Vision 2020 Launches Decade-long Initiative To Advance Women’s Leadership And Equality

Dec. 1, 2010 - PRLog -- PHILADELPHIA  – Vision 2020’s 116 women leaders are back in their home states ready begin the decade-long initiative to advance women’s equality and leadership.

Following three days of discussions and debate in Philadelphia, the Vision 2020 delegates generated hundreds of ideas to advance women’s leadership and achieve equality by the year 2020.

“Vision 2020 and its delegates are now off and running united by one goal,” said Lynn Yeakel, C0-Chair of Vision 2020, a national initiative of the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Equality is a measure of our democracy. Yet women, who make up 51% of the population, represent only 18 percent of top leaders in the United States. The national and visionary delegates from all 50 states are committed to giving more women a voice in government, media, education, and business.  

Susan Colantuono, founder and chief executive officer of Leading Women serves as a Vision 2020 National Delegate. For more information about Colantuono, go to the Vision 2020 website: drexel.edu/vision2020/get_involved/delegates/.

"The importance of a concerted effort to continue the advances women have made can't be overstated at this time when we're seeing declines in the number of women government, executive positions, boards and other areas," said Susan Colantuono, founder and chief executive officer of Leading Women and Vision 2020 Delegate.

Following the model of the Continental Congress, these 21st Century patriots gathered in Philadelphia on Oct. 21-22. There, just two blocks from where 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence 234 years ago, these 116 women signed the Declaration of Equality. They pledged to return to their home states and work to realize the goal of greater women’s leadership. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, presided over the signing at the National Constitution Center.

The extraordinary women leaders from across the United States will be creating action projects and breaking down barriers to leadership in their home states. They will gather again in 2011 to share ideas and successes in their advocacy.

“Like any movement, Vision 2020 will not be neat and it won’t be tidy,” Vision 2020 Co-Chair Rosemarie B. Greco told an auditorium of 116 women leaders. “But it will change the way women see themselves and the way the world sees them.”

The National and Visionary Delegates will serve for the next three years. There are two National Delegates from each of the 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. Visionary Delegates are women with national influence. For more information, visit www.drexel.edu/vision2020.

About Vision 2020

Vision 2020 is a national project of the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of Medicine focused on ensuring equality by energizing the dialogue about women and leadership. Lynn H. Yeakel is Director of the Institute and Co-Chair of Vision 2020. In 2010, Vision 2020 will develop and launch its decade-long action agenda to move America toward equality by inspiring and engaging new generations of women and men to finish the work of the suffragists who pursued women’s right to vote as fundamental to social and economic justice. The centennial of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution will be celebrated in 2020.

About Vision 2020’s Sponsors

The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company is the Presenting Sponsor of Vision 2020. The Exelon Foundation is a Forger of the Future and Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company, Siemens, The Philadelphia Foundation, Phoebe W. Haas Charitable Trust, Bloomberg LP, Ernst & Young and Keystone Mercy Health Plan are also sponsors.

About The National Constitution Center

The National Constitution Center, located at 525 Arch St. on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing public understanding of the U.S. Constitution and the ideas and values it represents. The Center serves as a museum, an education center, and a forum for debate on constitutional issues.

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