Justice Advocate to Speak on Women’s Rights at All Saints

The president and CEO of the American Jewish World Service will speak at the All Saints Church to discuss ways on how to end violence against women.

A peace activist and a 1997 Mayoral candidate in New York City, Ruth Messinger, will speak in the Rector’s Forum Sunday, December 8 at 10:15 a.m.

“Our immediate goals for US policy are to take steps to end violence against women and girls, to stop crimes and to empower girls to end child marriage,” Messinger said. “The very first piece of this which I’ll certainly be speaking about on the 8th is to mobilize community of All Saints all over United States to convince the Unites Congress to pass the International Violence Against Women Act.”

Messinger, who is a social worker by profession, also served at the New York City government for 20 years before she became a part of the American Jewish World Service.

Her transition from an urban to a global community proved to be both exciting and challenging, she said.

“I knew that I could use several of the skills that I had developed in elected office in government, but learn about a new arena of work, come to understand international human rights and international development challenges,” Messinger said. “For me, it was an opportunity for new learning and reapplication of skills that I had developed in government.”

Messinger, who has traveled Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean for her services, said her works in the government and in the global community have a lot of similarities.

“It was also more seamless than you might imagine because both the work that I did in government and the work of American Jewish World Service emphasize the notion that change comes back from the bottom,” she said.

During Messinger’s 20-year career in public service in New York City, she served for 12 years on the New York City Council and eight as Manhattan borough president. She was the first woman to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination for mayor in 1997.

Messinger has been honored for her works in many national Jewish organizations, including the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Women’s Funding Network, the Union for Reform Judaism and the American Jewish Committee.

She has also received honorary degrees from four major American rabbinical seminaries. In recognition of her work, Ruth has been named one of the Forward’s “50 most influential Jews of the year” for 10 years.

Admission is free of charge. All Saints Church is located at 132 North Euclid Ave. For more information, call (626) 796-1172 or visit www.allsaints-pas.org.