Rina Shah is a strategic consultant, media commentator, & millennial entrepreneur based in Washington, DC. Prior to launching Rilax Strategies – a government and public affairs firm - Rina served as a senior staffer to Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-5) and Rep. Jeff B. Miller (FL-1).  Her expertise includes building winning strategies for political campaigns as well as coordinating public affairs efforts for Fortune 500 companies.

She currently serves as an Advisor to VoteRunLead, Spokeswoman for NextGen GOP, a 2015 Founder of RightNOW Women PAC, Co-Chair of Concord 51's DC Chapter, and as an inaugural member of the U.S. House of Representatives Republican Conference's Indian American Advisory Council.

Amber McReynolds is one of the country’s leading experts on election administration, policy, and innovation. In 2021, Amber was appointed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as a Governor for the United States Postal Service. Amber is focused on strengthening and modernizing democracy and improving the civic health of our nation. She is co-author of the book ‘When Women Vote’, and is currently a senior strategic advisor to various national organizations including Issue One, Election Reformers Network, and others. Amber has dedicated her career to improving the voting process for all: first as an election official, serving as the Director of Elections for the City and County of Denver, Colorado and leading efforts to improve and modernize the voting experience in Colorado; then as a thought leader and founding CEO for a nonpartisan election reform organization; and now collaborating and supporting various organizations across the US. Amber has proven that designing pro-voter policies, voter-centric processes, and modernizing technology will improve the voting experience for all. Her efforts garnered national and international awards and helped to shape Colorado’s vote-by-mail expansion in 2013. In 2018, Governing Magazine named her as a Top Public Official of the Year for her work to improve the voting process. She was also recognized as a 2020 Top Women in Business in Colorado. Amber also served on the Colorado Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission in 2021.

Amber currently serves on the National Task Force on Election Crises, the National Council on Election Integrity, Advisory Board for the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, as an advisor to Vot-ER, Civic Resolve Advisory Board, and Represent Women Board of Directors.

Amber holds a Masters of Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Amber enjoys spending time with her two children - Klara (12) and Kenton (10).

EXPERT DISCUSSION 1: DEEP DIVE ON ALASKA

Senator Lisa Murkowski

Lisa Murkowski, Alaska’s senior U.S. Senator, is a third generation Alaskan proudly serving as the first Alaskan born senator. Murkowski was born in Ketchikan and raised in towns across the state, including Wrangell, Juneau, Fairbanks, and Anchorage.

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Representative Mary Peltola

Mary Sattler Peltola is a Yup’ik Eskimo, salmon advocate, and Democrat who represented the Bethel region in the Alaska House of Representatives for 10 years. As a lawmaker, Mary helped rebuild the Bush Caucus that improved lives in rural Alaska under her tenure as Chair. 

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State Senator Cathy Giessel

AK State Senator Cathy Giessel was born & raised in the community of Fairbanks, and in the Territory of Alaska. She has served in the State Senate from 2011 through 2020, and again from 2023 to present. She served as Senate president from 2019 through 2020, and her focus has been on state resource development, health topics, arctic issues, and budget.

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Amy Walter

Amy Walter is the Publisher and Editor-In-Chief of The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. For more than 25 years, Amy Walter has built a reputation as an accurate, objective, and insightful political analyst with unparalleled access to campaign insiders and decision-makers.

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EXPERT DISCUSSION 2: THE WOMEN FUNDING THE MOVEMENT

Winny Chen

Associate Director for the Governance program at Democracy Fund

Winny Chen is the Associate Director for the Governance program at Democracy Fund, an independent foundation working to ensure that our political system is able to withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people.

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Laura Arnold

Philanthropist and co-founder of Arnold Ventures

Laura Arnold, born Laura Munoz, is an American philanthropist and activist. Together with her husband, the retired hedge fund manager John D. Arnold, she is the co-founder of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and the grantmaking organization Arnold Ventures.

