>> alright! that's why i love doing these things with maliah cohen. state board of equalization here. happy early women's equality day. my name is carmen chui. every year we brought this today for the importance of voting and importance of women equality day. for folks who may not know tomorrow august 26 is women equality day,

past in 1973 in united states congress which designate the 20 as wementen equality day to acimemerate the 19ths amendment in 1920 for women voting rights. we fought hard for the right s and people say why do you atalk about a right you already won. the point even though there is a right to vote we know there are many reasons why people sometimes don't go out to vote. barriers that may exist or perhaps people may feel disillusioned by political system or having a child of 3 life gets in the way and gets hard to manage and figure how to get to the polls. not voting isn't the solution so today we come together to really remind folks of the importance of voting. there is so much that is at stake now in this country with voting. we have seen some of the consequences of what

happens at the supreme court whether it has to do with reprotective rights or gun rights and other issues that impact our day to day lives and so today we come out here to really recognize the importance of voting, but to remember that voting isn't something you are just given and you can get pretend it doesn't exist and forget about it. it is important to get out there and do go out and vote. i want to thank the amazing group of people who assembled today to shed light on the importance of what that looks like. i think as i mentioned, there is a lot at stake at the state level in terms of propositions on the ballot, locally what is on the ballot, the people we elect to represent us so let's not forget that. i would like to recognize a few folks to come up to speak, but before i do that, i also want to recognize a few people who joined us here who have taken time out. this is the board recess but people are here from board recesss and others to make sure they are out to spread the important news. let me go down the line

and please give a round of applause because they are the folks who lead the city and fight the good fight. supervisor matt dorsey from district 6. supervisor-mindalman district 8. supervisor catherine stephanie who you will hear from in just a little bit. supervisor connie chan who you will hear from as well. let's get excited! school board member lani (inaudible) is here. city attorney david chui. public defender manoah here. there he is. sheriff paul mia moto. city college trustee shellby and we will talk about other department heads too. our da is here. where is our da?

thank you for being here today. and so with that, let me turn it over to alcon on allison go the league of women voters and a partner in the w challenge many years and will tell you more about the day of action. part of the challenge isn't about bringing people to remember the right to vote and motivate people to vote and take concrete action to get people to the polls. i want to talk about the sunday 28, august 28 day of action to make sure we are going door to door to register voters and allison will speak more about that so let's give a hardy big equality day welcome to allison go. [applause] >> hi. my name is allison go. i'm the president of the league of women voters of san francisco. we are non partisan political non profit u. we do not endorse candidates but we

do take positions on issues, and actually the league in san francisco we are older then 102 years. we pre-date league of women voters national because san francisco has always lead the way. [applause] so, this summer i have the opportunity to attend the league national convention in denver and it happened to be the same weekday roe was struck down. it was really hard at first, but it was kind of exactly where i needed to be at the time and we attended a rally that evening at the denver capital. we were all gathered outside with our signs and with all our feelings and are there was a youngors r organizer on the back of a pickup struck and saying how they are going to lead the charge and continue the fight their mother and grandmothers and families fought before and

this league member right behind me, she stood up and said, we are still here! i keep thinking about that fellow league member who is still fighting and still thinking about how to stand up for women equality and are women rights. we are still here. our league we are making sure the ballots are easy to understand in a unbiased manner through the voter guides and candidate forms coming up for the packed fall election. we are still here. we are standing up for under represented and historically marginalized groups at government meetings and during the recent redistricting process and we are still here registering women to vote. did you know in san francisco about 55 thousand eligible women are not yet registered to vote? league of women voters volen steers have been hitting the pavement and knocked on over 700 doors this spring but we need your help. this is the canvasing

the happiest stup when you open the door. stories the volunteers heard from the doors, one of-they knocked oen a door and registered a young woman who just turned 18 and she was so excited to register. she took a dozen of our registration qr codes to give to her friends to stick on their laptops and that is is the fact you can have a few join us. the volunteers also registered a life long san francisco woman who had just never gotten around to it but she is on the qr code and the volunteer was able to assist her in the couple minutes so hopeful we registered that woman to vote. we need you to reach more of the potential voters. on sunday at 3 o'clock we'll kick off here to knock on doors and register our fellow san franciscans. there is no experience necessary. we will provide all the training, all the materials you need, just

wear comfy shoes, bring water and get ready to talk to our neighbors. you can sign up on wchallenge.org. so, if you have any questions come find me afterwards or one of my volunteers. ann is here as well so the next-i would like to introduce the next speaker. i consider it a honor to introduce the san francisco native woman california constitutional officer a rising staff, a fellow working mom, the honorable malia cohen, the chair of the california state of equalization. the first african woman to serve on the board of equalization. as chair thof board is responsible for administering california complex $85 billion property tax system which funds the local schools, local government and first respondsers. also a member of the powerful franchise tax board,

