RepresentWomen founder Cynthia Richie-Terrell joins the Electable podcast to discuss systemic reforms like ranked choice voting, proportional representation, and gender balance rules — and how these changes can level the playing field for women in U.S. politics.
Podcast: Electable with Deb Chubb
Guest: Cynthia Richie-Terrell, Founder & Executive Director of RepresentWomen; Founder of ReflectUS; Co-Founder of FairVote
In this episode of Electable, host Deb Chubb speaks with Cynthia Richie-Terrell, a leading voice in democracy reform and women’s political representation. Cynthia shares insights from decades of work building organizations like RepresentWomen, ReflectUS, and FairVote, and explains how structural reforms can dismantle persistent barriers to gender parity in politics.
Key Highlights
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The origins of FairVote: Cynthia co-founded FairVote to advance proportional representation and ranked choice voting (RCV), reforms now adopted in states and cities nationwide.
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Why RCV matters for women: RCV enables multiple women to run without splitting the vote, encourages more civil campaigns, and lowers costs. In New York City, women now hold 61% of council seats after RCV and term limits reshaped elections.
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ReflectUS to Women’s Power Collaborative: Initially launched to unite women across the political spectrum, this coalition has evolved into the Women’s Power Collaborative, connecting state and local organizations to advance reforms.
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RepresentWomen’s mission: Focusing on systems change so women can run, win, serve, and lead. Policy solutions include childcare and paid leave for legislators, proxy voting, gender-balanced cabinets, and compensation reforms.
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Global perspective: At international forums like Reykjavik, Cynthia highlights how most peer democracies employ gender quotas and proportional systems, leaving the U.S. far behind.
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The twin-track approach: True progress requires both preparing individual women to run and changing the electoral systems that determine outcomes.
Why It Matters
The U.S. has over 520,000 elected offices, but incumbency and winner-take-all rules make it difficult for women to compete. Indiana, for example, ranks 47th in RepresentWomen’s 2025 Gender Parity Index, scoring just 13.8/D. Cynthia argues that bold reforms — not just incremental change — are needed to unlock women’s leadership and strengthen democracy for all.
Listen to the full conversation: Electable Podcast — Indiana Women’s Action Movement with Cynthia Richie-Terrell