About the Alice Paul Center
Our Vision
We envision a world in which people are allied in pursuit of liberation
and justice under the law and in everyday practice.
our mission
Alice Paul Center builds contemporary action and intergenerational movement for gender justice through the lens of history and of place.
organizational history
In 1984, a group of advocates for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) decided to ensure that the 1985 centennial of the birth of Alice Paul, the author of the ERA, would be appropriately commemorated. They founded the Alice Paul Centennial Foundation, then created a slate of leadership programs for girls and purchased an important collection of Paul’s papers and artifacts. Eventually, they were also offered the opportunity to acquire Paul’s childhood home, Paulsdale, saving the house and property from development.
Today, as the Alice Paul Center, the organization continues to educate and empower girls and young women to view themselves as leaders, encourage civic engagement, preserve Paulsdale, and advocate for the passage of the ERA which, when enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, will give legal and lasting equal protections to people of all genders.
Acknowledgements
To meet our mission today and in the future, we must acknowledge our own history. These acknowledgments commit us to learning how to be better stewards of the land that we inhabit, of the multiple truths that make up the past, and of the rights of all people:
- We continually reckon with understanding the flawed and nuanced life of Alice Paul as she at once fought for gender equality and excluded Black suffragists in that journey. We affirm that no oppressed group is truly fighting for emancipation if it liberates itself while leaving others in their chains.
- We acknowledge that intersectionality – the convergence of race, gender, and class that can put particular groups at a disadvantage or lead to discrimination – adds important dimension to our work.
- We acknowledge that trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming people have the right to self-identify their gender freely and without anxiety. We affirm that everyone has the right to feel at home within themselves. We continue to center female-identifying individuals because we have been treated as inferior to men in every sphere of life, throughout human history.
- We acknowledge that the site of API’s offices and programs occupies the traditional and ancestral homeland of the Lenape People, past and present. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the Indigenous Peoples and Nations who have stewarded it throughout the generations, for more than 10,000 years.
- We acknowledge the many immigrants who came to Mt. Laurel seeking to make a home and life for themselves, to raise families, and to build communities. We acknowledge the agricultural and domestic workers who labored at Paulsdale generation after generation.
What is Gender justice?
Gender Justice is a concept that promotes the full realization of rights and opportunities for people of all genders. It seeks to realize equality for all in terms of rights, responsibilities, and opportunities. It aims to address the root causes of gender discrimination and ensures that women, and people of all oppressed gender identities, are not excluded from the full enjoyment of their human rights.
Strategic goals
- Dynamic Advocacy- Equipping women and girls with the knowledge, tools, and connections to effect change; movement building that unites generations, engages all races, and ignites collective action.
- Impassioned Stewardship- Telling stories that illuminate multiple truths of women’s history; passionately assuming responsibility for preserving, spotlighting, and sustaining historic artifacts and places; planning for long-term financial health.
- Untethered Capacity- Crystalizing an organizational identity that positions API as a collaborative resource and thought leader; energizing new audiences and partners; recalibrating board-staff relationships for a cohesive partnership.
Staff and Directors
For general inquiries, write to info@alicepaul.org or call the office at (856) 231-1885.
Chandreyi, Director of Operations
she/her
cdas@alicepaul.org
Olivia, Public Programs Manager
she/her
oerrico@alicepaul.org
Molly, Advocacy Manager
she/her
mgonzales@alicepaul.org
Rachael, Executive Director
she/her
rgrupisan@alicepaul.org
Quincy, Assistant Manager of Youth Programs
she/they
qwansel@alicepaul.org
Board of directors
Dr. June DePonte Sernak, Chair
Nancy Mirfin, Treasurer
Meghan Day, Secretary
Ting Ting Cheng