June 30, 2026
Teresa Younger, over the years
by Ms. Foundation
On President & CEO Teresa Younger’s final day at the helm of Ms. Foundation, we’re looking back at a few of our favorite moments during her 13-year tenure. Throughout her time with the Foundation, Teresa has traveled around the country and world to meet with and learn from grantee partners, and welcomed this community into Ms. Foundation spaces to continue building collective power. Her impact will reverberate through the organization, and the field, for years to come. Thank you, Teresa! Teresa sat down with reproductive justice foremother Byllye Avery in a full-circle conversation at our 2024 Ms. on Martha’s event. More than 40 years after Ms. Foundation awarded Byllye her first grant, their discussion reinforced a core understanding that creating the future we deserve requires sustained investment in the vision of movement leaders to transform society. Teresa spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court during Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings in 2022 and reflected on what representation makes possible: “[T]hat future generations will see themselves in leadership at every level—from the White House to the Supreme Court—fills me, thrills me and lets me put hope into the world.” Girls for Gender Equity Founder and President & CEO Joanne Smith and President and CEO of the National Partnership for Women & Families Jocelyn Frye joined Teresa in conversation at the 2018 Ms. on Martha’s event. The event closed with audience Q&A, during which someone asked Teresa “what can I do?” She answered: “Do one thing. Look at the pool of inequality and drop in a pebble. Do one thing.” Ms. Foundation staff presented Teresa with bedazzled sneakers in celebration of her 10-year anniversary at Ms. Foundation at the 2024 Women of Vision Awards. In 2023, Teresa traveled to Kigali, Rwanda for the Women Deliver Conference, where she joined over 6,000 people fighting for a feminist future. Following the conference, she shared, “As the United States’ national feminist foundation, learning from our siblings across the globe is essential. I am so grateful to all the badass feminists doing their thing and making an impact every day.” Teresa joined Co-Founding Mother Gloria Steinem, National Domestic Workers Alliance President Ai-jen Poo, Ms. Foundation board member and Democracy Alliance President Pamela Shifman, and former Ms. Foundation President & CEO Sara Gould at a Ford Foundation gathering. Teresa gathered with then-Ms. Foundation grantee partners Jessica González-Rojas of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum Executive Director Sung Yeon Choimorrow, SisterSong Executive Director Monica Simpson, and PPFA Director of Constituency Communications Alencia Johnson at the 2017 Women’s March, which was organized following the 2016 election. Foundation staff gathered to celebrate Teresa at her June 2026 for her farewell party at the Bowery Hotel in New York City. The event brought together current and former staff, board members, and grantee partners, as well as community members from across the country to honor her leadership and be in community.
