ETHEL LONG SCOTT
A leader in the
struggle of the poor to end poverty
To bring Ethel Long-Scott to your city, call Speakers for a New America, 800-691-6888 or e-mail info@speakersforanewamerica.com
Ethel Long-Scott is Executive Director of the
Women's
Economic Agenda Project, (WEAP). She is known nationally and
internationally
for devoting her life to the education and leadership of people at the
losing
end of society, especially women of color.
Essence Magazine gave Ethel Long-Scott one of its first
"Street
Warrior" awards "for courage and sacrifice, vision and commitment
to community and the advancement of our people" in 2003. Her social
justice work s is spotlighted in the Ford Foundation's
"Close to Home," a publication that presents 13 case studies of
human rights work that is making life better for people in America.
Ethel Long-Scott speaks to audiences all over the country. Her vision of a new America
has been at the heart of her work, taking her into struggles where the
poor
fight for their rights. She was a leader of the Freedom Bus Tour, that
brought
the "Just Health Care Campaign" and the "Poor People's Economic
Human Rights Campaign" to Californians, both urban and rural. She
described
the 2,900-mile bus tour as "a way of protesting poverty, documenting
human rights violations and building alliances between working and poor
people. The 290-mile tour pointed out how globalization puts corporate
profits
way ahead of people, helping to build alliances among the poor, both
urban
and rural."
The Women's Economic Agenda Project was founded in 1982 in Oakland by a group of women with a vision based on economic justice. They knew that improving the lives of the poorest women would increase the quality of life for all women and families. For more than 20 years, WEAP has worked to eradicate poverty rather than 'manage' it by teaching low-income communities to break the silence around poverty, to speak out about how poverty is recognized as a violation of fundamental human rights, and by offering poor families opportunities to lift themselves out of destitution permanently. They have also worked to increase the access of low income communities to living wage employment and long-term economic security.WEAP works with people at the grassroots level.
Contributions/Accomplishments:
- Award, Essence Magazine, 2003
- Award, Outstanding Woman of the Year in Justice, Alameda County, California
- Co-Chair, African American Women's Caucus, NGO (Non-governmental Organization) Forum on Women, Beijing,China.
- Organizer, First National Poor Women's Summit.
- Created and directed the Women's Family and Work Coalition. The Coalition was instrumental in the signing of more than 85 bills into law.
- Created statewide project to monitor GAIN, the California Workfare Program. Shaped and developed the discourse around women, poverty and welfare reform in California and the United States.
- Participated in inter-hemispheric conferences of low income and poor activists in Cuba and the Dominican Republic sponsored by the Continental Front of Community Organizations.
- California Statewide Coordinator, Alabama Voting Rights cases.
- National and Regional Board Member of the Equal Rights Congress (ERC).
- Board member, National Center for Policy Alternatives and New Ways to Work
- Board member, Northern California ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).
- Board member, Black Women Organized for Political Action.
