March 2022 WPLN Newsletter

Dear friend, 

Happy Women's History Month!

When I wrote to you at this time last year, we had just come off of an historic election season, in which women shattered glass ceilings across the country.

Yet women remain underrepresented in politics and government -- particularly center- and right-leaning women. A 2021 Gallup poll found that 69% of women identified their political ideology as conservative or moderate -- but just one out of every 4 women in Congress leans right.

Fortunately, 2022 is another election year. Women belong at decision-making tables at every level, and this year started off strong, with Virginia electing its first Black woman to hold statewide office and Boston electing a woman to be mayor for the first time. I'm so excited to see what records we break in November!

Lastly, in case you missed it, we've been highlighting famous female firsts on Instagram all month -- be sure to check it out!

Onward,

Larissa

WPLN President and Co-Founder

Next week, WPLN is hosting a FREE virtual call with the National Retail Federation on how to how to navigate our current economic challenges and how to best support small business recovery. This session is open to women elected or appointed at local, county, and state levels and will explore the tools that public leaders have to help people get back to work. Registration is required, so register here. 

WPLN is proud to sponsor a one-day campaign workshop held annually by Republican Women for Progress, The Campaign School at Yale, and The George Washington University. The training is on April 2 and will be virtual this year -- register here.

ICYMI, on March 7 we held a WPLN Facebook Live with Google's Erica Arbetter on keeping your online information safe, both on and off the campaign trail. Google is working with organizations around the world to protect campaign information and enhance the digital security of candidates and campaign workers. Watch the Facebook Live here.

AXIOS | "Democrats have more women in state legislatures than Republicans": "Democrats claim roughly twice as many female state legislators as their Republican counterparts, but the GOP has a significant advantage in local lawmaking: It maintains control of more state legislatures across the country. ... Besides their raw overall numbers, Democrats have more women in leadership positions in the states: 55 vs. 20 for the Republicans. And Democrats have more state chambers with majority-women caucuses. There are 40 chambers where at least half of elected Democrats are women." Read more.

WASHINGTON POST | "The strength of Ukrainian women is on display": "It’s hard to write about women fighting in Ukraine, a topic of interest to many news outlets, and not get a little too golly-gee about it or miss the point entirely. What is the point here? Are we saying it’s shocking that women might love their country as much as men do? Are we saying women should be praised more than men for placing themselves in bodily harm? No and no. In any case, women fighting in deadly battles is the darkest sort of feminism: Nobody wants gender equality in war because nobody wants war. But the way Ukrainian women are telling the stories of their willingness to fight is meaningful." Read more.

POLITICO | "Hispanic women emerge as big winners in Texas GOP primary": "'We want to show Hispanics that this is what the Republican Party looks like. It looks just like them,' said Mayra Flores, who won the GOP nomination for her South Texas-based congressional seat. 'We were raised to think that the Republican Party was for the rich and only white men and that’s not true. Look at us. We are the face of the party.'" Read more.

WASHINGTON POST | "Four women on the Supreme Court would bring historic, near gender parity for institution long dominated by White men": "'For too long, our government, our courts haven’t looked like America,' Biden said. 'And I believe it’s time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications and that we inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve their country at the highest level.'" Read more.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC | "Why the U.S. celebrates Women's History Month every March: How women claimed their place in America’s history books": "Women have always been part of history. But for centuries, their participation in it was overlooked: Early history texts often excluded women altogether, aside from accounts of powerful women like queens. Historians — who were almost entirely men — often saw the past through the lens of the 'great man' theory, which holds that history is largely shaped by male heroes and their struggles. That changed in the 20th century, with the birth of women’s history as an academic discipline, a push to recognize the achievements of women — and a movement to ensure women had equal access to the academic institutions where their history might be taught. In the United States, the result was National Women’s History Month, an annual celebration born from the activism of historians intent on making sure women got their due. The U.S. has celebrated Women’s History Month every March since the 1980s. Here’s a look at how it began — and the obstacles its founders faced along the way." Read more. 

For #InternationalWomensDay on March 8, Forbes published "Women To Women: How To Close The Leadership Gap":

"The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias, acknowledging the dearth of representation in many areas of society. One such area in which bias still prevails is the C-suite of Fortune 500 companies. According to Fortune Magazine, only 8.2% percent of CEOs are women.

