Women for Progress is a left-of-center get-out-the-vote and advocacy group based in Wyckoff, New Jersey. ¹ Erin Chung, the Vice President of Public Affairs and Advocacy at Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey, ² founded Women for Progress in the aftermath of the 2016 election of President Donald Trump. Its membership coalition of roughly 2,000 women ³ focuses on get-out-the-vote efforts for Democratic Party candidates and advocacy for left-wing issues like gun control, abortion, LGBT interests, and racial issues. ⁴

Founding and History

Women for Progress was founded in the aftermath of the 2016 election of President Donald Trump. Founder Erin Chung previously worked as a marketing manager for the Miss Universe organization, which Trump owned before he became president. While working at Miss Universe, Chung personally disliked Trump, saying, “I didn’t feel good about him as a person or a leader.” ⁵

Following the 2016 election, Chung gathered roughly 35 women in her home to form Women for Progress in order to advocate for left-of-center issues and against the policies of then-President-elect Trump. Within months, membership grew to 250 people, at which point Chung formed Women for Progress as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit. ⁶ By 2022, the group boasted membership of more than 2,000 women. ⁷

Women for Progress hosted its first official event on January 21, 2017, the day after President Trump took office. The event was held in front of Wyckoff, New Jersey’s town hall and billed as a “Sister March” to the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. against Donald Trump. ⁸

Activism

Women for Progress endorses a variety of left-of-center causes and candidates. In the 2022 midterm elections, it publicly supported U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman (D-PA), ⁹ then-U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), ¹⁰ and Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke (D). ¹¹ The group praised O’Rourke’s stance in favor of gun control ¹² and called O’Rourke’s Republican opponent in the 2018 Texas Senate election, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), “the face of evil” for his stance against gun restriction. ¹³

As part of its advocacy for gun control, Women for Progress works with March for Our Lives, ¹⁴ a gun control advocacy network founded and fronted by survivors of the 2018 Parkland, Florida high school mass shooting. ¹⁵ Women for Progress likewise advocated in support of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s Gun Safety 3.0 legislation ¹⁶ which would, among other changes, allow gun manufacturers to be held liable for gun violence. ¹⁷

Another primary focus of Women for Progress is abortion activism. In the lead up to and aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and allowing states to regulate abortion, Women for Progress promoted events by Planned Parenthood ¹⁸ and sponsored multiple pro-abortion rallies, ¹⁹ including some using children to spread their pro-abortion message. For example, in a float at a Pride March, Women for Progress featured children holding signs reading “Protect Safe Legal Abortion” next to an adult holding a sign that read “Liberté Égalité Vasectomé.” ²⁰

Women for Progress also supports extremist race politics, including the belief that the justice system and white people in general are infected with white supremacy. The group promoted an article suggesting that the Black police officers who killed 29-year-old Black man Tyre Nichols in Tennessee “might still have been driven by racism” ²¹ and favorably reposted tweets by a self-described “Anti-Fascist” comedian ²² Walter Masterson reading “White Libs and White MAGA have a hard understanding Internalized White Supremacy” ²³ and that even “liberals and progressives […] will ignore a white supremacist mass shooter.” ²⁴

Additionally, Women for Progress has promoted events with the Working Families Party (WFP), ²⁵ a left-wing political party based in Brooklyn, New York. The group is also a sponsor for Network for Responsible Public Policy (NRPP), ²⁶ a left-of-center organization that claims to provide the public with online “credible, trustworthy” information to combat alleged “misinformation” surrounding public policy debates. ²⁷

Political Influence

At their second gala in 2019, Women for Progress boasted the attendance of nationally known politicians, including New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) and his wife Tammy, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), and U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). ²⁸

People

Women for Progress was founded by Erin Chung ²⁹ who later joined Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey, where she currently works as the Vice President of Public Affairs and Advocacy. ³⁰

1. “Women for Progress.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/company/womenforprogress/about/.
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9. “Thanks to all of our members…” Facebook. November 9, 2022.  Accessed March 30, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/womenforprogressorg/photos/a.1985370645023910/3617402995153992/.
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13. “Here’s the face of evil…” Facebook. May 29, 2022. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/womenforprogressorg/photos/a.2047424105485230/3485197011707925/.
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17. Doyle, Chrstopher. “Murphy calls for vote on gun control package in response to Texas school shooting.” Press of Atlantic City. May 25, 2022. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/murphy-calls-for-vote-on-gun-control-package-in-response-to-texas-school-shooting/article_e2ef8272-dc31-11ec-af26-e7fd0425d5ea.html.
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28. “Women for Progress celebrates two years with First Lady of New Jersey Tammy Murphy.” NorthJersey.com. January 27, 2019. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://www.northjersey.com/picture-gallery/be-social/2019/01/28/women-progress-celebrates-two-years-first-lady-new-jersey-tammy-murphy/2697026002/
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