A Message from our Board of Directors: Barbara Colt, your work lives on through generations
It is with great sadness that The Womxn Project says goodbye to Barbara Colt — board member, policy leader, mentor, and friend. She remains an icon of women’s rights in Rhode Island.
It is not our place to speak for all who worked with Barbara over her forty years of advocacy, nor to list her many achievements but below read a few memories over her career.
What we can say is that Barbara was an early anchor for the budding activists at TWP — our sounding board, our unflappable source of solace.
We never expected her to join us when she said yes to being a board member in 2018. She had already given so much, with nothing left to prove. But join us she did. We must have seemed naïve at times, even foolhardy. Yet Barbara never let on. When we brought her ideas that were too vague — too novel to even call a plan — she pushed us to generate the energy to make the impossible possible. Many of us recall coming to her with an outrageous idea, expecting the voice of reason to rein us in. She would listen, ask a question or two in that steely voice, and then most often say: “Well, if we don’t do it, who will?” And so we did.
Through the successful fight to put reproductive rights into Rhode Island law, to banish the terrible requirements of Hyde, and even through the heartbreak after Roe fell, Barbara was a constant. We celebrated together, and we grieved together. Even in the darkest days, Barbara was never forlorn. She carried a determination born of clarity of purpose.
Now, we — those fortunate to know her, and those lucky to inherit her legacy — carry forward that same purposeful resolve Barbara embodied and nurtured.
Barbara’s family has invited us to say that there will be a public memorial for her in the Spring and there is a private family event sooner.
Rest in power, dear friend. Your work lives on through generations of us.
In love to her family and extended friends, The Board of Directors to The Womxn Project & Extended TWP Family
TWP/EF Board, Staff, and families, 2021
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Honoring Barbara Colt’s Legacy
In her memory, The Womxn Project Education Fund is lifting up others who carry forward her spirit. Like Barbara, they use wit, resistance, and sheer brilliant strategy to create lasting change in our communities.
👉 Do you know someone who embodies these qualities? Please introduce us and share their badass-ness.
👉 Want to help sustain Barbara’s legacy? Make a donation to support this newly created memorial fund and help us provide honorariums to these champions.
On the first day of RI’s legislative session 2026, we will announce the honorees and celebrate them with a honorarium in Barbara’s name.
Painting by Emily B, co-creator of TWP Education Fund
As I sit down to write about the memory of my beloved and (newly) dearly departed friend and mentor, Barbara Colt, tears immediately overwhelm me. As they should.
Barbara was a legend for Rhode Island and beyond; she devoted her life to fighting for feminism and equality for all. The way in which she inspired me and the work of The Womxn Project cannot be understated.
I remember first meeting Barbara in the very early days of The Womxn Project. I didn’t know who she was, but I remember Jocelyn telling me in a hushed voice and with wide eyes, “-she’s a big deal, Emily.”
It didn’t take me long to realize and adore Barbara’s sharp intellect, humor, creativity, and extreme fearlessness. Barbara would often preface attending our early meetings by saying she was “retired” from activism but that she was willing to work with us because (in her words) “-there is just something different about you gals.”
“...different…” That felt like a big and almost dazzling word coming from the wise and legendary Barbara Colt. Her confidence in us and presence in the room gave me faith that our work could have real potential. That was back around 2018, and I remember how “different” I felt sitting in those meetings…
It was Trump’s first presidency, and I was feeling perpetually scared and hopeless. That is, that was how I felt until I fell into activism and ultimately stumbled into the kitchen table meetings where The Womxn Project was born. For most of my days back then, I felt heart-heavy and discouraged while reading the onslaught of doom-forecasting news stories. But inside those meetings? We were dreamy, busy, and united, scheming up artivism campaigns that tomorrow’s news outlets would have to publish headlines about to keep up.
We were “different” because we were people leveraging the power of art. Artists are storytellers, and stories connect us. Stories connect us to each other, but also stories connect us to our past and even to the possible versions of our future. That’s why art is so essential; through art, we dream, and in dreaming, we rewrite what’s possible.
It is an incredible gift to have been touched by Barbara’s fiery passion, her cunning wit, her remarkable resilience, and the unique “rabble-rousing” sort of contagious sparkle that flowed from the corners of a smirk or her laughter. Barbara was a genius, a powerhouse, an icon, and an artist in her own right, and everything she accomplished she did through the force of her whole heart. May Barbara’s memory be enough of a story to embolden us all to write endings for the future worthy of the chapters she gave us.
Thank you, Barbara.
With love, tears, a little salty language, and some paint, We’ll always miss you, and we will all be made better through the act of always missing you. – Emily and TWP, co-creator of The Womxn Project Education Fund
“I have known Barbara since 1978 when I moved to RI. She was chair of the Women’s Caucus – an early women’s rights organization that lobbied for issues at the general assembly to expand the civil rights of women. The caucus also helped women run for office.
Barbara was smart, strategic, powerful, politically savvy and no-nonsense. She was a role model for me as I started my career in advocacy. As executive director of the RI Health Center Association (RIHCA), Barbara not only advocated for issues impacting the centers and health-related issues , but brought the voice of the association to support investments in the cash assistance program that supported low income families. You could say she was in the forefront of expanding health to include ‘social drivers of health’, now a commonly accepted notion. I had the pleasure of working with Barbara as the health policy staffer at RIHCA for several years where I continued to learn from her.
I always enjoyed meeting up with Barbara over the years, talking politics and catching up about her family who were so important to her. Working with The Womxn Project was a natural fit for Barbara as a way to continue to push the envelope on women’s rights… or hold onto rights that had been hard won.. Her passing is a great loss to the cause of equal rights for women and all RIers. I will miss her.” – Linda Katz
I loved and respected so many things about Barbara, but I think what I’ll miss most was her boldness, honesty, and tenacity. Activism requires speaking truth to power in often scary and uncomfortable ways. Barbara was an amazing example of how to do that in a way that inspires those around you to do the same. Thank you, Barbara. We couldn’t have done it without you.” – Tammy Brown, co-creator of The Womxn Project Education Fund and TWP
Barbara Colt was a woman of action and heart. She saw housing as a fundamental human right and dedicated her life to making that a reality for others. Her journey with the Women’s Development Corporation began in 1979 when she helped the founders secure a pivotal federal grant. A year later, she joined the board, a position she held for 40 years, never wavering in her support. It was also Barbara who brought Alma Felix Green into WDC, who went on to become the organization’s first Executive Director.
What truly set Barbara apart was her enduring presence. She didn’t just offer support from the sidelines; she was there, consistently lending her ideas, skills, and credibility. She championed low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities, showing up time and again for every challenge and every celebration. Her life’s work is a testament to the power of showing up for the people and causes you believe in.”
– Susan Aitcheson, one of the Founders, First Development Director and retired as President of Wdc in 2016.
