The Women’s Media Center’s 20th Anniversary - The Women’s Media Center Celebrates 20 Years of Media Activism by Honoring Five Women Fighting to Change America by Changing America’s Media.

The Women’s Media Center’s 20^th Anniversary
Women’s Media Awards Honorees (left to right):
Geralyn White Dreyfous, Jessica Valenti, Imani Perry, Erica Smiley, and S. Mitra Kalita.
Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty.

New York, NY: (June 6^th, 2025) — THE WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER hosted their 20^th Anniversary WOMEN’S MEDIA AWARDS on June 5^th at the JW Marriott Essex House Hotel in New York City.

The WMC AWARDS were presented to outstanding leaders and champions for women in media. This year’s WMC 2025 Women’s Media Awards honorees were:

· Geralyn White Dreyfous, Co-Founder of JOLT and Impact Partners, Chair and Co-Founder of the Utah Film Center, and Film Producer, was honored with the WMC Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award.

· S. Mitra Kalita, Author; Co-Founder and CEO of URL Media and Epicenter NYC, was honored with the WMC Carol Jenkins Award.

· Imani Perry, Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and of African and American Studies; Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor, Harvard Radcliffe Institute, was honored with the WMC Progressive Women’s Voices Impact Award.

· Erica Smiley, Author, and Executive Director of Jobs With Justice, was honored with the WMC Progressive Women’s Voices IMPACT Award.

· Jessica Valenti, Author, Writer, Activist, and Creator of Abortion, Every Day, was honored with the WMC Progressive Women’s Voices IMPACT Award.

WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER Co-Founders Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, Gloria Steinem, and WMC President & CEO Julie Burton spoke or presented awards at the gala. WMC Board Chair Janet Dewart Bell, WMC Board Co-Chair Emerita Pat Mitchell, former and founding WMC President Carol Jenkins, WMC Board Vice Chair Erica González Martínez, and Board Members, Soraya Chemaly, Regina K. Scully, and Rebecca Adamson also helped celebrate the honorees at the gala.

Julie Burton, President, and CEO of the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER, said “When we started the Women’s Media Center 20 years ago, we framed the future with a clear mission: we wanted to see more women in media, hear more women in media, and read more articles by women in media. We have made progress, but change doesn’t come without a fight. We at the Women’s Media Center stand firm in our work for equality and opportunity for diverse women in media and beyond. This year, our Women’s Media Awards celebrate 20-year milestones for women’s representation in media and honor champions for women who set the standard for what media should look like when it gives voice to the female half of the country.”

"What an honor to celebrate the Women’s Media Center after 20 years of amplifying women’s voices, leadership and rights within our culture," says Regina K. Scully, Women’s Media Awards Co-Chair, WMC board member, Executive Producer of Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan.

The Women’s Media Awards Co-Chairs were: Loreen Arbus, Meredith Bluhm-Wolf, Donna Deitch, Anne Kiehl Friedman, Mellody Hobson, Cindy Holland, Carlene C. Laughlin, Michelle Mercer & Bruce Golden, Pat Mitchell, Susan Pritzker, Sheryl Sandberg, Regina K. Scully, Mary & Steven Swig, and Sophia Yen.

Proceeds from this awards gala will support the work of the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER.

Past WMC honorees include Luvvie Ajayi, Yamiche Alcindor, Christiane Amanpour, Loreen Arbus, Amma Asante, Laura Bates, Samantha Bee, Ursula Burns, Aliyah Chavez, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Katie Couric, Donna Deitch, Abigail Disney, Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Mona Eltahawy, Lauren Embrey, Rahna Epting, America Ferrera, Jane Fonda, Jenice Fountain, Fatima Goss Graves, Mariska Hargitay, Maria Hinojosa, Cindy Holland, Sarah Hoye, Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Weijia Jiang, Sheila C. Johnson, Dr. Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ashley Judd, Gayle King, Maria Teresa Kumar, Laura Ling and Lisa Ling, Dahlia Lithwick, Lara Logan, Eva Longoria, Zerlina Maxwell, Karen Lincoln Michel, Andrea Mitchell, Pat Mitchell, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Rebecca Nagle, Martha Nelson, Soledad O’Brien, Salma Hayek Pinault, Elianne Ramos, Joy Reid, Robin Roberts, Loretta J. Ross, April Ryan, María Elena Salinas, Anita Sarkeesian, Regina K. Scully, Mary Thom, Marlo Thomas, Salamishah Tillet, Mariana Ardila Trujillo, Barbara Walters, Padmasree Warrior, Lindy West, Fredricka Whitfield, and Maggie Wilderotter.

About the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER (WMC):

Founded by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem, the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER (WMC) is a feminist organization that works for gender and racial inclusion, representation, and equality in media. The WMC mission is to make diverse women visible and powerful in the media. WMC programs address unequal representation and misrepresentation of women in media through interconnected strategies to: 1) Research, document, and produce reports in the WMC Media Lab that highlight the status of women in U.S. media, equip activists with evidence, and create benchmarks to hold media accountable for sexist and racist coverage; 2) Train women leaders and experts to be effective in media and increase their thought leadership through WMC Progressive Women’s Voices and customized training and leadership programs; 3) Recruit and promote diverse women experts to the media through WMC SheSource; and 4) Investigate, report, and publish original online and on-air journalism to expand diverse women’s voices and representation.

For more information about the ongoing work of the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER, go to: www.womensmediacenter.com.