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Kathryn Murdoch

Co-Founder and President of the Quadrivium Foundation

Kathryn Murdoch is co-founder and president of Quadrivium, which supports practical, evidence-based solutions for critical societal problems. Kathryn currently serves on the boards of Unite America, the Climate Leadership Council and Climate Central. She is a founding board member of SciLine and co-chairs the Oceans and Communications committees as a trustee of the Environmental Defense Fund.

[Read More]

TAKE ACTION PANEL: 2024 RANKED CHOICE VOTING BALLOT MEASURES

Diane Silver

Advocacy Manager at FairVote

Diane Silver is FairVote's Advocacy Manager, working to expand support for national ranked choice voting legislation as well as capacity building for state and local RCV efforts.

[Read More]

Sol Mora

Political Director at Oregon Ranked Choice Voting Advocates

Sol Mora was born in Tijuana, Mexico, and grew up in Salem, Oregon. Sol is the Political Director at Oregon Ranked Choice Voting Advocates, working to pass RCV statewide this year.

[Read More]

Lisa Rice

Make All Votes Count (Washington, DC)

Lisa is a political strategist, passionate about reform and political innovation. She is active in bringing productive change to U.S. politics.

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Alliana Salanguit

Deputy Director for Alaskans for Better Elections

Alliana Salanguit is the Deputy Director for Alaskans for Better Elections. Alaskans for Better Elections is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to providing public education and research about how Alaska-style elections work. The 501(c)(3) foundation and 501(c)(4) corporation are governed by directors that include Alaskans with diverse political views from every corner of the state.

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Sol Mora (she/ella) grew up in Salem, Oregon, and graduated from Portland State University with a bachelor's degree in Women's Studies. Sol has worked as a community organizer and coalition manager for several years, with a focus on creating a more equitable government and democracy, including serving as the Advocacy Director at the Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC). Most recently, Sol served as the Campaign Manager of Portland United for Change to pass charter reform, measure 26-228, in Portland, Oregon. The measure passed with 58% voter support, and includes adopting both multi-winner and single-winner ranked choice voting. Currently, Sol is the Political Director at Oregon Ranked Choice Voting Advocates where she focuses on managing and growing the coalition to pass ranked choice voting at the statewide level in Oregon.

Diane Silver is FairVote's Advocacy Manager, working to expand support for national ranked choice voting legislation as well as capacity building for state and local RCV efforts.

Before joining FairVote in November, 2019, Diane worked as an environmental educator. For 10 years she coordinated a local watershed project, doing education and outreach to build partnerships with landowners to implement best management practices for water quality protection and stream restoration. She brings those education and outreach skills to the RCV effort. She has also served as a program director at several residential EE centers, supervising field instructors, writing curriculum, and managing program logistics. She did wildlife education at the Cincinnati Zoo, had a short stint as a classroom teacher in math and science, and in a previous life, worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide to her home-state Senator.

Diane holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Psychology from Claremont McKenna College and a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan. In her non-work life she plays the fiddle, leads contra dancing (a form of American folk dance), and enjoys hiking and kayaking.

Laura Arnold, born Laura Munoz, is an American philanthropist and activist. Together with her husband, the retired hedge fund manager John D. Arnold, she is the co-founder of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and the grantmaking organization Arnold Ventures. She is also a founding partner of the REFORM Alliance, which opposes incarcerating criminals and raises funds to cover fines, fees, and restitution payments. Throughout her philanthropy career, Laura Arnold has primarily focused on promoting left-of-center criminal justice, health care, and education policies. Previously, she held an executive position with a Texas oil corporation and worked as a corporate attorney, having attended Harvard University and Yale Law School.

Arnold supported the Biden administration’s move to partially cancel student debt via executive action in August 2022, which the Supreme Court ruled to be unconstitutional in June 2023. She has also claimed that sentencing criminals to probation is a “trap” and that supervision violations should not be treated as additional criminal offenses. In addition, Arnold has pushed for private grantmaking institutions to fund research aimed at supporting policies which would restrict Second Amendment rights.

Winny Chen is the Associate Director for the Governance program at Democracy Fund, an independent foundation working to ensure that our political system is able to withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people.

