Greetings from the New Jersey Pine Barrens and cheers to all of you who are doing such terrific work! There are now 225 people on this list! I hope that you will send along any articles or info about events that you would like shared with the list - and I will add it to my end-of-the-week missive!
David Bernstein writes this week in Politico about one of the most important challenges we face - electing republican women to higher office. I believe the intentional recruitment rules, innovative voting systems, and family-friendly legislative measures that Rep2020 and others are supporting will go a long way to address the central question - where are all the republican women?
Non-Profit Quaterly has a very interesting piece that begins with the impact that Title IX has had on access to sports programs for girls and women - it is this very same rule-based (institutional) strategy that I believe will have a huge impact on the recruitment of women to run for office. Political parties, PACs, and donors should all be pressured to pledge to recruit and support an ever-increasing number of women candidates (especially in open seats races) until we reach parity.
The private sector continues to take intentional actions to create gender balanced corporate boards and the results are very encouraging as Forbes reports in this piece Women Are Coming For The Boardroom - And It's Better For Business.
Foreign Policy takes a look at Yuriko Koike's who is poised to be the first female governor of Tokyo in this piece entitled: Japan's Reluctant Feminist - a very interesting read.
Efforts to address sexist portrayals of girls and women were boosted again this week with the launch of a set of dolls with diverse professional and recreational themes - the Daily Mail reported on these great-looking dolls.
One of my favorite companies - Smart Women - has some great election-related products if you are looking for inspirational gifts!
Susannah Wellford - executive director of Running Start had a terrific piece in US News and World Report entitled The Second Choice, and the Right One: Ranked Choice Voting is Better Way to Build Consensus about the use of RCV for an election during a Running Start training.
Susannah's experience with this innovative voting system mirrors the experience of ranked choice voting elections around the country. Ranked Choice Voting is on the ballot statewide in Maine - poll show that the race is close but winnable - all support of any kind is welcome!
Warmly (literally and figuratively),
Cynthia
P.S. Congratulations to our good friends at Whitman Insight Strategies who have published a smart and engaging book called 52 Reasons To Vote For Hillary. Bernard Whitman and Brittany L. Stalsburg were inspired to write this book to reintroduce Hillary and her record to voters so that the public is equipped with the facts they need to make an informed decision on Election Day. You can order it and give it a review on Amazon!
We know there is plenty of sexism all around - but also a nice short ad running this week on wage equity!
Finally, a huge round of applause to all the terrific female athletes who are competing - and winning(!) - in the Olympic Games. It is great to see swimmers and gymnasts alike winning medals and modeling team play, wow, what a week