1. Cecile Richards was an American activist who served as the president of both the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliated Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018.
21 Facts About Cecile Richards
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In 2010, Richards was elected to the Ford Foundation board of trustees.
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In spring 2019, Cecile Richards co-founded Supermajority, a women's political action group.
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Cecile Richards was born in Waco, Texas, on July 15,1957, the daughter of Ann Cecile Richards, an American politician and activist who served as governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995.
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Cecile Richards won several landmark cases, including a voting-rights lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court.
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Cecile Richards initially went to public school, but, in ninth grade, she was disciplined for protesting the Vietnam War, after she wore a black armband.
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Cecile Richards then attended the progressive St Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin for the remainder of high school.
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Cecile Richards graduated with a bachelor's degree in history from Brown University.
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Cecile Richards's parents were immersed in political activism from her early years on.
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Cecile Richards opposed the Vietnam War in her youth and was sent home from school for wearing a black armband.
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Cecile Richards served on the board of the Ford Foundation, a global private foundation with the mission of advancing human welfare.
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Cecile Richards was one of the founders of America Votes, a 5014 organization that aims to co-ordinate and promote progressive issues, and served as its president.
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Cecile Richards served on the board of advisors of Let America Vote, an organization founded by former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander that aims to end voter suppression.
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Cecile Richards became the president of Planned Parenthood in 2006, reinvigorated the group, growing the base of donors and volunteers for more than a decade.
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Cecile Richards stepped down in 2018, and was succeeded by Leana Wen.
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Cecile Richards contributed the piece "Combating the Religious Right" to the 2003 anthology Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium, edited by Robin Morgan.
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In 2018, Cecile Richards published her memoir, Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead.
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Cecile Richards was married to Kirk Adams, a labor organizer with the Service Employees International Union, whom she married in 1985.
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Cecile Richards was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in mid-2023.
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Cecile Richards died at her home in Manhattan, New York, on January 20,2025, at the age of 67.
21.
On November 20,2024, Cecile Richards received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden at the White House.