more Democratic pro-choice women to national, state and local office, EMILYs List will consistently infuse government with leaders who will drive change. The EMILY's List Creative Council aims to help the organization reach new, diverse voters across industries, geographies, and age groups. The Creative Council is co-chaired by film producer and Peabody Award winner Paul Bernon and comedian Chelsea Handler.
The fifth annual EMILYs List pre-Oscar event host committee includes: Alyssa Lanz, Andrea Nelson Meigs, Amy Landecker, Denise Melanson, Desiree Flores, Emmy Rossum, Hannah Minghella, Kathryn Hahn, Lizzie Thompson, Natasha Rothwell, Maddy Roth, Rene Jones, Sara Benincasa, Sarah Clossey, Toni Wallace, Tracy Brennan, Shelter PR, and WME.
For more information about EMILYs List please visit www.emilyslist.org.
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PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images for EMILYs List; Video Credit: EMILYs List
ABOUT EMILY’S LIST
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 159 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.
