Event Highlights

2021 INductees

Teresa C. Younger

President & CEO, Ms. Foundation for Women

Teresa C. Younger is an activist, advocate, renowned public-speaker, organizational strategist, and a proven leader in the philanthropic and policy sectors. Having spent over 20 years on the frontlines of some of the most critical battles for comprehensive equity and the elimination of institutionalized oppression, she now serves as the President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Prior to joining the Ms. Foundation for Women, Younger served as the executive director of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women and as executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut -- the first African American and the first woman to hold that position.

Younger is a thought leader at the critical intersections of gender and race. Within the philanthropic sector she serves on initiatives to shape and change the narrative of women and girls, including Grantmakers for Girls of Color, Funders for Reproductive Equity, Philanthropy New York and Black Funders for Social Justice.

Additionally, Younger serves on a number of boards including the Ethel Walker School and Essie Justice Group.

She has appeared on MSNBC’s UP with David Gura, NBC News, NPR Radio, Elle Magazine, Cosmopolitan, SiriusXM, and in USA Today, AP, Rewire, BadassWomenLeaders.com podcast and the New York Times.

Younger is a graduate of the University of North Dakota and in 2018 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in Humanities from the University of New Haven. She is also a proud lifetime Girl Scout and Gold Award recipient.

Kica Matos

VP of Initiatives at the Vera Institute of Justice

Kica Matos is the VP of Initiatives at the Vera Institute of Justice.  Prior to joining Vera, Kica was the Director of Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice at the Center for Community Change, an organization whose mission is to empower the people most affected by injustice to lead movements to improve the policies that affect their lives. Kica has been a national advocate for immigration reform and coordinated the work of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, the nation’s largest network of immigrant rights organizations. She has extensive experience as an advocate, community organizer, and lawyer.

Kica has also headed up the U.S. Reconciliation and Human Rights Program at Atlantic Philanthropies. Before joining Atlantic Philanthropies, she served as deputy mayor in the city of New Haven, where she oversaw the city’s community programs and launched new initiatives including prisoner re-entry, youth, and immigrant integration. Kica was previously the executive director of JUNTA, New Haven’s oldest Latino advocacy organization. She also worked as an assistant federal defender for death sentenced inmates and with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Amnesty International on death penalty and criminal justice issues.

She has a B.A. from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, an M.A. from the New School, and a J.D. from Cornell Law School. She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Albertus Magnus College in 2017 and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of New Haven in 2019.

Jerimarie Liesegang (1950-2020)

A tireless advocate for the Transgender and broader LGBTQI+ communities in Connecticut

Jerimarie Liesegang was known as a tireless advocate for Transgender rights in Connecticut.

She started out as a Harvard PhD chemist and ended up an activist who embodied the definition of intersectional work. She founded several organizations such as It’s Time Connecticut, and a political organization Queers Without Borders. She was active with CWEALF, PFLAG and on the Board of Love Makes a Family and the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective.

Jerimarie marched in the first Hartford Pride parade and in 2002 with her wife Anja Schaedler started the observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance in Connecticut.    According to those that knew her, her proudest achievement was the amendment of Connecticut Public Act No. 11-55.  An act that included “gender identity or expression” to the list of what protections were embedded in the act.  She fought for the Trans community and this legislation for over a decade until Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed it into law in 2011.

Jerimarie would work with other oppressed groups as well. She lived her life and work through a quote from the Black lesbian civil rights activist Audre Lorde:  “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, as we do not lead single-issue lives.  

On November 3, Jerimarie Liesegang, the woman who many consider the grandmother of the Transgender movement in Connecticut died of cancer at age 70.

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Event Tickets

CWHF's 28th Annual Induction Ceremony will take place in person, outdoors with a maximum attendance of 450 people, at the Mortensen Plaza Riverfront Park following strict CDC guidelines. Masks are mandated for all attendees - even if the event is being held outdoors.

Proceeds from our Annual Induction Ceremony support the Hall’s efforts to continue providing important online programming that centers and uplifts women and girls and inspires them to keep learning and working together during this challenging time. COVID-19 has shown us that online resources like the Hall are crucial to continuing the education of our students, our communities, and ourselves and your purchase of an Induction Ceremony ticket or Sponsorship ensures that we can continue to develop educational resources that remain relevant to the times.

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