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Choice USA was founded in 1992 by Gloria Steinem as Voters for Choice and serves to mobilize and provide ongoing support to the upcoming generation of leaders who promote and protect reproductive choice. The organization's first projects analyzed the activities of the religious right in elections and promoted electoral participation by women, young people, and people of color. In 1996, responding to signs that young people's support for reproductive choice had declined compared to previous generations and that young supporters of choice were disconnected from the pro-choice movement, Choice USA created the Next Generation Campaign which focused its work exclusively on teenagers and young people. National in scope, Choice USA's programs address the pressing need for pro-choice messages, programs, and strategies tailored to engage young people, whose experiences differ markedly (socially and politically) from the generation of reproductive rights activists who fought to see Roe v. Wade passed in 1973. In 2001, Choice USA laid the groundwork for transitioning to become an exclusively youth-led and youth-focused reproductive rights organization, creating programs that incorporate the lessons learned from research (and validated by field experience) to regain young people's support. Choice USA programs reach young people in every region of the country. Gloria Steinem currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors. Crystal Plati is Executive Director.
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Records contain correspondence, publications, publicity materials, press releases and clippings, photographs, website images, reports, polls, financial information, and Board of Directors minutes, and other materials. They document the organization's history and work for the preservation of a woman's right to choose by way of media campaigns, voter registration initiatives, educational outreach to young adults, and endorsing pro-choice candidates for political office.
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Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Choice USA Records, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
Periodic additions to collection are expected and may not be reflected in this record.
The Choice USA Records were donated to the Sophia Smith Collection by the organization in 2007.
Accessioned by Burd Schlessinger, 2007