Prior to Democracy Fund, she worked at Monitor Deloitte, where she advised federal agencies and social sector organizations on enterprise strategy, strategic planning, performance measurement, and communications. She also served on the Crimes Against Humanity Program at Human Rights First and worked as a policy analyst on the National Security and International Policy team at the Center for American Progress.

Winny holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree from Georgetown University.

AK State Senator Cathy Giessel was born & raised in the community of Fairbanks, and in the Territory of Alaska. She attended Lathrop High School (with future attorney general, chief justice, several attorneys & doctors, Fairbanks assembly members and other state senators. We had a great class!), earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and her Masters of Science in Nursing from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She worked as an RN (50 years) and Advanced Nurse Practitioner (24 years). She's been married to her husband Richard (civil engineer, retired teacher) for 50 years, and has three children and nine grandchildren.

She has served in the State Senate from 2011 through 2020, and again from 2023 to present. She served as Senate president from 2019 through 2020, and her focus has been on state resource development, health topics, arctic issues, and budget. In her free time, she likes to volunteer at the Alaska Health Fairs, serve on the Alaska Behavioral Health Board of Directors, Anchorage School District school-based clinics, Beacon Hill Safe Families for Children, and serves on the Alaskans for Better Elections Foundation board of directors.

Mary Sattler Peltola is a Yup’ik Eskimo, salmon advocate, and Democrat who represented the Bethel region in the Alaska House of Representatives for 10 years. As a lawmaker, Mary helped rebuild the Bush Caucus that improved lives in rural Alaska under her tenure as Chair. As Executive Director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, she helped mobilize 118 Tribes and rural Alaskans to advocate for the protection of salmon runs in Western Alaska. Mary served on the Orutsararmiut Native Council Tribal Court and the Bethel City Council. Mary was raised on the Kuskokwim River in Kwethluk, Tuntutuliak, Platinum, and Bethel. She began fishing commercially with her father when she was six years old.

As a lifelong Alaskan, Mary is adamantly Pro-Jobs, Pro-Fish, Pro-Family and Pro-Choice.

Lisa Murkowski, Alaska’s senior U.S. Senator, is a third generation Alaskan proudly serving as the first Alaskan born senator. Murkowski was born in Ketchikan and raised in towns across the state, including Wrangell, Juneau, Fairbanks, and Anchorage. She is married to Verne Martell and they have two grown sons. Lisa loves spending time in the Alaska outdoors. She’s an avid skier, has hiked on glaciers, enjoys fall duck hunts, and has a pretty impressive King Salmon mounted on her office wall.

Since joining the Senate in 2002, Senator Murkowski has worked tirelessly for Alaskans and earned a reputation in the Senate for her ability to work collaboratively and across the aisle to reach common sense solutions. Murkowski is well-known for her love and dedication to her state, which means putting Alaska first.

A leader on energy and public lands issues, Senator Murkowski recognizes that sound national policy will promote not only job creation and economic growth, but also higher standards of living and greater global stability. She supports the safe and efficient production and use of all forms of domestic energy, as well as research to help develop emerging technologies. Senator Murkowski continues to pursue policies to advance renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, and make America’s energy cleaner, more affordable, and more reliable.

Senator Murkowski has long-advocated for the Arctic as a national priority and continues to push the United States to invest in the infrastructure and assets critical to supporting an Arctic strategy. She is leading the charge to recapitalize and expand America’s fleet of icebreakers and has introduced legislation to raise the nation’s presence in the Arctic through two bills that support responsible research and development as well as giving those who live in the region a greater voice on policy and research.

She is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee (Subcommittees –Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Defense; Energy and Water Development; Homeland Security; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies), Ranking Member of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee, member of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, and Vice Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

Expert Discussion 1: Deep Dive on Alaska

Time: 3:05-3:30pm ET

In 2022, Alaska used ranked choice voting statewide for the very first time. We will kick off Day One with a live fireside chat between US Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK), US Representative Mary Peltola (AK), and Alaska State Senator Cathy Giessel all about the impact ranked choice voting has had on democracy and representation in Alaska, and why the "Alaska model" is so important for voters during this presidential election year.

