September 10, 2020

Impact

The History of the Women Nominated for Vice President

September 10, 2020

Impact

CNN looks at the history of women as candidates for vice president of the United States—a role only taken on by three women in history, the latest being presidential nominee Joe Biden's pick Kamala Harris. The article talks about Harris, the third woman to accept a nomination from a major party and the first woman of color, and why the pick is so significant. Reporter Kate Sullivan also discusses Sarah Palin’s history and rise before being nominated, as well as Geraldine Ferraro’s groundbreaking nomination as the first woman—and her background, including her time as a teacher, lawyer, and advocate for victims and for economic equality for women. While previous tickets with women vice presidential candidates have been unsuccessful, it’s easy to see why so many are eager to see the glass ceiling shattered—and to see a qualified, powerful woman succeed.

By Kate Sullivan, CNN

With Joe Biden selecting Kamala Harris, the senator from California becomes just the third woman to be selected as the vice president on a major party ticket and the first Black woman to be nominated.

Harris, a woman of Black and South Asian descent, ran for president in 2020 but ended her bid in December. She has been a senator since 2017, and was previously California's attorney general.

Biden's announcement on Tuesday came after months of speculation and after his vetting team looked at more than a dozen women. Biden pledged earlier this year to choose a woman as his vice president, and was under pressure to select a woman of color.

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

Kimberly Hosey

September 10, 2020

Impact

August marks 100 years since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. A new voting population brought new issues to the forefront, new voices being heard, and a new political landscape. But the fight didn't end there. For the next few months, Smithsonian Magazine will cover the fight for representation, complications including privilege and ongoing inequality, struggles, political trailblazers, and ongoing work—and the women behind it all. Read below and click through to read more and follow their coverage.

On August 18, 1920—a full century ago—the 19th Amendment was ratified by Tennessee's legislature. But that date marks neither the beginning nor the end of the struggle for suffrage. The movement to secure the vote for women took a long, thorny path that extends until today; it's a trail dotted with factional disagreements, prioritization of the needs of the white and wealthy, disappointments and hard-won victories, occasional scandal, unexpected alliances and perseverance. In this collection of stories, you can learn about this complex history and the women who propelled it.

In the coming months, Smithsonian magazine will tell the stories of the people who pushed to fully realize the dream of suffrage for all women, like civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, who faced down the KKK to secure the right to vote for herself and others; the Hawaiian suffragists whose path to political participation was complicated by colonialism; and the glass-ceiling-cracking campaigns of Shirley Chisholm and Geraldine Ferraro.

Five Women Entrepreneurs on Why They’re Considering Political Runs

Kimberly Hosey

December 14, 2018

Impact

Leadership in business might lead to political leadership, at least for some women. A survey of women founders conducted by Fast Company and Inc. found that an increasing number of women said they were considering a run for office.

Several women CEOs and founders discuss the connection between business and political campaigns, the importance of speaking up, political platforms that matter to them, bringing issues of women and other underrepresented groups to the forefront, and why the country and world need women's voices and leadership. Click through to read the full interview.

By Pavithra Mohan

Can running a business be a launchpad for a career in politics? The 2016 election would indicate yes. But looking past Trump, a number of entrepreneurs have been drawn to the political arena recently, from Giant Spacekat CEO Brianna Wu to Chrissy Houlahan, who helped start nonprofit organization B Lab.

And this year has seen a record number of women running for congressional seats, with 255 women on the ballot in November as major party candidates and the rise of upstart progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley.

In a recent survey conducted by Fast Company and Inc., we heard from nearly 300 female founders and entrepreneurs on issues like fundraising and the discrimination they faced as women leaders. We also asked about their political leanings and activism, and whether the political climate might nudge them to run for office. Here’s what some of the founders who are making their businesses political—and might eventually make politics their business–had to say about running for office.

Image credit: jacoblund | iStock

11 Resolutions To Make If You're Considering Running For Office In The Next Few Years

Kimberly Hosey

January 9, 2017

Impact

bustle.com - For many Americans, November’s election results were (and continue to be) incredibly disheartening — but for some of you, they were also galvanizing, inspiring you to enter the fray and be an agent of change. Fantastic! But where to start? There are things to do if you’re considering running for office in the next few years that will help you get your foot in the door of the political process. Your presidential run might be a long way down the road, but, by making some important resolutions now, you can put yourself on the path to elected office, and you can do a lot of good in the meantime. There have been a lot of think-pieces written in the wake of the election, and no doubt experts will continue to unravel the forces that brought Donald Trump to power for a long time to come, but one thing is clear: Our government could definitively use fresh blood, on both sides of the aisle. It’s especially important that more women become involved in the political process. Women make up more than half of the U.S. population, and yet they fill only 20 percent of seats in the U.S. Congress. The underrepresentation of women in government starts at the local level: A 2016 report from the CUNY Institute of State and Local Governance found that, in the largest 100 American cities, only a third of city council members are women, and only 18 percent of mayors are women. The issue isn’t that women can’t get elected — they can and do — but that they don’t run in the first place; CUNY found that only 19 percent of mayoral candidates are female. The report cites a number of problems that keep women from running, including “gendered social roles, negative self-perceptions, limited exposure to politics, and lack of support.” And, of course, this lack of women getting into politics on the ground floor is bad for gender equality on the national level — because there simply aren’t enough women making it into the top echelons of government.