Our latest Best Dressed pick, Constance White.

“On my last trip to Washington D.C. I met the extraordinary women from The Rebecca Project. The work they do to empower women and girls in the United States is inspirational and invaluable. Here, founder and executive director Malika Saada Saar and Autumn VandeHei, Assistant Director of Development and Policy, talk about this phenomenal organization.” – Tory

Our mission is… to improve the lives of vulnerable women and girls who are victims of violence, poverty and addiction. We have 11 state chapters and have training programs for women who have come out of these circumstances and connect these women with local policymakers so they can make a difference in their communities. Our goal is to change policy both locally and federally. Our advocacy work on Capital Hill gives these women and girls a forum to speak.

We are named Rebecca… for two reasons. One, when we were starting out, there was a beautiful woman, Rebecca Rice, a poet, actress and teacher. She did the initial leadership trainings with our mothers and really moved them to a place of powerful transformation and agency. Right before we received our first Ford Foundation grant, which she helped us get, Rebecca passed away. Two, in the Bible, Rebecca brought worlds together as a midwife: she delivered beings from one world into another. We do our own act of midwifery. We connect worlds that don’t normally connect—Washington D.C. and lawmakers rarely intersect with these abused women and girls.

We are most proud of… getting legislation passed ending the practice of shackling all mothers during labor and delivery. We gathered heartbreaking and harrowing statements by women who had endured giving birth while in shackles. We presented Senator Richard Durbin (D-Il) with a human rights document filled with these stories. We were able to change the policy on a federal level, but Congress didn’t extend this to state prisons, so we pulled together a national coalition. We are now going state by state to end these practices. So far, we have won Texas, New Mexico, New York and Washington.

Our mother and girl leaders empower other women by… inspiring other women who are victims of violence, poverty and addiction to say, ‘If they were able to overcome these issues and now walk through the halls of Congress, then I am able to do the same.’ There’s a real legitimacy to their experience. Our mother leaders, who are all in recovery from addiction, violence and trauma, have gone through leadership and advocacy training. They are leaders in their communities and working to change state policies as well as coming here to D.C. to participate in our work. We’re starting a similar girls program. We help girls understand that they have the power to change policy for the better. That by speaking about their lived experience, they can move mountains.

We’d love you to get involved by… joining our coalition and getting involved in any organization that is working with women behind bars—reaching out to them, documenting their stories and going to local legislatures, anything involving mothers themselves. State legislatures need to know what’s happening. You can contact us at faiza@rebeccaproject.org and we’ll get you in touch with someone in your state.

Check out our behind the scenes interview with gold medalist Lindsey Vonn.

Michael Leva and Nancy Parker pull together incredible — and doable — recipes and ideas for entertaining in their new book Recipes for Parties. Here, some of Michael’s tips.

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The indomitable Shirley Temple turns 83 today. In honor of America’s original sweetheart, we tracked down the original Shirley Temple recipe from Waikiki’s The Royal Hawaiian’s Mai Tai Bar, said to have first mixed the junior set’s most iconic cocktail.

The Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai Bar’s Shirley Temple

Ingredients
22 oz. Sprite
1 oz. grenadine
Ice cubes
Maraschino cherries

Fill 22 oz. glass with ice and pour Sprite directly over ice until almost full. Splash grenadine over drink and gently stir. Garnish with maraschino cherries if desired.

Bohemian style is so effortlessly chic.

Check out our essential styling tips for looking ultra modern in this season’s print.

Check out Tory’s favorite poem, “Ithaka,” by poet C.P. Cavafy.

As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
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