Helps launch NOW and founds New York NOW, the first chapter of the National Organization for Women.
In 1966, represented here as January 1 for year-level accuracy, Marlene Sanders played a pivotal role in the birth of the National Organization for Women (NOW). At the request of feminist author Betty Friedan, Sanders helped plan the publicity strategy for the new organization and went on to found its first chapter, New York NOW. This work placed her at the heart of second‑wave feminism’s institutional formation.
Drawing on her experience in television news, Sanders advised on how to frame NOW’s aims for the press, ensuring that the group’s call for gender equality reached beyond activist circles. By establishing New York NOW, she created a local base that could mobilize members, stage actions, and influence media coverage in the country’s most prominent media market.
Her dual identity as a working journalist and movement builder was unusual and strategically important. Sanders could both shape the message and, when appropriate, help bring women’s issues into mainstream broadcasts through her reporting and documentary work. This contributed to raising public awareness about employment discrimination, reproductive rights, and political representation.
Founding New York NOW stands as a barrier‑breaking first: she helped translate feminist ideas into a durable organization while occupying a senior role in a male‑dominated profession. It underscores how she leveraged her media expertise not only to break newsroom ceilings but also to accelerate the visibility and impact of the women’s movement nationwide.