Women's Campaign Forum

Photographer and author Chester Higgins, Jr. was born in Alabama in the fall of 1946. While attending Tuskegee University in 1967, he saw photographs that had been taken by his first mentor P.H. Polk. Polk’s images served to dignify African Americans in the rural South during the 1930s. These images inspired him to capture the images he saw of dignified African Americans. Graduating in 1970 from Tuskegee University, Higgins arrived in New York City and began his professional career. During his youth, he was mentored by Romare Bearden, P.H. Polk, Gordon Parks and other artists. Higgins’ photography can be found within the pages of the New York Times, where he has been a staff photographer since 1975. His photographs have appeared in Look, Life, Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Ebony, Essence and Black Enterprise magazines.

Dr. Gomez has received six New York Emmy®Awards, two Philadelphia Emmy®awards, and an Excellence in Time of Crisis Award from New York City after the September 11 attacks. He has been named the American Health Foundation’s Man of the Year and was the recipient of a national television journalism award from the Leukemia Society of America. Dr. Gomez serves on the national board of directors for the American Heart Association, the Princeton Alumni Weekly, and the Partnership for Afterschool Education. He is also on the board of advisors for the Science Writers Fellowship at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts and for the Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund at the Children’s Hospital of New York. He is the co-author of The Prostate Health Program: A Guide to Preventing and Controlling Prostate Cancer. Dr. Gomez graduated cum laude from Princeton University and earned his Ph.D. from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He was also a N.I.H. Postdoctoral Fellow at New York’s Rockefeller University.

Avis Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D., is the former Director of Poverty, Education, and Social Justice Programs at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. She has authored or co-authored numerous publications, including When the Spirit Blooms: Acquiring Higher Education in the Context of Welfare Reform; Saving Ourselves: African American Women and the HIV/AIDS Crisis; and The Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast: Multiple Disadvantages and Key Assets for Recovery. She has presented her perspectives across the country and internationally, through media outlets including CNN, ABC News, National Public Radio, BBC Radio International, and the New York Times. Dr. Jones-DeWeever received her Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland.

Eleanor Smeal is the Co-Founder and President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, established in 1987 to promote women’s equality, reproductive health, and non-violence. She has previously served two terms as president of the National Organization for Women, during which time she led the first national abortion rights march, which drew over 100,000 activists to Washington. DC. She has been at the forefront of many legislative victories for women’s rights, including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Equal Credit Act, the Civil Rights Restoration Act, the Violence Against Women Act, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Ms. Smeal has appeared on The Today Show, Nightline, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, and Crossfire. In her 1984 book, How and Why Women Will Elect the Next President, she was first to identy the now popular political term “gender gap.” She was cited by the World Almanac for 1983 as the fourth most influential woman in the United States, by Time Magazine’s as one of “50 faces for America’s Future” in 1979, and in the U.S. News and World Report as one of the six most influential Washington lobbyists. Ms. Smeal is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University and holds an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Florida and an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Duke University.

Clyde Williams was appointed Political Director for the Democratic National Committee inJanuary of 2009. Prior to this, he has served as the President of Certus Advisors, Vice President for State and Local Government Affairs at the Center for American Progress, Senior Domestic Policy Advisor to the Clinton Foundation, and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of Agriculture Daniel Glickman. He has a strong background in grassroots organizing and effective program development for underserved communities . During his time with the Clinton Foundation, Mr. Williams was responsible for the development of the Harlem Small Business Intiative. He studied Political Science at Howard University.

Former State Representative Robin Kelly is running for Illinois State Treasurer. Known for her leadership, experience, and commitment to the people of Illinois, Kelly currently serves as Chief of Staff for the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office. In addition to supervising and overseeing all departments within the Treasurer’s Office, Kelly is also a primary advisor on all policy, political, and operational matters. Since joining the office, Kelly has led the charge in transforming the agency by demanding stronger ethical guidelines, improving operations, and introducing new and innovative programs. Prior to joining the Treasurer’s Office, Kelly served as Illinois State Representative from 2003-2007. She advocated and supported policy that enhanced the quality of life for all Illinois residents. Kelly also served as Director of Community Affairs for the Village of Matteson. A resident of Matteson, Kelly holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Bradley University and a Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University.

