Marie Wilson is author of the very timely Closing the Leadership Gap: Add Women, Change Everything - which makes a terrific graduation or Father's Day gift!
Dear all,
This was a momentous week for women's representation.
For the first time in the history of the United States a woman will be the nominee of one of the two major parties for the office of president. If elected, Hilary Clinton will join a list of 22 current heads of state who are women - a record high. Much has been written about the potential impact of of her presidency - including this piece in Vox by Matthew Yglesias which speaks to the impact a Clinton presidency may have on inspiring other women to seek political leadership. While compelling, I find his premise simplistic as it ignores the very real barriers to women running for and winning office. Clinton would undoubtedly transform the political landscape in many ways but we will still have a lot of work to do, together, to win gender parity in our lifetimes.
The other major milestone was the primary for the US Senate race in California which advanced two women of color to the general election in November. If elected, Kamala Harris would be the second African American woman ever elected to the US Senate while Loretta Sanchez would be the first Latina ever elected to the US Senate. While we often talk in broad terms about the under representation of women, gender disparity is profound for women of color across the political spectrum.
It's Time Network's Mayor's Guide for Accelerating Gender Equality is such a useful resource that I am plugging it again! It's a "comprehensive guide for accelerating gender equality at the local level." Thanks to the fabulous work of Betsy McKinney and her team who pulled this together!
I expect that the United State of Women Summit this coming Tuesday in Washington, DC will produce not only a lot of social media buzz but also some real progress on the road to equality and parity - I am sorry to miss it but hope to see the news on Twitter!
I am off to Iceland and Ireland to meet with our sisters there!
Good luck with all the fabulous work you are doing!
Cynthia
P.S. Pictured below are Rep2020/FairVote fellow Molly Rockett, Senator Deb Fisher (NE), and three of Representation2020's terrific summer interns - Maddie Kane, Anjali Bhatt, & JJ Zeng, (not pictured here - Rachel Swack) - we are very glad to have them with us for the summer!
