Martha Burk is a political psychologist and women’s issues expert who is co-founder of the Center for Advancement of Public Policy, a research and policy analysis organization in Washington, D.C. Her latest book Your Money And Your Life: The High Stakes for Women Voters in ’08 and Beyond (April 2008) is a Ms. magazine book selection and winner of the NM Book award for best political book of 2008.
She is currently Director of the Corporate Accountability Project for the National Council of Women’s Organizations (NCWO). She also serves as the Money Editor for Ms. magazine, and she is a syndicated newspaper columnist. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her background includes experience as a university research director, management professor, and advisor to political campaigns and organizations.
Dr. Burk has long been active in public debate and political analysis. She has provided briefing papers for presidential candidates, including Bill Bradley, Wesley Clark, and Howard Dean, and has worked closely with members of the United States Congress on issues of importance to women. She most recently served as a Senior Adviser for Women’s Issues to the 2008 presidential campaign of Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico.
From 2000-2005 Dr. Burk served as Chair of the National Council of Women’s Organizations a network of over 200 national women’s groups collectively representing ten million women. Dr. Burk led the NCWO effort to open the Augusta National Golf Club to women, and remains at the forefront of the debate on women’s progress in Corporate America. Prior to her signing on as Money Editor to the magazine, Martha Burk was named a Woman of the Year by Ms. magazine in 2003.
Dr. Burk has served on the Commission for Responsive Democracy, the Advisory Committee of Americans for Workplace Fairness, the Sex Equity Caucus of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and the board of directors of the National Committee on Pay Equity, where she headed the Legislative Task Force. She currently serves as an advisory board member to several other national organizations, including the Ford Foundation and Women for World Peace, a project of the Twenty First Century Foundation.
In addition to extensive work on domestic policy, Dr. Burk has conducted training workshops with women’s NGOs internationally in Macedonia and Kuwait, under the sponsorship of USAID, and has conducted training in the U.S. for delegations from Russia, Botswana, Korea, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Middle East. She has recently been a member of official U.S. Delegations to international conferences in Iceland, Lithuania, Estonia, and China.
Institutional consulting clients have included the University of Texas, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, Kansas House of Representatives, Women’s International News Gathering Service, National Education Association, Search for Common Ground, the United States Information Agency, and the U.S. Department of State.
She resides in Corrales, New Mexico with her husband, Ralph Estes. Her two sons and five grandchildren live in Texas.
Dr. Burk has appeared on a great number of news shows, including The Today Show, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsnight with Aaron Brown, Lou Dobbs Moneyline, CNN Financial, Bloomberg News, Wolf Blitzer Reports, CBS This Morning, Brian Williams Show, American Morning with Paula Zahn, UpClose, Crossfire, Fox Morning News, News Hour with Jim Lehrer, News with Connie Chung, Hardball, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.. In addition she been seen on many sports shows, including HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, ESPN Outside the Lines, Listen Up! With Charles Barkley. She has been featured on hundreds of talk radio programs.
Dr. Burk has been a regular guest on the PBS public affairs program “Debates, Debates,” and a contributor to major newspapers, websites, and print outlets on public policy, including USA Today, The Nation, Knight-Ridder wire services, Scripps Howard news services, Louisville Courier Journal, Los Angeles Daily News, Working Woman, Business Woman, Executive Female, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, TomPaine.com, Alternet, and The Huffington Post.
Print coverage of her work has been extensive, with multiple articles in every major and many minor newspapers and magazines, including extensive coverage in The New York Times. Profiles, some with front page coverage, have appeared in People Magazine, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Dallas Morning News, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, More Magazine and a number of others.
Click to hear Martha Burk present at the National Press Club.
Upcoming
National Women’s Summit, Washington, D.C.
International Association of Feminist Economics
University of Rhode Island
American Association of University Women Annual Meeting
Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Bi-Annual Meeting
National Organization for Women, Annual Convention
Recent
All China Women’s Federation, Beijing & Shanghai
American University Women & Politics Institute
Atlanta Women’s Foundation
Bowling Green University
Business and Professional Women USA
Business and Professional Women Texas
Dialogue on Diversity
Ford Hall Forum, Boston
General Federation of Women’s Clubs
Harvard University JFK School of Government
Institute for Women’s Policy Research Policy Conference
Joliet College
Journalism and Women’s Symposium
Kansas State University
Lawyer’s Club of San Diego
Ms. Magazine Cruise
Ms. Magazine Salon 433, Los Angeles
National Association of Commissions for Women
National Association of Junior Leagues
National Congress of Black Women
National Education Association
National League of Cities
National Organization for Women
National Press Club Newsmaker
New York Women’s Bar Association
Public Leadership Education Network
San Diego Lawyers Club
San Francisco Commonwealth Club
Stanford University School of Business
Stephens College
Texas Women’s Coalition
Tiger Bay Political Club, Tallahassee
University of California Institute for Health and Aging
University of Michigan Ross School of Business
Vital Voices Global Partnership
Wal-Mart Annual Shareholder’s Meeting
(presented women’s equity disclosure resolution)
Women’s Campaign Fund
Women in Federal Law Enforcement
Women in Government Relations
Women in Military Service to America
Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia
Women’s National Democratic Club
Women’s Research & Education Institute
Women’s Studies Association Conference, Mid-Atlantic
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