so please join me welcoming our very own started political career in city hall, fierce advocate for women and powerful change maker, malia cohen: >> that was a great introduction and dont know if you picked up a (inaudible) it was like having a theme song. i mentor women and tell them walk up and need a theme song. it setss the tone and get the fighting spirit we have going. i want to recognize a distinguish elected members of the family joaquin toresour city assessor. assessing property values and making sure the city and county of san francisco has revenue comes so the board of supervisors can spend it and let it go out. very important. i also need to take a moment and pause. we have to recognize

carmen chui. her leadership consistently brought us here together to celebrate and uplift women's equality day. if she did not have the foresight i don't know if we would be gathering here but this is a incraedbly important moment and carmen ipt you to know how much we appreciate you bringing us together and bringing a allyship of men and women to city hall. hello to my strong sister and the fellows that love us, thank you very much for being with us in the struggle. we would be no where without our allies and when we talk about struggle we are talking struggle for our lives. talking about the struggle for children lives and the future of the young women and girls that have yet to be born. that is why we stand here today and i'll tell you, i believe in myself. do you believe in yourselves? i think we believe in our collective

sevls and i believe in our collective strength but we got to be honest and real. we got real challenges ahead of us. we got rights that are being repealed, being taken away from us. we are under attack. since the overturning of roe v wade it creates a unprecedented challenge, never before, never before has there been a supreme court decision that has taken away fundamental rights. the-- >> (inaudible) >> the reaction forces that organize to take away our rights to choose focus on taking other rights like the right to marry. other rights like the right to contraception. our families and our family rights to health care, all this is collectively under attack so what are we going to do? stand up and fight back. we are going to stand up and fight

back because we can. because we are organized and diligent and we are disciplined. we must make sure that all of our sisters vote this november, november 8 is the magic day but remember vote. ballots get mailed out first week in october. october 10. we must make sure every sister has the right to vote and remember there are initiatives on the ballot that impact us. please study that ballot, please understand it and vote your conscious. with that, i like to say, thank you very much for your support. carmen i appreciate you bringing us together and bringing out everybody that make san francisco a wonderful place to live. [applause] we are inclusive place. thank you. >> alright. so, i are want to recognize a few more folks that

are here. we got a lot of folks here who have been part of our conversation. i want to make sure we recognize our department head (inaudible) our controller anna moses. thank you department heads for being here. i want to turn it over to one of our major partners who was our department on the status of women leaders, kimberley ellis. give a big round of applause to kimberley ellis! [applause] >> what's up san francisco? ! [applause] i also want to thank carmen for her leadership and bringing us all together here. thank you carmen for the work you continue to do on behalf of women, on behalf of families and on behalf of san franciscans everywhere. thank you. i love to invite

our friends who have joined us into this conversation because the truth of the matter is, we believe in children. we believe in healthy children. we believe in a contry that provides for the whole health of children in this country. and so if you want to talk about ways that we can work together to insuring that is possible then join us. otherwise, have many seats and be quite. i also like to put a finer point on the women that we just heard from, malia cohen is running to be the state controller of the 5th large est economy in the world, the chief financial officer of california. she will be on the ballot this november. we are very proud of a daughter of san

francisco who is running this year. they say struggle is a never ending process and freedom is never really won. you earn it and you win it in every generation. those were the words of the king. as we stand on the eve of women equality day and the anniversary of the 19th amendment, let us remember that our calling at this time and this moment is to secure freedom for ourselves and for others and then pass them along to generations to come. [applause] >> good afternoon everyone i'm kimberley ellis the director for san francisco department of status of women. our mission is promote the equitable

treatment and advancement of women girls and non diinary in binary in san francisco and qu build diverse and efficient city government through gender responsive racialry equitable policies programs and legislation. [chanting in the background] our work is catalyzed for transformative changes for women girls and jnder and non binary people. the areas are health and safety, economic security and civic engagement and political empowerment. to say thet that this year has been devastating for wemson a understatement. this summer has been tinged with increased pain, fear and anger in the face of unjust and unrelenting attacks on our fundamental right to bodily autonomy. [applause]

every week it seems like a new state passes a law restricting our right to choose. the latest research shows approximately 22 million people of reproductive age now live in states with highly restrictive abortion laws. just last week a judge in north carolina reinstated a 20 week abortion ban while idaho allowed a 6 week ban to take effect and wont stop there. experts estimate up to 26 states will most likely implement a ban or severely restrict access to abortion in the coming weeks and months. so, despite or perhaps because of the on going threat to our health, wealth, physical safety and wellbeing, women must show up and show out not just for ourselves but for

