A Message from Elizabeth Brown

Today, more than ever, YWCA Columbus stands resolute in our mission and our movement. And we need you with us.

Today, more than ever, I take comfort in remembering our foremothers. 

Sojourner Truth, who was born into slavery, became an activist and challenged the white-centric status quo of the women’s rights movement. Her question resounds through the centuries: “Aint I a Woman?” 

Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, who -- at just 16 years old -- helped lead a 10,000-person strong suffrage parade through New York City. 

Lucy Somerville Howorth, whose YWCA in the 1920s led her to organizing against the mistreatment of women and people of color working in America’s factories. At a time when many feared the term, Lucy was unabashed: “I glory in being a feminist,” she said. 

Dorothy Height, who led the successful desegregation of all YWCAs across the U.S. by 1946 and was the only woman on stage at the March on Washington. 

These daring women. 

They surely faced moments of despair as they fought for the inclusive democracy that was promised to us in 1787.  

These daring women. 

They organized under the radical notion that the United States can indeed, one day, live up to its promise. 

And now it is us: We daring women.  

We who believe that an inclusive, multiracial democracy only makes us stronger, that an economy built for women and families is a rising tide, and that all children, including trans children, deserve representatives who see them instead of demean them. What will we do? 

We will continue our fight to end systemic racism, affirm women’s rights, advance housing justice, ensure access to affordable childcare, and empower the next generation of changemakers. And we need you to fight alongside us. 

There is risk in this work. But we press on, even in the face of the backlash that may come. Because we know the strength of daring women – they remade our past, and they will determine our future. 

Elizabeth C. Brown,
President & CEO
YWCA Columbus