My name is Ella Seltzer and I am an Outreach and Advocacy Intern for Fall 2020! I am born-and-raised in Oakland, California, so even though I have enjoyed my time on the East Coast and in D.C. for college, I’m truly West Coast at heart. I currently attend American University and am a Junior double majoring in Spanish and Political Science, with a focus in gender, race, and politics. As someone with a passion for politics and gender equality, being able to move across the country for college in the nation’s capital has only deepened that desire to help make meaningful change. After my undergraduate degree, I would love to attend law school, but as a college student in the time of COVID-19, I am just hoping to still be able to study abroad!

My name is Bobbie Bell, an outreach and advocacy intern for the fall 2020 semester at RepresentWomen.  I am from Brooklyn, New York, aka “the big apple,” where I am pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Media Studies at Brooklyn College.  Currently an upper senior, I intend on graduating from Brooklyn College in December of this year.   Over the course of the summer, I had the chance to run a period drive in my own community, collecting numerous donations for women in need during the pandemic.  Although running a period drive virtually due to the coronavirus, I found creative ways to gain support.  

Hi all! My name is Ashley Huang and I’m from San Diego, CA. My pronouns are she/her. Although I’m on a gap year right now, I’m a rising sophomore at Swarthmore College studying Economics and Art History. As a Research Intern, I’m super excited to contribute towards RepresentWomen’s incredible work this fall.

Hello! My name is Arria Alton and I am a Nonprofit Admin and Development Intern for RepresentWomen. Currently, I am a senior at Vanderbilt University studying Human and Organizational Development with a concentration in Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness. I’m originally from Madison, Wisconsin, where I spent the last six months in quarantine with my family; this resulted in a renewed sense of hometown pride and the return of my Midwestern accent.

My name is Andrea Esquetini and I am a senior at the University of California, Davis, where I am majoring in Communications and minoring in Political Science and Professional Writing. In college, I have spent much of my time writing for local papers and producing videos for campus departments. I love this kind of work, and in the future I hope to continue producing media that has an impact and tells stories that would otherwise go untold. 

My name is Alise Blūma, and I am a Communications Intern at RepresentWomen. Born and raised in a small Northern European country called Latvia, in 2018 I packed my life up in two suitcases and began my journey towards a Bachelor's Degree in Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Tampa. 

Hi! My name is Alisha Saxena and I am a senior at the University of California, San Diego, with a major in Political Science-Public Law and a minor in African American Studies. I am currently a Research Intern with the fabulous RepresentWomen team, working remotely from the Bay Area! Though I have been in California for eight years, I spent most of my childhood in Columbia, South Carolina- although its history isn’t great, it is definitely a beautiful place!

Even if a record number of women win next Tuesday, the U.S. will still fall short of gender parity at the national and state levels and very few states are primed to reach an “A” grade for women’s representation. 

The highlights from our 2020 Gender Parity Index include: