All Past Events

Violence against women is a pandemic within a pandemic, as COVID-19 has exacerbated the severity and frequency of all forms of gender-based violence, including femicide. Combating femicide requires more than keeping women out of harm’s way. Join Global Rights for Women and the Center on Women, Gender, and Public Policy for a conversation with global and local activists who have led collective action to raise awareness and create change.

The Center on Global Health and Social Responsibility and the Center on Women, Gender, and Public Policy co-present this free webinar, part of an International Women’s Day series on gender, human rights, and COVID-19. The event, featuring Dr. Senait Fisseha and Dr. Rahel Nardos, is co-sponsored by the Human Rights Program, the Women's Center, the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change, and Global Rights for Women.

Despite her outsize influence, pioneering civil rights figure Anna Arnold Hedgeman has not always received much historical attention—even here in Minnesota, where she grew up and was Hamline University’s first African-American graduate. Join the Center on Women, Gender, and Public Policy to explore Hedgeman’s remarkable life and hear from contemporary women leaders who carry on her legacy in gender and racial justice activism, faith-based organizing, and institutional policy change today. Co-sponsored by the Race, Indigeneity, Gender & Sexuality Studies Initiative.

With a historic presidential election looming, the mechanics of how America votes have become as hotly contested as any issue actually on the ballot. In their new book, Turnout: Making Minnesota the State That Votes, Joan Anderson Growe and Star Tribune columnist Lori Sturdevant look back at Growe’s influence in establishing clean, high-turnout elections in Minnesota during her 24-year tenure as Secretary of State.

As we celebrate 100 years of votes for women, join historians Cathleen Cahill and Bill Green for a conversation about the critical leadership roles women of color and Indigenous women played in the suffrage movement here in Minnesota and across the U.S. This event is co-sponsored by the University of Minnesota's History Department and American Indian Studies Department.

Feminists have long been on the front lines of environmental and climate justice activism. In honor of International Women’s Day, this interactive exploration of climate work centered feminism at the heart of the movement. The purpose of the event was to build connections, explore community, and engage with students, activists, scholars, and local climate leaders.

Featured Participants

• Mysti Babineau | MN350
• Karen Clark | Women’s Environmental Institute
• Michelle Garvey | UMN Sustainability Studies
• Fayola Jacobs | UMN Humphrey School of Public Affairs
• Juwaria Jama | Minnesota Youth Climate Strike
• Bonnie Keeler | UMN Center for Science, Technology & Environmental Policy
• Taysha Martineau | Gitchigumi Scouts
• Cecilia Martinez | Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy
• Ashley O’Neill Prado | Tamales y Bicicletas
• Carissa Slotterback | UMN Humphrey School of Public Affairs
• Elle Thoni | In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre

Indigenous women have always been the backbone and heartbeat of their families and communities. They channeled their history of leadership into victories at the state and federal levels during the 2018 election, marking a major turning point for their political representation. Indigenous women are poised, now more than ever before, to use their strengths to shape the future of their communities and awaken the nation. This daylong celebration of Indigenous women’s leadership featured speakers, artists, and food.

Featured Speakers

• Melanie Benjamin, chief executive, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
• Rep. Ruth Buffalo, North Dakota House District 27
• Sharon Day,  Indigenous Peoples Task Force
• Alexis Davis, Turtle Mountain Youth Council
• Jayme Davis, Native Governance Center
• Karen Diver, Faculty Fellow, Inclusive Excellence for Native American Affairs, College of St. Scholastica
• Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant governor, Minnesota
• Jodi Gillette, Indigenous Peoples Initiatives, Wend Ventures
• Vanessa Goodthunder, Dakota Immersion Early Head Start and Head Start
• Lourdes Tibán Guala, UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues, Ecuador
• Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein, Minnesota House District 41B
• Brooke LaFloe, Young Women's Initative, YWCA
• Anne McKeig, associate justice, MN Supreme Court
• Jaidyn Probst, MN Young Women's Cabinet
• Prairie Rose Seminole, American Indian, Alaska Native Ministries, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• Tina Smith, US senator, Minnesota