Expert Discussion 2: The Women Funding the Movement

Time: 3:30-4:10pm ET

The work to strengthen our democracy wouldn't be possible without the investment of generous donors. Historically, due to centuries of systemic barriers and cultural practices, philanthropy has been dominated by men. This has a significant impact on what is deemed a priority, and which solutions are considered worth investment. At RepresentWomen, we want to shift that narrative and highlight the women who are investing in bold and innovative solutions where our country needs them most. Our second session of Day One will be a fireside chat between Winny Chen, Associate Director for the Governance program at Democracy Fund, Kathryn Murdoch, co-founder and President of the Quadrivium Foundation, and Laura Arnold, co-founder of Arnold Ventures, who will share their funding philosophies and why investing in voting reform is so important.

Immediately following that conversation, Erika Wood, Senior Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, and Emily Lockwood of Pivotal Ventures will highlight some practical ways funders can get involved in this work.

Take Action Panel: 2024 Ranked Choice Voting Ballot Measures and How You Can Get Involved

Time: 4:10-4:55pm ET

We will wrap up the day by bringing it close to home with a panel conversation with the leaders of a few key RCV ballot measure campaigns that are happening as we speak. It just so happens that the leaders of these campaigns are all women! (Are we really that surprised?) Diane Silver, Advocacy Manager at FairVote, will sit down with Sol Mora of RCV Oregon and Lisa Rice of the Making All Voices Count effort in Washington, DC, to hear what we need to know about these campaigns, how things are going, and how we can get involved. We are also hoping to hear from the Colorado effort and the Alaska protect-the-win effort!

Thank you for your interest in joining the Women's Power Collaborative. We're so glad you're here. Please take a moment to fill out this five-question form so that we can get to know a little more about you.

It should take around 5 minutes to complete. Please be sure to answer all of the questions, as we cannot process incomplete applications. If you feel a question is not relevant to you, please write "N/A."

Once the form is submitted, we will reach out to you with next steps and information on our Welcome Webinar. Thank you again for your time and interest!

Our Women’s Power Collaborative (WPC) is the only national-level body dedicated to achieving a gender-balanced democracy by advancing a twin-track approach. The WPC is a networking, strategizing, and resource-sharing hub that pairs preparing individual candidates to run for office with systems strategies that remove barriers and create the ecosystem necessary for their success. The Women’s Power Collaborative fills an important gap in the women’s representation space and will facilitate a more transformative and sustainable impact to build women’s political power.         

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What is it, and why do we need it?

What are the WPC's Core Values?

Our Leadership Circle developed a list of fundamental principles that are woven into the framework of the Women’s Power Collaborative. The diverse, cross-partisan nature of this Collaborative is our strength, and in our collective effort to create a more representative democracy, we agree on the following core values:

Women’s political representation is vital to sustaining good governance worldwide. But while women comprise over half of the world’s population, men still hold the majority of seats in almost every legislature. Research has shown that diversity in political representation leads to more inclusive and effective lawmaking. Women, in particular, bring different forms of consensus building and attention to various policy issues, including but not limited to “women’s issues” such as healthcare, childcare, and education. This means that political processes and outcomes suffer when women are excluded from office.

RepresentWomen has been studying the relationship between voting systems and women’s political representation for the last five years. Through our research, we have found that voting systems shape opportunities for women to enter politics. In both the United States and around the world, cases like New York City, South Africa, and New Zealand further demonstrate the viability of major system changes and the potential impact of adopting a new voting system.

The following memo presents an update to our analysis of voting systems globally, their impact on women’s representation, and the case for proportional ranked choice voting in the United States. Where appropriate, we also discuss the role of complementary candidate-focused strategies and initiatives, such as gender quotas and candidate recruitment groups.

