Ramona Ripston

Ramona Ripston was named the Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU Foundation of Southern California on September 1, 1972, becoming the first woman to direct the activities of a major ACLU affiliate. She is responsible for all phases of the organization’s programs, including litigation, lobbying and education.

During her tenure as executive director, Ms. Ripston has steered the ACLU/SC to regional and national prominence and opened an Orange County office that has been tremendously successful in expanding and protecting civil rights in communities in that region. In August 2006, the Los Angeles Times named Ms. Ripston as one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Southern California. For six years, she served as a member of the California Commission on Judicial Performance. She has been a visiting lecturer for the UCLA Political Science Department, hosted a talk radio program for KABC, and served on the board of directors of the First Amendment Foundation and the Office of the Americas.

in 2008 the ACLU/SC moved into a new headquarters building in downtown Los Angeles, dedicated as the Ramona Ripston Center for Civil Liberties and Civil Rights.