Richards, Amy, 1970-

Amelia ("Amy") Richards was born in Alexandria, Virginia on Feb. 9, 1970 and grew up in a working-class family in Pennsylvania. Her father, Albert Wentz, was not part of her life and she was raised by her single mother, Karen Richards. Amy Richards would go on to attend Tabor Academy, a prep school in Marion, Mass., before graduating cum laude from Barnard College in 1992. An art history major at Barnard, Richards was nonetheless drawn to a life of activism, starting with her involvement with Freedom Summer '92, a nation-wide voter registration campaign, the first organizing effort of the then recently formed Third Wave Direct Action Corporation which later became known as the Third Wave Foundation. In addition to Richards, other co-founders included Rebecca Walker and Catherine Gund. Richards has written the advice column "Ask Amy" for www.feminist.com since 1997 and has written and co-written three books: Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future (2000) and Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism (2004), both with Jennifer Baumgardner; and Opting In: Having a Child Without Losing Yourself (2008). Richards has published numerous articles in various publications, including The Nation, Bust, The New York Times, and Ms. She is regularly interviewed as the "face" of young feminism at the end of the 20th and start of the 21st centuries, appearing on television show such as "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Oprah." Richards has for twenty years assisted Gloria Steinem in multiple projects and she has also worked with Anna Deavere Smith. She founded and directs Soapbox, Inc: Speakers Who Speak Out, a feminist lecture agency, based in New York City. According to her biography on the Soapbox Inc. Web site, Richards "is also a four-time marathon runner, a former NCAA Division I soccer player, an avid traveler, and a mother of two sons." [ http://www.soapboxinc.com/speakers/amy-richards/ ]