In the past few decades there has been heightened interest in and scholarship in incarceration and the incarcerated population in the United States. However, much of this research has surrounded male incarceration rates, often overlooking the growing number of incarcerated women. While male incarceration rates have steadily declined in the past decade with the help of public scrutiny, women have become the fastest-growing incarcerated population. Between 1980 and 2017, the population of incarcerated women has risen by 750% (The Sentencing Project, 2019). Along with the rapid growth, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women face unique challenges in re-entering society and regaining voting rights all of which impact their political representation. To learn more about incarcerated women and political representation read our 2020 brief below. 

https://representwomen.app.box.com/embed/s/gyd1lk7k2hwvmxzsnoht7he14n80sluw?sortColumn=date&view=list8005500

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A thriving democracy is within our reach, but our rules and systems must change to acknowledge the unique barriers that women with intersecting identities experience in the United States. Our nation’s rich diversity will be reflected in our government when all women have practical and fair opportunities to participate in American politics.

Our 2021 report, Exploring First-Generation Underrepresentation: How American Political Systems Impact Immigrant Women’s Political Engagement presents an introduction to the topic of first-generation representation in America, the barriers first-generation women face as candidates, and how well-designed structural reforms can help to make the political process more accessible for all. 

https://representwomen.app.box.com/embed/s/8myc4543ozuvcem0gikwhemwpomj74bb?sortColumn=date&view=list8005500

Download Interactive Copy Plain Text Format

For additional accessible formats (e.g. large print, braille), please contact us by email at [email protected]. 

A thriving democracy is within our reach, but our rules and systems must change to acknowledge the unique barriers that women with intersecting identities experience in the United States. Our nation’s rich diversity will be reflected in our government when all women have practical and fair opportunities to participate in American politics.

Our 2021 report, Intersectional Disempowerment: Exploring Barriers for Disabled Female Political Candidates in the United States presents an introduction to the topic of Disabled women's political participation in America, the barriers they face as candidates, and how well-designed structural reforms can help to make the political process more accessible for all. 

https://representwomen.app.box.com/embed/s/50eo6nxrmhh9tltvf8nkuvv9xqomt8nm?sortColumn=date&view=list8005500

PDF Download Interactive Copy Plain Text Format 

For additional accessible formats (e.g. large print, braille), please contact us by email at [email protected]. 

5.2020 WIPI Conversation with Katherine Gehl and Cynthia Richie Terrell

Women in Political Innovation was founded by Katherine Gehl in May 2019 with the goal of bringing together women working on politics at a systems and structural level. This podcast recorded during May 2020, is a conversation between WIPI Founder Katherine Gehl and RepresentWomen Founder and Executive Director Cynthia Richie Terrell. 

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7.2020 Pantsuit Politics "How To Be A Citizen: What's Next?"

In the final installment of the "How To Be A Citizen" series the Pantsuit Politics hosts look at the importance of structural reforms to address structural issues facing the United States. In this episode, they interview RepresentWomen Founder and Executive Director Cynthia Richie Terrell on the history of structural reforms in the U.S. and what we should do going forward. 

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7.2020 The Alliance Party After Dark 

This podcast from The Alliance Party discusses the work of RepresentWomen with Founder and Executive Director Cynthia Richie Terrell and the impact more women in political office could have.  

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8.2020 Voices of Resilience "Voting Rights and Women in Politics with Cynthia Richie Terrell"

This podcast from Vital Voices highlights women leaders and change-makers from around the world. In this episode, join RepresentWomen's Founder and Executive Director, Cynthia Richie Terrell for a conversation about voter access and systems changes to improve gender balance and representation in politics. 

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11.2020 Why Public Service? "Cynthia Richie Terrell, RepresentWomen

This podcast from Kevin Kosar and R Street dives into the minds of individuals who chose to help improve our nation through a career in public service. In this episode, RepresentWomen's Founder and Executive Director Cynthia Richie Terrell talks about why she has dedicated her career to public service and the importance of addressing the systems and structures which hinder our democracy.

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3.2021 On the Issues "From Filibuster to Representation: Is the Senate Broken"

This podcast from Ms. Magazine looks at the failings of the U.S. Senate including the design of the institution itself, which protects arcane rules and undemocratic processes. Is the Senate truly representative? Is the electoral system fair? Is it time to eliminate the electoral college? What other electoral reforms should we be considering? What does contemporary voter suppression look like?

Listen to the Episode 

Our research shows that while there are record numbers of women running for and serving in government, there is much to be done to ensure more women can run, win, serve, and lead in office in the United States and around the globe. 

As it stands, the United States ranks 72nd (as of October 2022) according to the IPU’s monthly rankings of women serving in national parliaments. Not only is there much to be learned from the systems in place which allow more opportunities for women in office, there is also room to work with organizations, advocating for systems-based reforms. RepresentWomen studies best practices that have been proven to advance women’s representation and leadership around the world, and then advocates for use of those best practices in the United States.

