Championing Equality, Justice and Grassroots Activism

National Organization for Women (NOW) Turns 60

Year of Action Planned with Grassroots Members

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 13, 2026 - This year marks six decades of the National Organization for Women (NOW) championing gender justice and mobilizing communities for social change. Founded in 1966 as a new civil rights organization, 28 visionary women drafted NOW's groundbreaking statement of purpose to turn outrage into action - sparking a movement that changed the course of American history.

For 60 years, NOW has been a force of unapologetic activism during pivotal times in our country's struggle for justice. Our grassroots members brought historic numbers to Washington, D.C. for the March for Women's Lives, advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment and workplace equity, defended reproductive rights, lobbied for the Violence Against Women Act, advanced LGBTQIA+ rights before they were widely supported, and united movements to close wage gaps and demand dignity for all.

From marches at the U.S. Capitol to powerful testimony from survivors and advocates before state legislatures, NOW's activists have driven progress at every level of government.

Even after 60 years, the fight continues. Across generations, NOW members are still protesting in the streets, marching in parades, testifying before lawmakers, and using digital tools - videos, social media advocacy, online organizing, podcasts, and direct outreach to elected officials - to demand equality. Every NOW activist stands on the shoulders of the brave women who came before them.

"Amid rising costs for women, threats to reproductive care, the urgent need to implement the ERA, and escalating gender-based violence, NOW's fight for justice is more essential than ever," said National NOW President Kim Villanueva.

To honor six decades of progress while confronting the challenges ahead, NOW has adopted the slogan 60 Years of Resistance: We're Not Going Back. As part of this milestone year, NOW will focus on four key priorities, one for each quarter of the year.

Dozens of NOW chapters will receive micro-grants to launch community-based programming that focuses on these capsules:

• Capsule 1 (Q1): The Cost of Being a Woman - Address the rising costs of living in today's America and the disproportionate burden women carry economically.

• Capsule 2 (Q2): Protecting Care, Protecting Choice - NOW will continue to defend access to healthcare and reproductive freedom nationwide in a post-Roe era.

• Capsule 3 (Q3): Securing Rights, Shaping the Future - NOW is committed to protecting the foundations of democracy, increasing civic engagement, and ensuring constitutional equity by finally enshrining the ERA into law.

• Capsule 4 (Q4): Ending Gender Violence - NOW will confront the surge in gender-based violence and online harassment with renewed urgency.

NOW remains committed to creating a future where every person can thrive, regardless of their gender, race, or background.

The NOW Origin Story

In June 1966, at the third annual conference of commissions on the status of women in Washington, D.C., the writer and activist Betty Friedan bumped into Dorothy Haener from the United Automobile Workers' Union and Dr. Pauli Murray, the civil rights activist and legal scholar who was responsible for getting the word "sex" into the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and invited them to a meeting in her hotel room.

They all had been frustrated by the conference's lack of resolve to take on the issue of sex-segregated job listings and pushed for a resolution calling on the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to carry out its legal mandate to end sex discrimination in employment.

But the conference's organizers told them they had no authority to pass a resolution.

That didn't quiet them down. It made them mad as hell.

That night, about 20 women crammed into a hotel room to make plans. The next day, June 30, 1966, NOW was born when Betty Friedan famously scribbled "National Organization for Women" and the acronym NOW on a paper napkin at lunch.

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