As part of UMD’s Civic Maryland, a campus-wide initiative encouraging students to engage with issues of public concern, Cecile Richards, renowned activist and progressive leader, will talk about her mission to inspire people to political action. Richards recently helped launch Supermajority, a group working to train and mobilize women to become organizers, activists and leaders in advance of the 2020 elections. She previously worked for more than a decade as the president of Planned Parenthood. Richards will discuss her journey into activism, highlighted in her 2018 book “Make Trouble,” and provide a blueprint for anyone eager to “stand up, speak out and find the courage to lead.” The lecture will be followed by a Q&A.

About The Speaker

Cecile Richards is a national leader for women’s rights and social and economic justice, and the author of the New York Times bestseller “Make Trouble.” As President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund for 12 years, Richards worked to increase affordable access to reproductive health care and to build a healthier and safer world for women and young people. 

After starting her career as a labor organizer, working with women earning the minimum wage, she went on to start her own grassroots organizations, and later served as Deputy Chief of Staff to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. In 2011 and 2012, she was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. 

Richards is a frequent speaker and commentator on politics and progressive issues. She and her husband, Kirk Adams, have three children and live in New York City and Maine.

About the Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series

The Arts and Humanities Dean's Lecture Series provides an opportunity for the college faculty, students and staff to join together with colleagues across campus for stimulating conversation about issues that cross our disciplines. Lectures and performances may address either enduring or emerging questions central to the arts and humanities, or questions arising from other disciplines to which the arts and humanities might speak. In addition to presenting a major public event, each lecturer interacts in smaller settings with faculty, graduate students and/or undergraduates. Lectures and performances in the series may be co-sponsored with particular programs, centers, or departments within the college, with other colleges, and with external organizations.