Cecile Richards Biography

Cecile Richards is a nationally respected leader in the field of womens health and reproductive rights. As president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Ms. Richards leads a national organization that has worked for nearly 100 years to build a healthier and safer world for women and teens. Every year, through more than 750 affiliate health centers nationwide, Planned Parenthood provides health care services to nearly three million patients, and sex education to more than one million people. Its website plannedparenthood.org receives 43 million visits a year from individuals seeking health care services and education in both English and Spanish.

Since joining Planned Parenthood in 2006, Ms. Richards has expanded the organizations advocacy for access to health care and ensured that Planned Parenthood played a pivotal role in shaping health care coverage and services for women under the Affordable Care Act. In 2011, she led an unprecedented nationwide campaign to preserve access to Planned Parenthood preventive care through federal programs. Under her leadership, the number of Planned Parenthood supporters has doubled, reaching more than seven million.

Before joining Planned Parenthood, Ms. Richards served as deputy chief of staff for House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. In 2004, she founded and served as president of America Votes, a coalition of 42 national grassroots organizations working to maximize registration, education, and voter participation.

Ms. Richards began her career organizing low-wage workers in the hotel, health care, and janitorial industries throughout California, Louisiana, and Texas. The daughter of former Texas Governor Ann Richards, Ms Richards was raised in a family committed to social justice and public service. She worked side by side with her mother on her very first campaign the successful election to the state legislature of Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who argued the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide.

Ms. Richards is a frequent speaker and commentator on issues related to womens rights, reproductive health, and sex education, and is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post.

Ms. Richards currently serves on the board of the Ford Foundation. She and her husband, Kirk Adams, have three children.

In 2015 Richards was named a Glamour Women of the Year.

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