our families, our communities and generations to come. the past several elections have reminded us of who women are. we are the margins of victory. there are 75 days until election day and make no mistake about it, democracy is on the ballot. our lives, our lively lyhood and future of our children and everyone welove is on the line. tit is time for women everywhere to flex our eelectoral muscle and let freedom and our political power ring. we are in this fight together and for the long haul. we cannot and will not sit this election out. in honor of our for emothers and sisters in the struggle, thank you to administrator carmen

chui for your leadership and i join colleagues women leaders and allies to urge you to vote in this year's election. the mid-terms are coming, and so are your mail-in ballots. i look forward to seeing all of you at the polls or at the post office on november 8. thank you and happy women equality day. [applause] >> alright ladies and men, are we going to stop? are we ever going to be quite? are we going to fight? is democracy on the line? alright. i bet supervisor catherine stephanie and supervisor chan, please come on up. >> good afternoon everybody cht i think we know now why it is so important to turn out to the polls and vote. [applause]

because this is ridiculous. i want to thank city administrator carmen chui for organizing the event and we are gathered today to remind people to vote, to register people to vote and turn them out but i want to talk about one more thing and it has everything to do with what's going on right now. we need women not only voting at the ballot but we need women voting in (inaudible) city council, board of supervisors office, state legislature across this country and in congress! we made a lot strides in san francisco with kamal a harris (inaudible) for women everywhere. but i want to tell you right now, a reason we are seeing this is because there are not had enough women in office making the rules across this country!

when you have 24 wem in in the u.s. senate, 122 women out of 535 in the house of representatives, when we only have 9 women governors, when we only have 31 percent of women representing state legislatures across this country and 30 percent in municipal offices, you know something is wrong. so, men, continue to out number women in large percentages and i want to tell you why that is problem and i want to thank our male allies because we are lucky in san francisco to amazing men along our side as our allies. i are want to tell you something, my 13 year old daughter has less rights then i did when i was her age because roe v wade has been overturned and they are not stopping there. they want to

criminalize women for having an abortion prosecute under the law and give us the death penalty and tell you right now that is never going to happen! when a 10 year old in this country is raped and has to travel to another country to get an abortion, something is wrong with you. when we know 10 year olds in elementary schools are subject to frequent lockdowns because they are afraid of school shootings and we have tragieds like uvalde and sandy hook because we can (inaudible) and 10 yee year olds where are you on that? are you pro life for kids dying in the classrooms? i don't think so. meanwhile we face teacher shortages

across the country because we refuse to pay what they are worth. the income gap between rich and poor is growing at a rapid pace with people in the throws of poverty without homes and proper medical care for mental health (inaudible) of the top 1 percent are now $23 trillion and own (inaudible) so i ask you again, how is this male dominated leadership working for us? more women need to be at the table, more mothers need to be at the table, more decisions need to be made by women because as we say when you are not at the table you are on the menu and not only are we on the menu, but our children are on the menu too. i recently had a experience that left me baffled. it came to my attention that a man told someone that he didn't think i was strong or i didn't act strong on the board.

i literally thought i was hallucinating given i'm often standing alone on issues and certainly not afraid to say why. i declared the nra the (inaudible) fighting the gun law for the past 20years. do not tell me i'm not strong and the women up here are not strong. i am not the only one this happens to and i started to realize why this person thought that is because i don't act like a man at the board of supervisors. i dont fit the gender norms. i'm not interrupting people at it board. i are don't need to act tough and speak on every issue and don't try to (inaudible) this isn't a new thing. often referred to as the authority gap. women are taken less seriously then men when it comes to leadership because from a young age gender norms create social roles and expectations how men

and women should behave. while i am here to ask you to vote, register other women to vote, run for office yourself and encourage other women to run for office. i want you to support them when they are in office. do not judge women by the same jnder norms that have been ingrained in us. if we are going to achieve equality, we need to vote, we need to run for office and we can no longer let a man's perception of us rule the day. we cannot allow strength to be measured by traditional stereo typical masculine behavior. you want equality? you change the narrative and empower women leaders because we got to put a stop to this nonsense. there is strength in kindness, there is strength in collaboration and knowing when to make your point and knowing when to just say nothing at all. there is strength in humility and (inaudible) i want to say one last thing,

yes we know women tend to be under estimated and i can tell you that all the women here today and all the men that are here with us on this stage, all i can say to you is underestimate us because that's going to be a lot of fun! >> i ask that all of us stand closer together. i ask that if you don't mind you're welcome to hold hands. i ask that perhaps arm and arm that we are together. if you are in the audience, you are welcome to join us. [music playing]