Ms. Richards worked as deputy chief of staff for Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
She created and directed a national pro-choice ID project for the Turner Foundation
During the political ascendancy of the religious right in the 1990s, Ms. Richards formed the Texas Freedom Network (TFN) to combat the anti-choice, radical policy agenda of the extreme right in Texas. The work of TFN has been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times, Mother Jones, and other national publications.
Ms. Richards began her career organizing low-wage garment workers on the Rio Grande border. Her years as a union organizer included directing the "Justice for Janitors" campaign in Los Angeles, CA
She served as a guest speaker to the European Union on the issue of religious fundamentalism
She is married to Kirk Adams, a labor organizer with the Service Employees International Union, and has three teenage children. She lives in New York City.
When husband Kirk took a job as organizing director for the AFL-CIO in Washington, Cecile moved with her family in 1998 and took a job at the Turner Foundation for media mogul and abortion propagandist Ted Turner. Her job, Richards told TM, was "to help build the infrastructure of the choice movement in America." In that job, TM says, Richards "worked closely with organizations like Planned Parenthood and distributed grant money around the country."