Gale A. Brewer has been representing the Upper West Side and Clinton neighborhoods in the New York City Council since January 1, 2002.  She was elected with 57 percent of the vote in a six-way primary—earning the highest vote total in any Council primary in 2001—and 73 percent of the vote in the general election.  The New York Times, the Village Voice, the Amsterdam News, the West Side Spirit, the Westsider, the Central Labor Council, and every local Democratic club endorsed her.  Gale’s service in the Council is a continuation of nearly 30 years of dedication to making New York a better place to live.  She has wide-ranging public, nonprofit, and private-sector experience, and has served in key positions of leadership, management, and advocacy in city and state government, and in community-based organizations.

In the Council, Gale chairs the Select Committee on Technology in Government, where she promotes efforts to make better use of technology to save money, improve City services, and bring citizens in closer touch with their government and communities.  Other committees on which Gale serves include:  Finance, General Welfare; Higher Education; Housing & Buildings; Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse & Disability Services; Parks & Recreation; and Waterfronts.  In addition, Gale was elected by her fellow Manhattan Council Members to co-chair the Manhattan Delegation, which ensures that issues of particular interest to Manhattanites are given due consideration in the Council’s deliberations.  She also sits on the Council’s steering committee and was an active participant on the budget negotiating team that worked with the Council Speaker to successfully negotiate an Adopted Budget for Fiscal 2003 and 2004 that protects core services in education, social services, the arts, and other areas—in spite of the difficult fiscal environment the City faces.

In her most recent work before joining the Council, Gale served as Project Manager for the NYC Nonprofits Project, completing a census of the economic and service impact of the nonprofit sector in the five boroughs.  The resulting citywide analysis and neighborhood service atlas is available in a printed directory and online.

Before that, Gale worked with Telesis Corporation, a private firm that builds affordable housing and plans quality communities.  Telesis had a contract with the New York City Housing Authority to manage a $67 million HUD grant in Far Rockaway, Queens.  There she focused on housing surveys and initiating service programs for residents.  Gale was successful in securing a $2.7 million federal grant for improving schools and the surrounding community.

As Deputy Public Advocate for Intergovernmental Affairs (1994-1998), Gale advocated for legislation, wrote policy on technology, and monitored democracy issues such as implementation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).  She wrote a report on the lack of implementation of NVRA that was the basis of a federal lawsuit against the state and the city, staffed the Commission on Public Information and Communication, and sat on the Voter Assistance Commission and the Community Action Board of the Department of Youth and Community Development.  Her web site, the first in city government, won an award from New York Magazine.

As Director of the Mayor’s Federal Office in New York City (1990-1994), Gale assisted the Mayor and the City’s agencies with their legislative agenda and initiated private funding for a successful technical assistance program for community-based organizations seeking federal funds.  She coordinated policy events:  the Urban Summit, a conference of big city mayors; the 1992 March on Washington for Children and Cities; and the 1993 US Conference of Mayors conference held in NYC with 1000 mayors.  She also wrote the Mayor’s presentation on urban issues for President Clinton.  As Director of the NYC Commission on the Status of Women (1991-1992) and as Chair of the National Women’s Political Caucus of New York State (1986-1989), Gale championed women’s causes from NYS to Beijing.  On the West Side she served for over a decade as Chief of Staff to Council Member Ruth Messinger; the Daily News voted the office “Most Accessible.”  Gale also served as Director of Scheduling for Lieutenant Governor Mary Anne Krupsak (1974-1978).

Gale has served on over two dozen neighborhood and nonprofit boards, including Community Board 7, Project Find, Veritas, Andrew Glover Youth Program, Community Training and Resource Center, Community Food Resource Center, and Support Center for Nonprofit Management. For her work with these groups and for the city, she has received numerous awards.  In 2000, Gale was a Women’s History Month honoree courtesy of NYC Comptroller Alan Hevesi, and in 1989 received NOW’s Susan B. Anthony award.  The National Latinas Caucus, Brooklyn Council Members Una Clarke and Annette Robinson and the Asian Americans for Equality have honored her.  Newsday, the Village Voice, and the Westsider have written tributes about her work, and she was recently cited by the Daily News as “One of 50 New Yorkers to Watch in 2001.”  In addition, she has taught urban policy at Barnard, Baruch, Brooklyn, Hunter, and Queens Colleges.

Gale Brewer obtained a Master’s in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and did her undergraduate work at Bennington College and Columbia University.  She is married to Cal Snyder and has raised several adopted children.