American feminist, social and political activist, and journalist.

Gloria, as a Chester Bowles Fellow, spent two years in India as a law clerk to the Chief Justice of India. She returned to the US to serve as director of Independent Research Service which turned out to be secretly funded by the CIA. In 1960 she worked for the American satire magazine Help, freelanced for Esquire, and then for NY Magazine. Gloria’s 1969 article “After Black Power, Women’s Liberation” put her in the forefront of feminism. While at NY magazine Gloria took a Playboy Bunny job in NYC to research and then write about this exploitative culture. In 1972 Steinem co-founded MS magazine, the iconic women’s liberation magazine. Gloria campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment and in 1971 was one of 300 women who founded the National Women’s Political Caucus. Steinem has displayed a lifelong commitment for speaking out and writing on women’s rights and political issues. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.