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Home > About Us > People > Marian Wright Edelman Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman is a lifelong advocate for disadvantaged Americans and is the Founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF). Under her leadership, CDF has become the nation’s strongest voice for children and families. Marian Wright Edelman’s Biography Mrs. Edelman, a graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School, began her career in the mid-60s when, as the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, she directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund office in Jackson, Mississippi. In l968, she moved to Washington, D.C., as counsel for the Poor People's Campaign that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. began organizing before his death. She founded the Washington Research Project, a public interest law firm and the parent body of the Children's Defense Fund. For two years she served as the Director of the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University and in 1973 began CDF. Mrs. Edelman served on the Board of Trustees of Spelman College which she chaired from 1976 to 1987 and was the first woman elected by alumni as a member of the Yale University Corporation on which she served from 1971 to 1977. She has received many honorary degrees and awards including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize, the Heinz Award, and a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship. In 2000, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings which include eight books: Families in Peril: An Agenda for Social Change; The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours; Guide My Feet: Meditations and Prayers on Loving and Working for Children; Stand for Children; Lanterns: A Memoir of Mentors; Hold My Hand: Prayers for Building a Movement to Leave No Child Behind; I'm Your Child, God: Prayers for Our Children; and I Can Make a Difference: A Treasury to Inspire Our Children. She is a board member of the Robin Hood Foundation, the Association to Benefit Children, and City Lights School and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Marian Wright Edelman is married to Peter Edelman, a Professor at Georgetown Law School. They have three sons, Joshua, Jonah, and Ezra, two granddaughters, Ellika and Zoe, and two grandsons, Elijah and Levi. Marian Wright Edelman's Speaking Engagements January 17, 2008 - Portland, OR - MLK Jr. Tribute at Portland State University January 20, 2008 - Durham, NC - 2008 Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration at Duke University (listen to podcast and view transcript of speech) January 21, 2008 - Hanover, NH - Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at Dartmouth College January 23, 2008 - Philadelphia, PA - MLK Interfaith Program at the University of Pennsylvania January 25, 2008 - Washington, DC - Panel discussion at the U.S. Conference of Mayors January 27, 2008 - Atlanta, GA - Martin Luther King Jr. Worship Service at Spelman Sisters Chapel January 31, 2008 - Atlanta, GA - Keynote at Joint Baptist Convention (webcast) February 15, 2008 - Chicago, IL - African American Speaking Series at Faith Community of St. Sabina March 7, 2008 - Washington, DC - Remarks on "Empowering Children to Become Socially Responsible Leaders" at The American Montessori Society 2008 Annual Conference on Children's Education March 12, 2008 - Durham, NC - Keynote at North Carolina Central University on education March 16, 2008 - Baltimore, MD - “Children in Peril: What Does Our Faith Require of Us?” address at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church March 19, 2008 - Washington, D.C. - Keynote Address, Commercial Real Estate Women Speakers Series Event April 16, 2008 - Washington, D.C. - "Inside the 21st-Century Schoolhouse" Keynote Address before the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington April 16, 2008 - Toledo, OH - Keynote Address, Toledo National Library Week April 21, 2008 - New York, NY - Keynote Address, Rockefeller Children's Storefront May 3, 2008 - Wilberforce, OH - Commencement Address, Central State University May 12, 2008 - Montclair, NJ - Remarks to the Turrell Fund of New Jersey May 17, 2008 - Nashville, TN - Commencement Address, Meharry Medical College May 18, 2008 - Allentown, PA - Commencement Address, Muhlenberg College May 23, 2008 - Long Island, NY - Commencement Address, State University of New York at Stony Brook Books by Marian Wright Edelman Marian Wright Edelman has authored a number of books that provide inspiration, prayer, guidance, and motivation to people of all ages.
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"The Children's Defense Fund’s Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities." |