Independent Women's Forum

The Independent Women's Forum (IWF; not to be confused with the International Women's Forum) is an anti-feminist organization predominately funded by conservative U.S. foundations, including the Koch brothers' Claude R. Lambe Foundation. On its website, it describes its mission as being "to rebuild civil society by advancing economic liberty, personal responsibility, and political freedom. IWF builds support for a greater respect for limited government, equality under the law, property rights, free markets, strong families, and a powerful and effective national defense and foreign policy."

An article by Sally Patel in IWF's "scholarly" magazine, The Women's Quarterly, stated that "the battered women's movement has outlived its useful beginnings."

In October 2003, the IWF announced an affiliation with Citizens for a Sound Economy, now the Americans For Prosperity Foundation, with which they were to share premises and staff. "The Affiliation agreement provides for staff and resource sharing between Americans for Prosperity and the Independent Women's Forum. Nancy Pfotenhauer, president of the Independent Women's Forum, will also be president of Americans for Prosperity," the announcement stated. Despite sharing staff and location, the announced stated that each group "will be a separate organization with its own board of directors."

As of 2008, IWF was no longer affiliated with AFP and was seeking its own office space.

History
Founded by Rosalie Gaull (Ricky) Silberman in 1992, the IWF grew out of the ad hoc group, Women for Judge Thomas.

While claiming to challenge "radical feminists," IWF primarily targets mainstream feminists and feminist organizations, as exemplified by such figures as Hillary Rodham Clinton and such groups as the American Association of University Women.

IWF is a secular counterpart to Religious Right women's groups like Eagle Forum and Concerned Women for America, but these groups often work together. People for the American Way describe IWF as a group that "opposes affirmative action, gender equity programs like Title IX, and the Violence Against Women Act."

IWF members include academic women who are paid to write papers that denigrate the idea of equity for girls and women in education. One of these papers, by Judith Kleinfeld, a professor of psychology at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, has questioned an MIT study on discrimination against women in MIT's science department, calling their findings "junk science."

IWF's constantly-updated web site shows an ever expanding sphere of concerns, all viewed from right-wing perspectives.

In October 2004 the Feminist Majority Foundation has objected to the U.S. Department of State's decision to award part of a $10 million grant to IWF for "leadership training, democracy education and coalition building assistance" to women in Iraq. The funding was from the Iraqi Women's Democracy Initiative. . IWF will be working in Iraq with the American Islamic Conference and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a think tank with neoconservative ties.

IWF's head Michelle Bernard has now re-emerged at the head of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics and Public Policy. The Bernard Center's website lists no donors, no history and no contact information other than a PO box in Potomac, Maryland. Analysts from the Bernard Center have written about 'misguided' food and nutrition policy, and the need for more charter schools.

Efforts to Eradicate Teaching of Global Warming from Schools Nationwide
In May, 2010 IWF started supporting a group called Balanced Education for Everyone whose goal is to stop the teaching of global warming in U.S. schools. The group calls global warming "junk science," and claims teaching it scares children unnecessarily. The group started its national effort at a meeting of the Mesa County, Colorado District 51 School Board, where it presented the board with a petition containing 600-700 signatures of people who want global warming instruction stopped.

Funding
Media Transparency lists IWF as having received $7,651,000 in foundation grants between 1994 and 2006.Funders include:


 * Roe Foundation
 * Castle Rock Foundation
 * Sarah Scaife Foundation
 * Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
 * William H. Donner Foundation
 * Jaquelin Hume Foundation
 * Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation
 * Earhart Foundation
 * Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation
 * Gilder Foundation
 * JM Foundation
 * Randolph Foundation
 * William E. Simon Foundation
 * Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation
 * John M. Olin Foundation
 * Brady Education Foundation

At the time of its resource sharing announcement with Americans for Prosperity in October 2003, IWF stated that "we had come through a difficult transition a few years ago and were really hitting our stride after getting a major, million-dollar grant."

According to the group's 2006 Annual return filed with the Internal Revenue Service, the total revenue
 * 2002: Revenue $2,582,437
 * 2003: Revenue $205,143
 * 2004: Revenue $1,045,983
 * 2005: Revenue $$948,953
 * 2006: Revenue $1,816,131; Expenses $1,964,833 Loss $105,067

Staff

 * Michelle D. Bernard - President
 * Regina Truslow, Executive Assistant to the President
 * Erin Grant, Manager of Donor Relations Policy
 * Sandy Liddy Bourne, Visiting Fellow
 * Jennifer C. Braceras, Visiting Fellow
 * Charlotte Hays, Senior Fellow
 * Krista Kafer, Visiting Fellow
 * Halima Karzai, Associate Director for Foreign Policy and International Women's Issues
 * Allison Kasic, Director of The R. Gaull Silberman Center for Collegiate Studies
 * April Lassiter, Visiting Fellow
 * Carrie L. Lukas, Vice President for Policy and Economics
 * Vicki Murray, Visiting Fellow
 * Nina Owcharenko, Visiting Fellow
 * Christie Raniszewski Herrera,
 * Solveig Singleton, Visiting Fellow
 * Princella Smith,
 * Anne Trenolone,
 * Kate Pomeroy, Vice President of Communications
 * Stacy Chin, Director of Programs and On-line Communications
 * Carol Eberly, Manager of Media and Online Communications

Board of Directors

 * Heather R. Higgins - Chairman
 * Mary Arnold
 * Carol T. Crawford
 * Jennifer Ashworth Dinh
 * Randy Parris Kendrick
 * Larry Kudlow
 * Joanne T. Medero

Directors Emeritae:

 * Lynne V. Cheney
 * Midge Decter
 * Kimberly O. Dennis
 * Wendy Lee Gramm
 * Elizabeth Lurie
 * Kate O’Beirne
 * Louise V. Oliver
 * Nancy_Pfotenhauer
 * R. Gaull Silberman

Contact details
Independent Women's Forum 1726 M Street, NW Tenth Floor Washington, DC 20036 Phone: (202) 419-1820 Email: info At iwf.org Website: http://www.iwf.org/

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Anne Morse
 * Candace de Russy - Member of advisory board

External Articles

 * Elinor Burkett, The Right Women: A Journey Through the Heart of Conservative America, Scribner, ; ASIN: 0684833085, March 1998. (This book looks at the IWF, as well as other conservative women's groups).
 * IWF heads down the toilet, Alas a Blog, November 28, 2003.
 * Feminist Majority Foundation Online, "State Department Funds Anti-Women's Rights Group To Train Iraqi Women", Feminist Daily News Wire, October 5, 2004.
 * Independent Womens Forum, "IWF Awarded Grant to Support Iraqi Women", September 28, 2004.
 * Ronnee Schreiber, Righting Feminism: Conservative Women and American Politics, Oxford University Press, June 2008. ISBN 0195331818 ISBN 978-0195331813