Costa Constantinides, chief executive of the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens, expressed his delight that “Ms. Maloney had agreed to give our kids a sneak peek of her organization’s plans–but that’s no surprise. She has always been so generous to our organization, our kids, our fam­ilies, and our community.”

Costa Constantinides, chief executive of the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens, expressed his delight that “Ms. Maloney had agreed to give our kids a sneak peek of her organization’s plans–but that’s no surprise. She has always been so generous to our organization, our kids, our fam­ilies, and our community.”

On Friday, February 27, 2026, former Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, CEO and President of ERA NOW, led 40 students from the Variety Boys and Girls Club in the first public discussion of Driving the Vote for Equality. This national, multi-state campaign is inspired by the 1916 suffrage road trip that helped win women the right to vote through the 19th Amendment. The 2026 tour began in New York City on March 1 before traveling more than 10,000 miles through 25 states to mobilize support for Congressional affirmation of the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment.

Maloney began by reminding students of the promise our founding fathers made in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” “That was a great promise, but too many people were left out of the promise, and our Constitution,” she said. “It left out anyone who didn’t own prop­erty. We fixed that. It left out men of color. We fixed that. But it still leaves out women and girls. We have to fix that. And we can do it by making sure we amend our constitution through the Equal Rights Amendment.”

Former Congresswoman Maloney began by reminding students of the promise our founding fathers made in the Declaration of Independence. “That was a great promise, but too many people were left out of the promise, and our Constitution,” she said.

Former Congresswoman Maloney began by reminding students of the promise our founding fathers made in the Declaration of Independence. “That was a great promise, but too many people were left out of the promise, and our Constitution,” she said.

“In 1916, the amendment to allow women to vote was stalled by government,” she continued. “That’s when two brave women drove across the country to educate and build the case for women’s right to vote. Today, we are again stalled by our government, so we are fol­lowing the suffragists’ path to educate and build the case to pressure the U.S. Congress to affirm that the ERA is law.” Costa Constanti­nides, chief executive of the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens, expressed his delight that “Ms. Maloney had agreed to give our kids a sneak peek of her organization’s plans– but that’s no surprise. She has always been so generous to our organization, our kids, our fami­lies, and our community.” Former Congresswoman Maloney also in­troduced Jeryl Schriever, author of “Driving the Vote for Women: An American Journey for Suffrage” which chronicles the travels of Alice Burke and Nell Richardson as they crossed the country at a time when there were few roads and even fewer women driving.

On Friday, February 27, 2026, former Congresswoman Carolyn Mal­oney, CEO and President of ERA NOW, led 40 students from the Variety Boys and Girls Club in the first public discussion of Driving the Vote for Equality.

On Friday, February 27, 2026, former Congresswoman Carolyn Mal­oney, CEO and President of ERA NOW, led 40 students from the Variety Boys and Girls Club in the first public discussion of Driving the Vote for Equality.

“They went from town to town, greeted by local suffragists yet still dealing with break­downs and too many men who thought women were too stupid to vote,” said Schriever. “But the motor­car was also their secret weapon, in that they also could talk about engines, sparkplugs and all things automotive and men and women responded with in­terest. And it was no pic­nic–– at one point they had to walk six miles to get water, only to find a dead chicken in the well. They decided to drink it anyway because they felt they were ‘dying of thirst.’”

The students responded with several questions about discrimina­tion and how to change it, and of course, cars. They talked about their own experiences. And they were excited to see the huge picture of the Golden Flyer II and trace the routes on enlarged maps. Victoria Pilotti, board secretary of the Brooklyn-Queens Chapter of the National Or­ganization for Women (NOW) and president of the Zonta Club of New York also greeted the students and talked about how both organ­izations are supporting Driving the Vote for Equality on the local and national levels. Maloney served in Congress for 30 years (1993-1923) and is currently an Eleanor Roosevelt Distinguished Leader in Resi­dence at Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute.