Ellen Cassedy was a founder and longtime leader of 9 to 5, the national association of women office workers. Working 9 to 5 is her first-person account of this exciting movement, which began in the early 1970’s, mobilizing women across the country to organize for rights and respect on the job. The movement inspired Jane Fonda’s hit movie and Dolly Parton’s enduring anthem. 9 to 5 is still active today.

Starting out in Boston in 1973, the women of 9 to 5 built a nationwide feminist movement that united people of diverse races, classes, and ages.

They took on the corporate titans. They leafleted, filed lawsuits, and started a woman-led union. They won millions of dollars in back pay and helped make sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination illegal.

When women rose up to win rights and respect at the office, they transformed workplaces throughout America. Along the way came Dolly Parton’s toe-tapping song and the movie inspired by their work.

Ellen appears in the documentaries “9 to 5: The Story Of A Movement” and “Still Working 9 to 5.”

Ellen is the award-winning author of We Are Here: Memories of the Lithuanian Holocaust, in which her journey to connect with her Jewish family roots expands into a wider quest. She explores how people in Lithuania are engaging with their Nazi and Soviet past in order to move toward a more tolerant future. Winner of the Grub Street National Book Prize for Nonfiction, shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.

Leonce Ndikumana is a Burundian Professor of Economics and specialist in African economy development, macroeconomics, external debt and capital flight. He is particularly interested in the macro-economic policy and in Africa economy. He focuses his career on the causes of weak African economies, its consequences and solutions needed. He served as Director of Research and Operations of the African Development Bank and Head of Macroeconomic Analysis at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

He has co-written with James K. Boyce, research published in books and several journals; International Review of Applied Economics, African Development Review, Development and Change, and the Journal of Development Studies and World Development.

Part 2 topics include The Debt Crisis and its links to the African Economy.

Leonce Ndikumana is a Burundian Professor of Economics and specialist in African economy development, macroeconomics, external debt and capital flight. He is particularly interested in the macro-economic policy and in Africa economy. He focuses his career on the causes of weak African economies, its consequences and solutions needed. He served as Director of Research and Operations of the African Development Bank and Head of Macroeconomic Analysis at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

He has co-written with James K. Boyce, research published in books and several journals; International Review of Applied Economics, African Development Review, Development and Change, and the Journal of Development Studies and World Development.

Dr. Mary K. Grant is a national leader in public higher education with more than 30 years of experience championing the arts, deepening community partnerships, cultivating civic engagement, and fistering access, diversity, equity, and inclusion across higher education. She is the President of Mass College of Art and Design.

A McCormack Graduate School alumna, Grant served in leadership roles at UMass Boston from 1992-2002.

Topics include women leaders, embracing equity, gender leadership in public policy, innovation in higher education, community and student engagement, and more.

Dr. Mary K. Grant is a national leader in public higher education with more than 30 years of experience championing the arts, deepening community partnerships, cultivating civic engagement, and fostering access, diversity, equity, and inclusion across higher education. She is the President of Mass College of Art and Design.

A McCormack Graduate School alumna, Grant served in leadership roles at UMass Boston from 1992-2002.

Topics include The MSPA founding class, challenges for named public affairs schools, opportunities for public affairs schools, Mass Art & Design, equity in higher education, and more,

Senator Adam G. Hinds is an American politician. He currently serves as the CEO of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. From 2017 to 2022 he represented the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden district the Massachusetts Senate.

He attended Wesleyan University and then studied international law and negotiation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is a Truman National Security fellow.

Senator Adam G. Hinds is an American politician. He currently serves as the CEO of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. From 2017 to 2022 he represented the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden district in the Massachusetts Senate.

He attended Wesleyan University and then studied international law and negotiation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is a Truman National Security fellow.

Dahlia Lithwick is an award-winning journalist and author, and Senior Editor at Slate, having written their Supreme Court Dispatches and Jurisprudence columns since 1999.

Lithwick also hosts Amicus, Slate’s award-winning biweekly podcast about the law and the Supreme Court. Lithwick earned her BA in English at Yale and her JD degree at Standford. She has held visiting faculty positions at numerous Universities. My guest’s latest book, Lady Justice: Woemn, The Law, and the Battle to Save America offers a brilliant perspective on the intersection of feminism, law, and politics. Reviewers have described the book as a captivating account of the ways in which women have fought the injustices, especially of the Trump administration.