Carole De Saram
Carole De Saram (born February 27, 1939) is an American feminist and women's rights activist. She served as president of the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and worked to improve women's equality, particularly through economics.
She was born in Queens, New York, and attended Grover Cleveland High School. In a high school music class she learned the French horn and, after intensive practice, joined the All City Orchestra, performing a solo at Carnegie Hall. She earned a BA in Political Science and Economics from Columbia University.
De Saram began her career on Wall Street as a computer analyst at Chemical Bank in Tribeca and later became the bank’s Assistant Vice President. Her first protest came in 1964 when she wrote Procter & Gamble to oppose a Tide advertisement; the company pulled the ad after their reply.
Her NOW involvement grew after a 1970 meeting in New York. She joined a march down Fifth Avenue for women’s rights and focused on ending credit discrimination against women based on marital status. In 1971, NOW New York staged a zap at the American Stock Exchange, where protesters unfurled a banner reading “Woman Power” and shouted against unfair practices. The protest drew large attention and helped mobilize further action, including a campaign that led Citibank to change its treatment of women after many women closed their accounts.
In 1974 De Saram was elected president of the New York NOW chapter and pressed for hearings about firing pregnant women and denying them benefits. She served two terms as president. That year she testified before the Congressional Banking Commission about credit discrimination against women, and she later played a role in the federal ban (in 1975) on HUD’s rule requiring couples with two incomes to prove the woman’s sterilization. She also helped end unemployment benefits discrimination against pregnant women and served on the New York State Human Rights Commission Advisory Council. She worked with the National Council of Churches on stockholder actions against unfair hiring practices and helped launch a Feminist Credit Union, with the idea of a Women’s Bank arising in 1975.
De Saram left Chemical Bank in 1981 to join Mayor Ed Koch’s administration as New York City’s Commissioner of the Treasury. In 2009 she resigned as chair of Community Board 1’s Tribeca Committee but remained on the board. She helped form the Tribeca Community Association, served as its vice president, and contributed to the Washington Market Historic District committee.
She is married to Raymond Erickson, a musician and scholar, and they have two children, Lisa and Douglas.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:29 (CET).