Marjorie Margolies

Marjorie Margolies is a former member of Congress from Pennsylvania, a journalist, a women's rights advocate, and a serendipitous mother many times over. She is perhaps best remembered for being the first unmarried American to adopt a foreign child and for casting the deciding vote in favor of President Clinton's 1993 budget, the Omnibus Reconciliation Act. Born in Philadelphia, Margolies graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked as a journalist with NBC and its owned and...See more

Marjorie Margolies is a former member of Congress from Pennsylvania, a journalist, a women's rights advocate, and a serendipitous mother many times over. She is perhaps best remembered for being the first unmarried American to adopt a foreign child and for casting the deciding vote in favor of President Clinton's 1993 budget, the Omnibus Reconciliation Act. Born in Philadelphia, Margolies graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked as a journalist with NBC and its owned and operated stations for 25 years, winning five Emmy Awards. Running as a Democrat, she was elected to represent the traditionally Republican 13th District of Pennsylvania in Congress. She was also the deputy chair of the United States delegation to the United Nations Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing in 1995. As a result of that experience, she founded Women's Campaign International (WCI), an organization that provides empowerment training for women around the world. She is currently a faculty member at the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and at last count, her family consisted of 11 children and 21 grandchildren. See less