Organized by the ERA Project at Columbia Law School and Georgetown University Law Center, the 2024 Conference on The Present and Future of the Equal Rights Amendment gathered distinguished legal scholars, members of Congress, lawyers, advocates, and organizers together at Georgetown Law to sharpen a vision and strategy for the future of the ERA. 

The conference bridged academic and organizing efforts to help define the trajectory of the modern ERA movement. Panel sessions with leading legal scholars grappled with critical topics, including strategies to surmount procedural roadblocks to the ERA’s final ratification and visions for establishing the ERA as a new and independent source of constitutional sex equality.

Capturing the movement's momentum, the event featured keynote addresses from Senator Ben Cardin, Representative Cori Bush, and Representative Ayanna Pressley. Watch these keynotes here as well as remarks recorded for the conference by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Representative Jennifer McClellan, and Senator Alex Padilla. Senator Mazie Hirono joined us for a Founder’s Reception following the conference and engaged in a Q&A with the attendees.

The conference brought together ERA movement leaders to hone in on a strategic vision for the ERA—a critically needed event in this pivotal election year. This conference has energized and focused our efforts to continue developing academically rigorous research, policy papers, expert guidance, and strategic leadership on the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and on the role of the ERA in advancing the larger cause of gender-based justice.