Forward 50 2015

Lori Adelman

Image by Feministing

It’s been a productive year for Lori Adelman, the executive director at Feministing and associate director for global communications at Planned Parenthood, who made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in its media section after making The Root 100 2014 list of the nation’s most influential African Americans.

Adelman, 29, was raised Jewish in her family’s Conservative tradition, and she celebrated her bat mitzvah. In a 2011 Feministing post she wrote: “Even though I am no longer practising, I still sometimes join some members of my family for a Rosh Hashanah dinner, blowing of the shofar, and of course apples and honey.” In 2013, she went on Birthright trip which she documented on a Black on Birthright tumblr.

The Harvard graduate has a strong background in human rights, having worked at the United Nations Foundation, the International Women’s Health Coalition and Human Rights Watch.

In a year when reproductive rights, and especially Planned Parenthood, were under attack, Adelman stood at the forefront of the fight for reproductive health for women in America and across the world.

As a journalist, Adelman focuses on gender, sexuality and race. She has written on everything from reproductive rights in Ireland to the undercover feminism of Nicki Minaj.

And, as a Jewish feminist of color, she has been personally vocal in the Black Lives Matter movement. While, through feministing.com, she helps give voice to a variety of feminist voices from different ethnicities and backgrounds.

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