Mónica Ramírez with Laura Dern (in a very nice Armani)
Monica the co-founder of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, whose focus is ending violence against women and farmworking women in particular. She told E!, "Farmworker women pick, pack and plant the food that we eat and have a long history of combating workplace sexual violence," and she wrote this piece for Time.
Ai-jen Poo with Meryl (in custom Vera Wang)
Ai-jen won a MacArthur Genius Grant in 2014, and was one of many who expressly specified that this is about ensuring safe workplaces across all industries. Per Wiki: "She is the director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She is also the co-director of Caring Across Generations, a national coalition of 200 advocacy organizations working to transform the long-term care system in the US, with a focus on the needs of aging Americans, people with disabilities, and their caregivers." Meryl (about whom I have complicated feelings with regard to some of these things, but she did participate in this, so) added, on E!, "We feel sort of emboldened in this particular moment to stand together in a thick black line dividing then from now."
Saru Jayaraman with Amy Poehler (in Greta Constantine)
When she was in freaking high school in 1992, Saru "started a non-profit called Women and Youth Supporting Each Other (W.Y.S.E) which "empowers young women by providing the resources and support necessary to make positive life choices and create community change." She's had a particular focus on workers' rights and workplace justice in the restaurant industry, following 9/11 and through a few organizations she's co-founded. She sounds, in a word, rad
Billie Jean King and Emma Stone (in a nice, understated Louis Vuitton)
Billie Jean King is no stranger to anyone. But I think sometimes the spectacle of the Riggs match and then her coming out overshadows how hard she pushed for gender equality and representation of women in tennis. (She literally founded Women's Tennis Association, which is "the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis.")
Tarana Burke with Michelle Williams (in Louis Vuitton)
Tarana, the director of Girls For Gender Equity, founded the #MeToo movement. She told People, "This is something I started out of necessity and something my community needed, and it’s grown this year and I couldn’t have imagined it growing like this."
Marai Larasi with Emma Watson (in a Ronald van der Kemp I wish I liked)
Marai runs Imkaan, a U.K. group that seeks to prevent vioence against minority women and girls. She told E that while the night isn't only about what's going on in Hollywood, "there's something about in women in Hollywood speaking out. There is a wall of silence around violence against women and girls and every time somebody speaks out, it just creates a bit of a crack in that wall [and] an opportunity to amplify the issues and shine a light on things."
Rosa Clemente with Susan Sarandon (about whom I also have complicated feelings)
Rosa is a community organizer who, among other things, has focused on voter engagement among young people of color and on the cause of political prisoners.
Calina Lawrence with Shailene Woodley (in a Ralph Lauren that looked much better on TV)
And Mama Shai was with this impressive-as-hell lady, Calina Lawrence, who per Variety "has spent recent time traveling the country in advocacy for Native Treaty Rights and the “Mni Wiconi” (Water is Life) movement led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the #NoLNG253” movement led by the Puyallup Tribe. She dedicates her artistry and energy to addressing racial injustice, police brutality, mass-incarceration, gentrification, violence against women and children, misrepresentation of Native Americans in education and mainstream media, climate injustice, blood quantum and enrollment issues, foster youth, suicide prevention, and many other causes."