The goal of this memo is to equip our partners in the U.S. with updated data and supporting literature on the impact of proportional representation (PR) on women’s representation, drawing from stories of how PR improved women’s representation in the United States (1910s-1940s), South Africa (1990s-today), and New Zealand (1990s-today). This memo further builds the case for proportional ranked choice voting (PRCV) in the U.S., pushing back on recent efforts to introduce non-viable forms of PR. Previous research releases on this topic: 2020, 2019, 2018. 

Summary:

Voting systems inform how ballots are designed, how people cast their votes, how the results are counted, and how the winners are determined. The type of voting system used can greatly impact voter turnout, the role of political parties, candidate engagement, and representation. While there are many kinds of voting systems used around the world, there are three basic types: 

• Plurality-Majority (Non-PR): Non-proportional systems allow the candidate with the most votes to be declared the winner. In plurality systems, a candidate can win with less than 50% of the vote; in majority systems, a runoff ensues if a candidate does not receive at least 50% of the vote.
• Proportional Representation (PR): In a proportional system, seats are allocated to parties in proportion to the total number of votes received. PR is used around the world in various forms; New Zealand uses a mixed member proportional system (MMP), South Africa uses a party list system, and several cities in the U.S. use proportional ranked choice voting (PRCV).
• Semi-Proportional (Semi-PR): Semi-proportional systems combine elements of non-PR and PR systems. Semi-PR systems are often more representative than non-PR systems because they ensure that political minorities are at least somewhat represented. 

According to our research, women’s representation is lower in countries with plurality-majority systems because plurality systems reinforce existing barriers for women in politics; when a candidate only needs a plurality to win, political parties and donors are more likely to back “establishment” candidates (often white men) to improve their odds. Plurality voting also limits competition against incumbents and encourages negative campaigning, potentially deterring women from running in the first place. 

Proportional representation (PR) yields the best opportunities for women. Unlike plurality systems, where a single candidate–and party–wins the district, multiple winners are elected to represent a single district in PR systems, and multiple political parties may be represented at a time. In addition to creating more opportunities for political minorities to be represented, PR systems tend to create more diverse legislatures, with more women and people of color nominated and elected. Overall, PR is the best way to ensure full and fair representation. 

With the support of women’s organizations like the National League of Women Voters, PRCV was first adopted in the United States during the Progressive Era, leading to the milestone elections of women and people of color in cities like New York City. Though few original cities use the system today, a new wave of cities are now looking to adopt PRCV. Based on our research, RepresentWomen supports the adoption of PRCV over other forms of PR in the United States. In addition to being the only form of PR with a history of use in the U.S., it is also the only form of PR that is suited for nonpartisan elections, which are held in two-thirds of American cities.

Download Memo

Sol Mora was born in Tijuana, Mexico, and grew up in Salem, Oregon. Currently, Sol is the Advocacy Director at the Coalition of Communities of Color. Sol focuses on engaging communities in civic engagement, working with a range of community-based organizations through coalition-building, and advancing efforts to improve racial justice and create an inclusive democracy. Sol most recently served as the campaign manager to advance measure 26-228 in Portland, Oregon which passed by 58% support and will implement proportional ranked choice voting to elect the City Council.

Michelle is a mid-career, hands-on public servant passionate about working at the nexus of politics and policy to get things done in government to improve people’s lives. She started her career as an intern at the U.S. Embassy-Lima a decade ago, and since then, has built a trajectory of over seven years from frontline positions of implementation, congressional and intergovernmental relations, stakeholder outreach, and the execution of short and long-term agendas for principals in Capitol Hill, a U.S. Embassy abroad, and the Environmental Protection Agency, where she currently serves as a political appointee and scheduler to the EPA Administrator.

In 2020, after earning an MPA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Michelle worked for President Biden’s campaign, leading Hispanic constituency outreach from the battleground state of Wisconsin. She has also worked as a research assistant following her passion for “action-oriented research” on topics like civic engagement, participatory democracies, civic technology, smart governance, e-democracy, collaborative and empowered participatory governance, among others. Michelle aims to run for office one day and is a current fellow of American University’s Women and Politics Institute’s We Lead program, training cohorts of women aspiring to run for office.