2005 Women Who Make a Difference
Awards Dinner
March 1, 2005

Click here for awards ceremony information.
Click here for the afternoon program.

Honoree Profile and Remarks
Click here for the list of all 2005 honorees.

Jehmu Greene
President, Rock the Vote

Jehmu Greene is former President of Rock the Vote, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering young people to participate in the political process. In this capacity, she oversees the organization's operations, headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Washington D.C. and New York City, and serves as its spokesperson. She is also the first Rock the Vote president to sit on the Board of Directors.

Prior to joining Rock the Vote, Ms. Greene was the Director of Women's Outreach and Southern Political Director at the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Ms. Greene also served as the Program Director for the Center for Policy Alternatives' Youth Voices Project and National Student Voter Education Day. She has been a Volunteer Coordinator for the University of Texas Neighborhood Program, and Executive Director of the Texas Young Democrats. In addition, Ms. Greene has worked on numerous campaigns, including Clinton/Gore '96, Harvey Gantt for U.S. Senate, Jim Mattox for U.S. Senate, and Ann Richards for Governor.

Ms. Greene serves on the Executive Committee for the Youth Vote Coalition and the Board of the American Prospect, and is an Advisory Board Member of the Partnership for Public Service, Vote for America, the White House Project's Vote, Run, Lead Project and Freedom's Answer. She was also a co-founder and Advisory Board Member of the 2030 Center, an economic and public policy organization for young adults.

Politics, public policy, and activism have been a mainstay of Ms. Greene's life. As the daughter of Liberian exiles, she has had first-hand knowledge of the realities of war and social disorder, and by witnessing her family's ordeal in Liberia, she has gained a true sense of democracy and the freedoms that are inherent in it.

Jehmu Greene's Remarks

I want to start by thanking the National Council for Research on Women. It is the work that this incredibly-helpful, impactful organization has done through their membership organizations, the information, the research that is put out there - that's made my job, as a campaign professional, really easy.

Because it's all there - the research is there, the information is there, the connections to organizations that are on the ground talking to women, talking to legislators, making a difference every day; and just the work of the Council has absolutely been impactful on my life.

I have to thank the other honorees who are here this evening, for the impact they've had on my life. Teresa Heinz, through the Heinz Foundation, gave me my first opportunity to make a public service announcement in 1996. And through this grant that was given to a number of youth organizations, I was able to fly to Los Angeles and work with producers and work in the entertainment industry, and create a television ad that talked to young people about the fact that they were not apathetic - that they were making a difference in their community.

That they were engaged and interested. And without that support from the Heinz Foundation, I know I wouldn't be here today, so thank you so much to Teresa Heinz and the work of the Heinz Foundation.

And I have to thank Noeleen, with the Commission on Status for Women. I was a lowly person at the Center for Policy Alternatives, ten years ago, when the Beijing Conference happened. And I remember staying up late at night with Linda Tarr-Whelan and watching her and the work of everyone at the Center for Policy Alternatives, as they worked through the Beijing Conference, and worked through putting that report together.

And to hear today that the meeting that is happening this week is to examine the results of that meeting, I know the impact that it had on me to just witness such strong, powerful women; taking control, and having such a global impact ten years ago, for me, helped me get to this point. So thank you for the work that you are continuing to do.

I have to thank the woman who has had the most influence on me, and who helped me understand how important it is to be strong in the face of adversity. How important it is to have an opinion. How important it is to try to make a difference. And that's my older sister, who is here with me tonight.

I never thought, actually, that I would be thanking her because it was hard growing up under someone who - if she disagreed with you, she told you she disagreed. She had an opinion, she made sure that you heard it. And if she wanted you to do what she wanted you to do - she organized, she mobilized, she got everything together to make it happen. And all of those lessons that I learned from my big sister, Rhonda, have everything to do with helping me to be the President of Rock the Vote, which I have said, is the most fabulous job in the world.

