Ann Ladky (1948-)

Anne Ladky was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and came to Chicago to attend Northwestern University in 1965. Upon graduation she took a job as a writer at Scott Foresman textbook publishing company where, along with other young women employees, she founded Women at Scott Foresman. One of the country’s first in-company women’s caucuses, the group was created to address employment discrimination and sexism in educational materials. and led to publication of Guidelines for Eliminating Sexism in Textbooks, a pioneer text. In 1972, she co-founded Chicago Women in Publishing and joined Chicago NOW where she served as president of the chapter from 1973-1975. During this time she also co-chaired, with Mary Jean Collins, National NOW’s Task Force on Sears established to investigate and hold accountable the company’s discrimination against women employees. In 1973 she was a founding member of Women Employed, formed to address city-wide employment discrimination and unfair working conditions for women. At Women Employed she served as staff organizer (1977-1979); associate director (1979-1985); and executive director (1985 – 2017.) During this time she became a nationally recognized expert on women’s employment issues, equal opportunity, workforce development and career advancement. In the 1970s, she was also on the steering committee for the ERA rally and march in Springfield, IL and from 1975 – 79, was associate editor of The Spokeswoman, a national news monthly about women’s rights.