About Us

Mission

The mission of BC Voices, Inc. is to collect, preserve and share the stories of women coming of age in the tumultuous late 1960s/early 1970s, and then riding the crest of  the second wave of feminism over the past half century when doors have opened for women, but not all the way.

BC Voices was founded as a 501(c)(3) New York State not-for-profit corporation by members of the class of 1971 of  Barnard College, the women’s undergraduate division of Columbia University, New York City.

History

During the year the class of 1971 entered Barnard College, Columbia University, the Columbia campus exploded in the 1968 Student Building Occupation and Strike. The Women’s Movement sparked dramatic changes on the Barnard campus, from overturning dress codes and curfews to expanding students’ expectations for professional careers, intimate partnerships, and family planning.

By the time the class of 1971 graduated, new laws and social norms expanded women’s opportunities for economic independence and reproductive autonomy. Yet some long-standing barriers persisted. Many of us broke through those barriers. Many of us worked on the front lines of social change. Many of us strove with varying degrees of success to “have it all.” All of us grappled with and were shaped by a rapidly changing social and political reality.

Inspired by the beloved late Barnard Political Science Professor Peter Juviler, a group of Barnard ’71 alumnae began collecting classmates’ life stories in 2010, documenting their college experiences and the full trajectories of their lives in a time of great social change. These stories became the Barnard Class of 1971 Oral History Collection, a rich primary source of historical testimonies housed in the Barnard Archives and Special Collections.

In 2012, a core group of Barnard ’71 alumnae founded BC Voices to complete the Oral History Collection and produce documentary shorts based on these stories. The Way It Was  screened during Barnard’s 125th Anniversary Celebration in 2014. Making Choices, Forging Paths  premiered during Barnard’s 2016 Reunion Weekend.

In 2017, BC Voices began work on what became our current project, Stand UP, Speak OUT: The Personal Politics of Women’s Rights, an online docuseries about the radical transformation in women’s lives empowered by the mid-20th century expansion in women’s rights. Our docuseries highlights the hard-won freedom, independence, and opportunities that are at risk today.

BC Voices continues its work to complete the docuseries and inspire viewers to learn from history and sustain women’s fundamental rights.

Every dollar counts

Who We Are

Board of Directors

Image of Katherine Brewster

Katherine J. Brewster

President Katherine J. Brewster, MBA Columbia ‘78, President of the Barnard Class of 1971, and founder/director of The ATMA Center of Transformational Yoga, a New York City health and wellness center, has 50+ years experience in management, marketing, and sales in the corporate and nonprofit sectors, including Citibank and The Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
picture of tahirah wornum

Tahirah Wornum

Financial Officer Tahirah Wornum holds a BS in Finance from St. John’s University and an MBA in Financial Management and Health Care Management, Innovation and Technology from Johns Hopkins University. She has 20 years of experience in health care management and finance.
Kathy Galvin

Kathy Galvin

Kathy Galvin, Barnard 1971, JD, MPA, represented tenants, women, and non-profits in public interest practice and legal services in Massachusetts. In the San Francisco Bay area, she wrote and edited law books for non-lawyers, taught Media Law, and practiced law at an asbestos plaintiff firm. She worked as a program officer for the Rockefeller Family Fund, and spent 25 years at the San Francisco Asylum Office where she supervised and trained asylum adjudicators, authorized their asylum decisions, and assisted the Refugee Corps in adjudicating refugee petitions in Jordan and Turkey.

Image of Rhonda NunnRhonda Nunn

Rhonda Nunn, Barnard 1971, JD, pursued teaching in NYC’s public schools in 1971, then attacked law school and a legal career, advising and representing individuals, businesses, and governmental entities. She retired to work with a nonprofit designed to prepare high school students for college, where she was engaged in advising, grant writing, marketing, and program development.
susan mertz

Susan Shapiro Metz

Susan Shapiro Metz, Barnard 1971, M. Ed., is retired after 25 years in human services regulation and database training for the State of New Jersey. Her volunteer experience includes 20 years of marketing and grant writing for nonprofit choral music organizations, including Monmouth Civic Chorus, Princeton Pro Musica, and New Jersey Choral Consortium.

Carol Santaniello Spencer

Carol Santaniello Spencer, Barnard 1971, is retired from five decades as a public school teacher and administrator, university instructor, and private educational consultant. Currently, she volunteers as a translator in the migrant community.

Rabbi Cheryl Weiner

Rabbi Cheryl Weiner, PhD, Barnard 1971, serves as a Community Rabbi and Staff Chaplain with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. In a prior life, she was a senior executive, publisher, and game designer for Fortune 500 companies.
Image of Vicki Breitbart

Vicki Breitbart

Vicki Breitbart, MSW, EdD, has taught at Columbia University, NYU and CUNY on public health, and was director of the graduate Health Advocacy Program at Sarah Lawrence College. Her publications include books on education and parenting, and peer-reviewed articles on reproductive health and intimate partner violence. She has produced and directed documentaries on health care and non-sexist education, and served on boards of national reproductive justice organizations. She advises on issues of activism and reproductive justice.

Our Current Project

Stand UP, Speak OUT

Meet our Creators and Humanities Advisors…

LEGAL ADVISOR

Cathy Perifimos

Barnard College ’06

Advisors

We thank these advisors for guiding and supporting our birth and ongoing development.

Gregory Baran, PhD

Columbia College ’71

Lee Anne Bell

Professor Emerita, Barnard College

Ruth Stuart Bell

Barnard College ’71

Mary Marshall Clark

Director, Columbia Center for Oral History Research

Deborah Dickson

Barnard College ’68, filmmaker & Faculty, School of Visual Arts

Mary Gordon

Barnard College ’71, author & Professor Emerita, Barnard College

Linda Parnes Kahn

Barnard College ’71

Linda Elovitz Marshall

Barnard College ’71

Robert McCaughey

Professor Emeritus, Barnard College

Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Esq.

Barnard College ’71 & Professor, Irvine School of Law

Janis Checkanow Nelson, Esq.

Barnard College ’71

Lisa Norberg

Former Dean, Barnard College Library and Academic Information Services

Carla Ricci

Barnard College ’71, founder Carla Ricci Films

Judith Shapiro, PhD

Former President & Professor Emerita, Barnard College

Barbara Shear

Barnard College ’71, Fundraising Consultant

Karla Spurlock-Evans

Barnard College ’71 & former Dean, Trinity College

Pamela Mason Wagner

Founder Turtle Rock Productions, documentary films

Rosanne Zoccoli

A&E Networks International

Early Creators

We applaud these early creators whose formative work turned our ideas into reality.

Katherine J. Brewster MBA

Barnard College ‘71

Frances Garrett Connell EdD

Barnard College ’71

Vivian Ducat

Ducat Media, film production

Michelle Patrick

Barnard College ’71

Janet Ruth Price

Barnard College ’71

Carol Santaniello Spencer

Barnard College ’71

Ali Sargent

Barnard College ’05