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Marie C. Wilson
Marie C. Wilson is a feminist, author, political organizer and entrepreneur; founder and president emerita of the White House Project and the Ms. Foundation for Women; and creator of Take our Daughters to Work Day. She has written Closing the Leadership Gap: Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World and Getting Big: Reimagining the Women's Movement.

Early life and education
Wilson was born and raised in Georgia, the daughter of a typesetter and a dental hygienist. She was high school homecoming queen and a cheerleader. She became interested in civil rights following a childhood incident in which a white bus driver dragged her crying from the back of the bus where she sat with her black babysitter. .

Wilson studied philosophy at Vanderbilt University,, where she and now-Sen. Lamar Alexander participated in civil rights protests after the university expelled student James Lawson for staging sit-ins at Nashville's lunch counters. She graduated from the University of Delaware and received a Master of Science in higher education from Drake University.

Early career
After college, Wilson married a man who became a minister of music, and followed him to churches in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Iowa, where she developed women's programs at Drake University and became the first woman elected to the Des Moines City Council as a member-at-large in 1983. Later, she served as human resources director for the Iowa Bankers Association.

Ms. Foundation and Take Our Daughters to Work Day
In 1984, Wilson left Iowa, divorcing her husband and leaving the Des Moines City Council to run the New York-based Ms. Foundation for Women. At the foundation, Wilson focused on developing partnerships with large foundations to explore best practices in micro-enterprise through collaborative funding.

In 1993, Wilson created Take Our Daughters to Work Day to help girls connect what they were learning in the classroom to the world of work.

In honor of her work, the Ms. Foundation created The Marie C. Wilson Leadership Fund.

The White House Project
In 1998, while still at the Ms. Foundation, Wilson created the White House Project a national, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that aimed to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors, up to the U.S. presidency through training programs for women candidates and activists.

In 2004, Wilson and the White House Project collaborated with Mattel and Toys "R" Us to create the Barbie for President doll to encourage girls to become leaders.

Wilson gave up the presidency of the White House project in 2011. The organization closed in 2013, citing financial reasons.

Personal life
Wilson married Nancy Ann Lee in 2009. She has five children and four grandchildren. She resides in New York City.