Political Handywoman/Consultant, Knoxville, TN2004-Present

Suzanne Pharr

Political Work Experience

Political Handywoman/Consultant, Knoxville, TN2004-Present

Director, HighlanderResearch & EducationCenter, New Market, TN 1999-2004

Director of a historic, non-profit regional organization which has worked since 1932 to bring about social and economic justice.

Founder, ArkansasWomen's Project, Little Rock, AR 1981-1990

Arkansas Women’s Project is a nationally recognized community-based non-profit organization, working to eliminate racism and sexism by concentrating on issues of economics and violence.

• Director, 1981-88
• Staff, 1988-1999
• Founder of the Women’s Watchcare Network which monitors and documents religious, racist, sexist, and anti-gay and lesbian violence
• Editor of Transformation, a newsletter of the Women’s Project
• Organizer of the Women’s Retreat for 10 years
• Workshop leader, using popular education methods. for 12-30 workshops per year (1981 -present) on racism, homophobia, sexism, economic injustice, organizational development, and the theocratic Right to a wide variety of groups such as churches, unions, universities, , schools, civic organizations, community organizations, professional groups, foundations, and businesses
• Conference coordinator of the national conference for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (two years)
• Conference organizer of the Southern Regional Domestic Violence conference
• Organizer and convener of four national organizing retreats on the right wing, on economics, and on domestic violence at the BlueMountainCenter
• Keynote speaker on issues related to oppressions, the right wing, etc., throughout the country at educational institutions, conferences, churches, community organizations since 1982
• Political strategist for leadership of community and national organizations
• Press officer for Oregon's No on 9 campaign to defeat an anti-gay and lesbian ballot initiative in 1992
• Lead organizer for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force at the 1996 Republican National Convention
• Evaluator of the Democratic Values program for the Nathan Cummings Foundation, 1996

Director, WashingtonCounty Head Start,Fayetteville, Arkansas 1977-78

Researcher , Senior Needs Project, ACTION/Vista, Northwest Arkansas 1979-80

Co-chair,Jesse Jackson Campaign for Arkansas 1988

On-line columnist forWorking Assets and for Planet Out 1996 1996

Organizational Board Work

Board member, RaceRelationsCenter, Knoxville, TN, 2006.

Board member, Center for Democratic Renewal, Atlanta, GA, 1998-2003.

Board member, Highlander Research and EducationCenter, New Market, TN, 1995-1999.

Board member, Seguaro Fund of the Funding Exchange, New York, 1987-90.

Board member, Spinsterhaven, (retirement land cooperative for elderly & disabled lesbians in Arkansas), 1988-90.

Board member, Southeast Women's Employment Coalition, 1985-89.

Steering committee member, chair of the Lesbian Task Force, and newsletter editor for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1982-1988.

Board member, Grassroots, Women's Project, Little Rock, Arkansas, 1981-83.

Founding chair of Board of Directors for the Project for Victims of Family Violence, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1976-81.

Academic Experience

Adult Education Instructor, North Arkansas Community College, 1974-76.

Chair, Department of English, CountryDay School (New Orleans, LA), 1971-73.

Teaching Fellow, Tulane University, 1969-71.

Lecturer, University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand), 1968-69.

Instructor, MaryWashingtonCollege (Fredericksburg, Virginia), 1964-67.

Teaching Fellow, StateUniversity of New York at Buffalo, 1961-62, 1963-64.

Instructor, YoungHarrisCollege (Young Harris, Georgia), 1962-63.

Education

Doctoral Studies, American Literature, ABD, 1971, TulaneUniversity, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Master of Arts, English, 1964, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York.

Bachelor of Arts, English, 1961, Women's College of Georgia, Milledgeville, Georgia.

Publications

Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism, Chardon Press, 1988; updated 1997.

In the Time of the Right: Reflections on Liberation, Chardon Press, 1996.

Some 50-plus articles published in Transformation and the newsletters of organizations such as Western States Center (Portland, Oregon), the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Southerners on New Ground, and publications such as "Sojourner: A Women's Journal" and "The Progressive," as well as intextbooks and anthologies such as:

Letters of Intent: Women Cross the Generations to Talk about Family, Work, Sex, Love and the Future of Feminism, Bondoc & Daly, eds., Free Press, New York, 1999.

Eyes Right! Challenging the Right Wing Backlash, Berlet. ed., South End Press, Boston, 1995.

Feminist Foremothers: Women’s Studies, Psychology, Mental Health,Chesler, Rothblum, Cole, eds., Harrington Park Press, NY 1995.

Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study,Rothberg, ed., St. Martins Press, NY, 1995.

Front Line Feminism, 1975-1995, Kahn, ed., Aunt Lute Books, San Francisco, 1995.

A Certain Terror: Heterosexism, Militarism, Violence & Change, Cleaver & Myers, eds., Great Lakes Region American Friends Service Committee, Chicago, 1993.

Awards

Harvey Milk Award, After 8 (Corvallis, Oregon), 1997.

Human Dignity Award, DeschutesCounty Coalition for Human Dignity (Bend, OR),1997.

Honoring Our Voices, for outstanding national leadership on behalf of gay/lesbian Americans, Voices '96 (San Diego, CA), 1996.

Jeannettee Rankin Award, for lifelong activism, A Territorial Resource (Seattle, WA), 1995.

Progressive Anti-Violence Activism, the Center for Anti-Violence Education, Brooklyn Women’s Martial Arts (New York), 1995.

Stonewall Award, $25,000 award for national gay and lesbian leadership, the Stonewall Foundation, 1993.

Courageous Act Award of the Gloria Steinem Awards, $2,500 award for national women's leadership, the Ms. Foundation (New York), 1993.

The Portlandia Award, for Democracy work, theLesbian Community Project (Portland,

OR), 1992.

The Jessie Bernard Wise Women Award, for lifetime commitment to scholarship, service, and advocacy in behalf of the "feminist enlightenment," Center for Women Policy Studies (Washington, DC) 1990.