Ep 19: Margaret Mitchell, YWCA USA: The W That Makes the Difference

Equality Talks: The Official ERA Podcast

In episode 19 of the Equality Talks podcast, host Elisa Parker introduces us to YWCA USA CEO, Margaret Mitchell. As a partner who is focused on gender equality and eliminating racism, Mitchell says the ERA is the path forward for us and an invitation to everything better. Knowing it's the W that makes the difference, this longtime institution is at the frontlines for equity and instrumental for educating and empowering young women, serving as a source for housing and growth for women in sports amongst other things.

Elisa speaks with Mitchell about the YWCA's recent initiatives in voter advocacy, leadership and equity and how the organization continues to serve as an institutional backbone for our country. She shares how her experience as a child growing up in Central California with family-friends the Reyes' of The United Farm Workers (with Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez), instilled the importance of community service from a very young age. Mitchell also expands on her passion and approach for social change through nonviolent pathways to end oppression.

Hosted by nationally acclaimed radio host and Equal Voices/ERA Coalition, Elisa Parker, Equality Talks bridges the intersections of equality, justice, and social activism to unify as a collective and change the status quo.

Equality Talks focuses on the key facets of equality across all communities, including everything from gender, racial, economic and reproductive justice, to labor, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ rights.

For more information on Equality Talks go to www.ERACoaltion.org and www.EqualVoice.org.

Moving from silos to solidarity.

The ERA Coalition was founded in 2014 to bring concerted, organized action to the effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA Coalition has a sister organization, the Fund for Women’s Equality, which promotes public education and outreach on the need for constitutional equality. Composed of more than 290 organizations across the country representing millions of people, the Coalition is a movement of movements focused on overall equality in the United States.

While the effort to amend the constitution to include sex equality began nearly a century ago, our renewed efforts are centered on women of color (African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Latina, and Native American), gender-nonconforming and transgender women and girls, and nonbinary people – those who are most impacted by systemic inequities.

www.eracoalition.org | www.fundforwomensequality.org

About Margaret:

Margaret Mitchell, CEO, YWCA USA

Margaret Mitchell anticipates trends and has a proven track record of creating competitive breakthrough strategies. She communicates vision, purpose, and core values. As a strong decision maker who builds consensus, she is a consistent top performer who pursues growth with energy and drive. Margaret strives for personal and organizational excellence. Recognized for savvy in building relationships at all levels inside and outside the organization, she guides an organization with a steady hand and maintains focus, even in challenging situations.

Prior to becoming CEO of YWCA USA, Margaret served as the President & CEO of YWCA Greater Cleveland, a 150-year-old social justice organization that provides direct service, collaboration, and advocacy in the community, focused on racism, empowering women, and homelessness. She has more than doubled the budget, the staff, and the services of YWCA Greater Cleveland through her leadership, financial acumen, and fundraising. Among her achievements, in 2019 she led the call to Declare Racism a Public Health Crisis in Cleveland and across the state through her leadership in the Ohio YWCA Council. Additionally, Margaret led the acquisition of the Norma Herr Women’s Center, Cleveland’s largest homeless emergency women’s shelter. She also launched the transformation of the YWCA Greater Cleveland Early Learning Center into a unique, unduplicated preschool that currently operates the only trauma-informed preschool serving children and families experience homelessness.

Previously, Margaret was the President & CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Greater Cleveland, and served as the VP of Business Development and Director of Partnerships at Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas (now BBBS Lone Star). In each of these roles, she expanded the reach and effectiveness of the organization – from board development, partnership recruitment, fundraising and organizational transformation focused on data. Earlier, Margaret held senior leadership roles at Menttium, a for-profit industry leader in one-to-one corporate mentoring, featuring cross-company programs serving the Fortune 500. She began her career in publishing as an editor and writer.

Margaret received a BA with honors in Mass Communications from Hampton Institute – a Historically Black College and recently attended Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management at Harvard Business School. In 2020, The Cleveland Orchestra, in partnership with the City of Cleveland, honored her with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – Outstanding Service Award. In 2019, YWCA Greater Cleveland, ranked in the “Top 10 of the Top 100 Workplaces” by The Plain Dealer – Advance Ohio and was recognized as a “Business Longevity Honoree” by Smart Business Magazine.