Margery Tabankin (born 1948) is an American progressive political activist. She is known for serving as a conduit between

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

donors and liberal political causes in Washington D.C.

Biography

Tabankin became a nationally known campus radical during the 1960s. She was inspired to become a part of the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

political movement after hearing activist

Tom Hayden Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, becoming an i ...

give a speech in her hometown of

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. She graduated from

Weequahic High School Weequahic High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in the Weequahic section of Newark in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school is operated by th ...

in 1965. Tabankin became an anti-war activist while attending the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. At age 23, Tabankin was elected the first woman president of the

National Student Association The United States National Student Association (known as the National Student Association or NSA) was a confederation of college and university student governments in the United States that was in operation from 1947 to 1978. NSA held annual nati ...

. In late 1969, she was picked to become one of the first women student trainees at leftist activist

Saul Alinsky Saul David Alinsky (January 30, 1909 – June 12, 1972) was an American community activist and political theorist. His work through the Chicago-based Industrial Areas Foundation helping poor communities organize to press demands upon landlord ...

's School of Community Organizing in Chicago. She later worked for President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

's administration, heading up the

VISTA Vista may refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 * VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) a medical records system of the United States ...

program. After her time working at the White House, Tabankin moved to Los Angeles, where she became executive director of the

Hollywood Women's Political Committee Hollywood Women's Political Committee was an Americans, American political action committee that campaigned for Progressivism, progressive issues. The group was founded by Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand, and other women in the Greater Los Angeles ar ...

. She has a consulting firm, Margery Tabankin and Associates. Tabankin works with Hollywood celebrities like

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

and

Donna Karan Donna Karan ( ; born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as DK, is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Early life and education Karan was born to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabinow ...

to allocate funds to liberal political causes. She has led the

Arca Foundation The Arca Foundation is a progressive American philanthropic foundation. Founded in 1952 as the Nancy Reynolds Bagley Foundation, the foundation was renamed the Arca Foundation in 1958. The foundation was founded with assets from the R. J. Reynold ...

, which is funded with the

R. J. Reynolds Richard Joshua Reynolds (July 20, 1850 – July 29, 1918) was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The son of a tobacco farmer and major slaveowner, he worked for his father and attended Emory & Henry Col ...

family fortune, and the Barbra Streisand Foundation. Tabankin has met with

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

and

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabankin, Margery 1948 births Living people American community activists University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni American anti–Vietnam War activists Volunteers in Service to America administrators Weequahic High School alumni