Washington, DC, September 12, 2024 – Today, March for Life Education and Defense Fund is delighted to introduce the organization’s new president-elect Jennie Bradley Lichter. She was most recently Deputy General Counsel at The Catholic University of America and has a broad range of legal and policy experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including at the highest levels of the federal government.  Lichter is a married mother of three and a longtime Marcher. In addition to her legal and policy work, she founded an initiative at Catholic University to provide tangible resources and support to expectant mothers and their children.

“The March for Life is a storied organization that for 50 years has given the pro-life movement and our nation the great gift of a massive, peaceful, joy-filled annual witness to the dignity of unborn human life. When I first began attending the National March as a college student over 20 years ago, I never could have dreamed that someday I would have the honor of leading it,” said Jennie Bradley Lichter about her new role. “I am humbled by the Board’s confidence in me and thank them for the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the great Jeanne Mancini, whom I deeply admire, and the indefatigable founder of the March for Life, Nellie Gray. I can’t wait to get to work alongside the terrific team at the March for Life, and committed pro-life Americans across the country, to do our part in building a nation where the unborn are protected, mothers are supported, and abortion is unthinkable.”

The new president-elect looks forward to putting her years of experience in law and policy in service to the organization and committed Marchers across the country, to all who are participating in the ongoing public conversation about the dignity of every human life, and, most of all, to mothers and their babies.

Jennie Bradley Lichter will succeed Jeanne Mancini who is only the second president of the organization founded and led by Nellie Gray in 1974 as a response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade the year before. Jeanne Mancini’s 12-year tenure has been marked by consistent and extraordinarily fruitful growth, including at the National March which has become the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration and the establishment of a rapidly expanding state march program already in 16 states. Major milestones under Jeanne Mancini’s leadership include hosting the first sitting Vice-President and President of the United States at the National March for Life in Washington, DC as well as the monumental Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Jeanne Mancini commented, “Leading the March for Life has been the honor and opportunity of a lifetime; one for which I will be forever grateful. There have been countless highlights during my time as President of March for Life, including the momentous overturn of Roe v. Wade. The heroes I have been able to work with along the way have made this all possible—from our amazing Board to our supporters to our wonderful staff to, last but definitely not least, the collective millions of Marchers I have walked with over the past 12 years. I’m convinced that building a culture of life through compassionate public witness to the inherent dignity of the unborn and their mothers is as critically important today as it was the tragic day abortion was first legalized in the United States – or at any time since. I am more than delighted to watch how the organization will continue to grow under Jennie Bradley Lichter’s leadership.”

March for Life Chairman of the Board Timothy Saccoccia added, “It is impossible to express properly the gratitude the Board of Directors has for Jeanne Mancini’s 12 years of leadership during some of the most historic moments for our movement. Her visionary leadership conceived of a state march program years before we heard of Dobbs, and her joyous demeanor has helped to change hearts and minds across America. I’m delighted that Jeanne will also remain with us on the Board of Directors. At the same time, it gives me great joy to welcome Jennie Bradley Lichter at this time of great potential for our movement. She will truly be a leader in the tradition of her amazing and dedicated predecessors at a time when the need to march in Washington and our state capitals has never been more important. I know marchers across the country will enjoy the opportunity in the years ahead to meet Jennie and march with her until abortion is unthinkable.”

Jennie Bradley Lichter will come on board in November as President-elect and will officially assume leadership of the organization on February 1, 2025. Jeanne Mancini will continue to serve on the Board of Directors for March for Life.

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March for Life is a non-sectarian, non-partisan organization that promotes the beauty and dignity of every human life by working to end abortion – uniting, educating, and mobilizing pro-life people in the public square. It hosts the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration in Washington, DC every January.

 

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