"NOW New York State (NOW-NYS) is the umbrella organization that ensures communication between Chapters of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in New York State. As the grassroots arm of the women's movement, the National Organization for Women is dedicated to its multi-issue and multi-strategy approach to women's rights, and is the largest organization of feminist grassroots activists in the United States. NOW has hundreds of chapters and hundreds of thousands of members and activists in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since our founding in 1966, NOW's purpose is to take action through intersectional grassroots activism to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, and achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life. The purpose of NOW-NYS is to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men. This includes, but is not limited to: equal rights and responsibilities in all aspects of citizenship, public service, employment, education, and family life. This includes freedom from discrimination because of sex, age, gender, gender expression, ethnicity, race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, or parenthood, so that women and men can create a society in which every individual can live with self-confidence, dignity, security and pleasure."