In this post-election world where a highly qualified woman lost the presidency to a misogynist bully, and women failed to make meaningful gains nationally in the long quest for gender parity among elected officials, our elected leaders in “progressive Vermont” have much work to do to prove that women in politics in our state are valued as equals.

The United States ranks behind 95 countries in women’s representation, and we just aren’t increasing at nearly the same rate as other nations. And that, I think, should be a huge indicator to people who care about reflective representation to pay attention to what those other countries are doing and to think, wow, are there some systems approaches that we could be employing in the United States to correct that imbalance?

I’ll be honest: When I heard that battle cry from Hillary Clinton after her nomination as the first female presidential nominee of a major party, I rolled my eyes. It’s just instinct at this point. For me—and, I suspect, other non-Americans looking in—I’ve never been sure why barriers to political leadership in the United States are inherently harder, or its office is inherently higher, than similar roles in the United Kingdom, Pakistan, or Argentina. The whole “highest, hardest glass ceiling” thing rings as hollow to me as when Clinton says “America is great, because America is good.”

By Cynthia Terrell The nation may soon wake up to its first woman president and a record number of women senators, but down ballot, the news is not good for women in elected office. At least 44 of our 50 governors will be men next year, and the U.S. standing among all nations for representation of women has declined from 44th in 1995 to 96th in 2016. In Pennsylvania, very little progress has been made despite political party policies aimed at achieving gender parity.

It’s Time Network affiliates with innovative, independent thought leaders representing a full spectrum of issues, sectors and lived experiences. One of these leaders is Cynthia Terrell, co-founder of FairVote, a non-partisan reform nonprofit that works to make each voice count in elections at every level by way of structural electoral reforms. Since helping to found FairVote in 1992, Cynthia has been on a mission to find practical ways to advance proportional representation voting methods informed by American, candidate-centered values in order to represent the full spectrum of voters more fairly.

The nation may soon wake up to its first-ever woman president and most-ever women senators, but down ballot, the news is not good for women in elected office. At least 44 governors will be men next year, and the U.S rank among all nations for the representation of women has declined from 44th in 1995 to 96th in 2016.

This section of the website, developed by our 2015 Summer Teacher Fellows, provides explanations of the various aspects of the election process for candidates vying to become the next President of the United States. Separated into 10 main areas, each topic is supplemented with related video clips, discussion questions, handouts, and culminating activities to reinforce students' learning.

According to Representation 2020, a non-partisan organization that works to raise awareness of the under-representation of women in elected office, Vermont ranks 41st among the 50 states in gender parity among elected officials. Only 21 percent of local select board members in Vermont are women, and Vermont is one of only three states never to have sent a woman to the U. S. Congress.

The 2016 Olympics in Rio were both a triumph for American athletes and a tribute to the lasting impact of Title IX. Women made up a majority the 554 American athletes at this year’s Olympics, and brought home fully half of the 121 medals won by U.S. competitors.

I got a card in the mail last week that I can't stop thinking about. I'd lost a close friend, and Patti Russo wanted me to know that she was thinking about me and hoped I was doing OK. I also got a text from Anne Moses telling me she was there if I needed to talk.Why is this unusual? Because Patti, Anne and I run national political organizations training women to run (Women's Campaign School at Yale, Ignite and Running Start). We are direct competitors, fighting for the same funding, the same publicity and a share of the same demographic.