Because I get to work with entertainers, I get to do the whole glossy-type of entertainment lifestyle. But most importantly, it's working with young people across the country, who are engaged, who are working to make a difference on a daily basis.

And a lot of times this generation gets a bad rap. They are called apathetic. They are told that they don't want to participate in the political process. They are told that they are not engaged in the ways that they should be. And all of those statements, all of those thoughts are wrong.

We know that. I hope everyone in this room knows that because this is the most engaged generation. They volunteer in higher numbers than any other previous generation. They have put their time, their resources, their efforts on the line - in their neighborhoods, in their communities - in ways that are new, different, exciting. And are a part of the American fabric that I hope will become to be more appreciated.

And that's the work that Rock the Vote does - to make sure that the efforts of young people, the voices of young people, the politics of young people are appreciated, are heard. And that we can have a difference on all of the issues affecting our lives.

In the next 365 days, the next year before the next Presidential election, there is a lot of work that we're going to do at Rock the Vote. The biggest task we have ahead of us is the fight to protect Social Security. And a lot of people have asked - why is Rock the Vote partnering with the AARP? Why are young people talking about this issue - Social Security?

Well, because every single politician is telling us that it is about this generation. They are doing it for young people. They are trying to dismantle this program in the name of this generation.

And what Rock the Vote knows, what all of our 1.6 million members across the country know is that this is the most successful government program ever. Today, without Social Security, half of senior citizens would be living in poverty. And young people, this generation is not going to allow anyone to take this program away. That's why we love Social Security. That's why it's the most important thing that we are going to do in this year, or at any point that they try to take it away in our name.

And we look forward to working with the Council. I look forward to working with so many of the member organizations to communicate to the young women who are out there, on the ground, fighting, talking to their peers, communicating the importance of this issue - basically until this fight is won. That is as long as we will continue it.

It doesn't matter how much money it costs, how much effort has to be put behind it. Young people will be the deliverers of protecting this campaign. And so, I look forward to working with everyone on Social Security.

I'd like end by thanking a woman who, when I'm asked - how did you get involved in politics? - a lot of times I look back to, yes, the impact that my parents, as political exiles, who were not able to vote in elections, who were not able to have a political voice in this country. The impact that they had on me was incredible.

But they also put us in a car and moved us to Austin, Texas when I was just five years old. And I was very lucky to be in the state that produced Barbara Jordan.

When I was five years old, after hearing and learning about Barbara Jordan for the first time, and I was very new to Texas at the time. I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. And I said - well, you know, she was the first Congresswoman, I guess I have to be the first Senator.

And it is not something that I think I'm going to do, as far as running for office, because there are so many things that can be done behind the scenes. But without Barbara Jordan's leadership, without those steps that she took in the state of Texas, in an environment that was so difficult to organize. And as a young African-American woman, I would not be here today - she's with me in my heart at all times, and so I have to thank Barbara Jordan.

I'd like to leave everyone in this room with this understanding. In the 2004 elections, young people turned out in record numbers, since the first time 18-year-olds got the right to vote. Over 50 percent of young voters turned out. That is an incredible accomplishment. 21 million new voters.

I'm really proud to say that Rock the Vote registered 1.4 million of them in the 2004 elections. I'm also really proud that 70 percent of our leaders, of the people we registered to vote, of the activists we engaged on our website were none other than young women across this country.

They are the ones leading this fight, leading this generation. I said earlier today, I don't think for this generation there is a glass ceiling and I said that because of so many of the women in this room and the work that the Council has done.

Because you have helped to remove the glass ceiling for this generation. So these young women are ready, they are prepared, they have stepped up in every single way, shape and form. They are activated and engaged in this fight. And I look forward to working with so many people to make sure that you reach your hand out to them, and to bring them into the room, and you include them in your efforts.

Because the more of us that are at the table, the better it's going to be. Please, acknowledge the impact that this generation is having on this country because they are; they are so engaged. And they are what inspires me to continue to try to make a difference in the way that the Council has. Thank you very much.