We are Michigan NOW
The grassroots arm of the women's movement in Michigan — organizing for equality since 1966.
Our purpose is action
Michigan NOW is the Michigan chapter organization of the National Organization for Women, the largest organization of feminist grassroots activists in the United States. Since NOW's founding in 1966, our purpose has been to take action through intersectional grassroots activism to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, and achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life.
In Michigan, that means organizing in our communities, holding our elected leaders accountable in Lansing and Washington, endorsing candidates who fight for women's rights, and showing up — in city councils, courtrooms, campuses, and the Capitol steps — wherever decisions about women's lives are being made.
A major force for women's rights
NOW activists use both traditional and nontraditional means to push for social change. We do extensive electoral and lobbying work and bring lawsuits. We organize mass marches, rallies, pickets, non-violent civil disobedience, and immediate, responsive actions.
NOW's actions have established the organization as a major force in the sweeping changes that put more women in political posts, increased educational, employment, and business opportunities for women, and enacted tougher laws against violence, harassment, and discrimination.
Michigan NOW carries that legacy forward in every corner of the state — from Detroit to Marquette — as an intersectional, multi-issue, multi-strategy organization taking a holistic approach to women's rights.
Our core issues
Our priorities are intersectional solutions to the problems faced by women.
Reproductive Freedom
Championing abortion rights, reproductive justice, and access to full reproductive health care for every woman in Michigan.
Economic Equality
Winning economic equality — including equal pay and an Equal Rights Amendment that guarantees equal rights for women in the U.S. Constitution.
Ending Racism
Opposing racism and building an intersectional feminist movement that centers the women most affected.
LGBTQIA+ Rights
Fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, health services, and child custody.
Ending Violence Against Women
Ending violence against all women, no matter race, age, or socio-economic class.
Multi-issue. Multi-strategy.
Electoral Action
Endorsing and electing feminist candidates up and down the ballot in Michigan.
Lobbying & Legislation
Pushing for laws that protect women's rights in Lansing and Washington, D.C.
Mass Mobilization
Marches, rallies, and pickets that put women's rights in the streets — and on the front page.
Grassroots Organizing
Chapters, campus groups, and community actions in every region of the state.
Litigation & Advocacy
Bringing lawsuits and immediate responsive actions when women's rights are under attack.
Education & Awareness
Teach-ins, forums, and our newsletter to keep Michigan feminists informed and ready.
Founded in 1966. Still marching.
The National Organization for Women was founded in 1966, and NOW re-instituted mass marches for women's rights in the face of conventional wisdom that marches went out with the 1960s. A NOW-organized march in support of the Equal Rights Amendment drew more than 100,000 people to Washington, D.C. in 1978. The Marches for Women's Lives drew 500,000 reproductive rights supporters to Washington in 1989 and 750,000 in 1992 — then the largest women's rights demonstration ever.
In 2004, the March for Women's Lives became the largest mass action of any kind in U.S. history, bringing a record 1.15 million people to Washington, D.C. Michigan NOW members have been part of that story from the start — organizing caravans, delegations, and local actions across the state, and fighting the same fights at home in Lansing.
Today, Michigan NOW organizes chapters and activists across Michigan, endorses feminist candidates in state and local elections, and holds power to account for the women and girls of Michigan.
Ready to organize with us?
Join hundreds of thousands of feminists nationwide — and your neighbors right here in Michigan. Membership powers the grassroots action that wins.