This week, we continue our discussion of women who united in support of different causes to garner influence and effect change with an exploration of women's abolitionist organizations and the origins of the women's movement in America. This episode highlights some inspiring women that we should strive to emulate in our own lives in many ways.

This season, we’ll be delving into the organizations that have served women throughout the fight for equality and equal rights. We’ll also discuss the organizations that serve us today in efforts to pass the Equal Rights Amendment and other national and international legislation with the final aim of equal and equitable existence for all genders. This season begins with American organizations and will branch out into organizations around the world as we go. Come along for this journey and see the power of women united for a cause.

Today, Season Two, episode 1 is about Ladies’ Aid, Relief, and Missionary societies from the mid to late 1800s.  

You might wonder why we’re spending an entire season on women’s organizations? Why are they so important? In this and the coming episodes, you’ll begin to see the importance as we delve into the power of women when they unite, but to me, why these organizations are so central to women’s history is that they gave women a place outside of the home. They gave women something to do, a way to impact their own communities and the world at large. They gave women power to effect change that had previously been reserved for men and a handful of independently wealthy women who defied odds and social norms. Just for fun, maybe we’ll talk about one of those. 

All over the country, people are looking to implement social change. The two best ways to learn to do so effectively are to look at the past to see what worked and what didn't and to consult experts in the area you're looking to improve. In this episode, we'll discuss 9 strategies that made the women's suffrage movement successful and then catch up with author, professor, and CEO Bill Shireman to discuss his book, In This Together: How Republicans, Democrats, Capitalists, and Activists are Uniting to Tackle Climate Change and More, and to understand how his action plan relates to women's rights and the Equal Rights Amendment.