Why should we care about system-based strategies that have worked to increase the number of women in government in other countries? Research in other countries shows that having more women in government has resulted in an increase of laws to protect victims of sexual harassment, rape, and domestic violence. Specific cases in countries like India and Norway also show that women politicians are more likely to address issues such as food security, childcare, and healthcare. This means that work done abroad has not only been successful in bringing more women to the table, but it has also produced policies that benefit entire communities. By observing and adopting some of the best practices that have worked internationally, the U.S. could enjoy similar, positive outcomes for women’s representation.

Are you interested in sharing this important information with your community? This shareable slidedeck is ready-made for your use.

infogram_0_4c9e699e-985b-4f0b-a02c-5dbf7a7061ec2021 International - Int'l Take Action Slide Deckhttps://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed.js?2FZtext/javascript

This slideshow provides an overview of how the Fair Representation Act would help improve representation for women. Last updated in 2021.

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https://representwomen.app.box.com/embed/s/725eky8bweun00kcvkffkww5ihh9hz8g?sortColumn=date&view=list5004000

We built this toolkit based on a survey of about 40 allies and partners in 2021. With this survey, we found that allies and advocates are most interested in: 

• 2 or 1-pager summaries 
• Data visualization graphics
• Full-length research reports
• Best practices for advancing gender balanced appointments 

The target audience for this Equip Toolkit are individuals and organizations who are interested in advancing gender balanced appointments. 

The aim is that this Equip Toolkit will equip you to speak more fluently and confidently to the importance of gender balanced appointments, and current rates of gender balance in appointed positions in the US. It will also equip you with evidence-based strategies for advancing and advocating for gender balanced appointments.

Download the Appointments Equip Toolkit 

Teach others about the reforms!

Use our presentation on the suggested women lead reforms with your community and teach them about the importance of women's voices in leadership positions. 

infogram_0_7362ea1d-485a-4250-911e-7fe6e814df06Women LEAD Presentationhttps://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed.js?vM6text/javascript

Teach others about the benefits of ranked choice voting!

Use our presentation on how ranked choice voting works and how it helps elect more women and other underrepresented groups to teach your community about the voting system. 

infogram_0_e0df7f0e-b59c-40f6-a263-f0e82b518c65RCV Presentationhttps://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed.js?i99text/javascript

Teach others about recruitment targets!

Use our presentation on gender balance rules in the US and around the world to teach your community about the benefits of recruitment targets.

infogram_0_eec4943f-4255-443e-a369-07b7ea244e9dRecruitment Targets/Gender Quotas Presentationshttps://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed.js?LGhtext/javascript

Current Job Openings:

For more opportunities, try democracyjobs.org, IR Career Starters, genderjobs.org, or theascendfund.org/jobs, where our partners are recruiting! 

RepresentWomen is a 501 c3 nonpartisan nonprofit working to change the system to provide women equal access to both appointed and elected offices. We advocate for systemic change so that more women can RUN, WIN, SERVE & LEAD. We champion and advance the adoption of evidence-based solutions that break down structural barriers to women’s political leadership. We mobilize changemakers to support these reforms.

RepresentWomen is a national organization located in Silver Spring, MD. Our team is on a fast growth trajectory but currently consists of 12 full-time and 5 part-time staff members who work virtually all over the country and world. As an organization we:

• Identify the most transformative, viable, and scalable structural reforms
• Conduct research to determine the best practices to implement those reform
• Identify and help ​​stakeholders apply this knowledge to make real-world change

RepresentWomen is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will consider applicants for positions without regard to any category protected by applicable federal, state, or local law, including but not limited to: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status or uniformed service member status. 

Electing more women to government will strengthen our democracy by making it more representative, improving policy outcomes, encouraging a new style of leadership, and cultivating trust in our elected bodies. 

To advance women's representation and leadership in the United States, we must adopt proven policy solutions that address the structural barriers women face as candidates & as elected officials. These institutional strategies are a natural complement to individual candidate training programs.

Since women earned the right to vote 100 years ago, political parties have been looking for ways to engage women in the political process. Both the Democratic and Republican national parties have enacted gender balance rules to attempt to achieve gender parity amongst their state delegates to national conventions. Following these national policies, some state parties have established guidelines for choosing who to send to their state conventions, requiring gender balance at local levels. The team at RepresentWomen has worked with the pro-bono team at Hogan Lovells to research each state party’s rules. The visuals are based on that research. This brief explores the history and the constitutionality of these rules.

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We have created these shareable state scorecards to help you spread the word about the status of women's representation in your state. Feel free to share these on social media, send them to your representatives, and use them as data-backed evidence in your efforts to advance policy solutions that remove barriers for women in U.S. politics. Enjoy!