Strauss to head the new multi-million dollar center in Providence RI for women and gender expansive people
Photograph by Cat Laine
Providence, RI — Gather RI, a soon-to-launch center in Providence for women and gender expansive people, is excited to announce the appointment of Amanda E. Strauss as its Founding Executive Director. Strauss, recently Director of the John Hay Library at Brown and a past member of the leadership team at Harvard’s Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, was appointed in November 2024 after an extensive search process.
Strauss said, “I am honored to serve as the Founding Executive Director for an organization whose bedrock values include feminism, connection, and inclusion. I look forward to creating an oasis for women and gender expansive people that will propel creativity and collective momentum in ways that we cannot even yet imagine.”
The $3.5 million center, currently under construction, will open in June 2025 on the west end of Providence. The organization has attracted major gifts from significant donors in order to open its doors and will continue fundraising as a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
Gather RI’s distinguished founding board includes Dana Borrelli-Murray, CEO of Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England; Touba Ghadessi, Provost at RISD; Marcela Betancur, Executive Director of Latino Policy Institute; Marisa Albanese, Emeritus Manager External Affairs at Rhode Island Energy; Sara Gilkenson, Diversity Director at Supreme Court of Rhode Island; Anne Holland, founder of multiple organizations, and Felicia Salinas Moniz, Director, Sarah Doyle Center for Women & Gender at Brown.
Board President Anne Holland says, “Amanda is a connector of people, and she shares the Founding Board’s conviction that our collective history provides vital support for our future. For example, she spearheaded Harvard’s initiative to document the digital footprint of the #metoo movement, which gathered voices from around the world into a permanent resource.”
Strauss’s accomplishments include being a fluent Spanish speaker, a nationally recognized gymnast, and bringing in grants totalling nearly $2 million over five years to support programs and projects with a national footprint for Brown’s John Hay Library. She has been featured in multiple media outlets including The New York Times.
Photos of and interviews with Strauss can be arranged.
About Gather RI
Scheduled to open its doors in mid-2025, Gather RI will create collective momentum through inclusive and intentional connections for and by women and gender-expansive people. Planned programs include a role model portrait gallery, biographical library, speaker series, and safe, accessible gathering spaces for people to convene with peers and mentors.
Gather RI
info@gatherri.org