This is unfortunate, as women leaders often bring different skills to the table that arguably make them better leaders. ... Whether it’s bringing more empathy, compassion, teamwork, community-building, or active listening skills to the table, women are uniquely suited to lead. Let this International Women’s Day not only celebrate women leaders but open the doors for more women to take their proper and equal place."

Forbes included 10 pieces of advice from women, for women, on how to close the leadership gap, including confidence ("confidence is key"), community ("community matters more than anything"), and collaboration ("collaboration is strength"). Read more.

READING | Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World by Linda Hirshman: According to the New York Times, this book is "for anyone interested in the court, women’s history or both," because "the story of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, their separate routes to the Supreme Court, and what they accomplished during the more than 12 years they spent together is irresistible." With Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation hearings kicking off this week, it's a timely read! Learn more.

WATCHING | America ReFramed Season 10 Episode 1 "Fannie Lou Hamer's America": According to PBS, "Fannie Lou Hamer's America" is "a portrait of a civil rights activist and the injustices in America that made her work essential. Through public speeches, personal interviews, and powerful songs of the fearless Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist, 'Fannie Lou Hamer's America' explores and celebrates the lesser-known life of one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders." Learn more.

LISTENING TO | The Isn't It Lovely podcast Season 4 Episode 6 featuring Michelle Bekkering: Michelle Bekkering was a speaker at our #WPLNSummit last month, and this month she's on the Isn't It Lovely podcast. Michelle currently serves as National Engagement Director for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and her episode is fittingly titled "Isn't it Lovely to Empower Women & Girls Around the World?" Learn more.

EXCITED FOR | WPLN's new Facebook Live series called The State of Center-Right Women: WPLN is starting a series of Facebook Lives this spring called The State of Center-Right Women. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and turn on notifications so you never miss a new discussion!

• Susanna Salter, politician and first woman to be elected mayor in the United States (March 2)
• Jackie Joyner-Kersee, a track and field athlete and Sports Illustrated's best female athlete of the 20th century (March 3)
• Geraldyn (Jerrie) Cobb, an aviator and the first woman to pass astronaut testing (March 5)
• Josephine Cochrane, inventor who invented the first commercially successful dishwashing machine (March 8)
• Graciela Olivarez, a lawyer who was the first woman and the first Latina to graduate from Notre Dame Law School (March 9)
• Clare Boothe Luce, congresswoman from California who became the first American woman appointed to a major ambassadorial post abroad (March 10)
• Tammy Duckworth, a U.S. Army veteran and U.S. Senator who was the first woman with a disability to be elected to Congress, the first Thai American woman to be elected to Congress, and the first senator to give birth while in office (March 12)
• Simone Biles, the most decorated American gymnast (March 14)
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court (March 15)
• Verda Welcome, politician who was the second Black woman to be elected to a state senate in the U.S. (March 18)
• Edith Nourse Rogers, politician who was the first woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts (March 19)
• Loretta Mary Aiken (stage name of Jackie "Moms" Mabley), a stand-up comedian and one of the first openly gay stand-up comedians (March 19)
• Mary Kies, inventor and the first woman to receive a U.S. patent (March 21)
• Helene Hale, politician and the first woman to serve as a mayor in Hawaii (March 23)
• Dorothy Height, a civil rights and women's rights activist who served as president of the National Council of Negro Women (March 24)
• Dorothy Constance Stratton, the first woman to be commissioned an officer in U.S. Coast Guard and the first director of the U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve during World War II (March 24)
• Flannery O'Connor, a novelist (March 25)
• Nancy Pelosi, congresswoman from California and the first woman in U.S. history to be Speaker of the House (March 26)
• Sandra Day O'Connor, a Supreme Court Justice and the first woman of five to ever serve on the Court (March 26)

ICYMI | WPLN Facebook Live "Keeping Yourself (and Your Campaign) Secure Online": On March 7 WPLN's Mauren McInerney spoke with Google's Erica Arbetter on keeping your online information safe, both on and off the campaign trail. Digital security is a necessity for any campaign and any candidate or lawmaker. Watch the Facebook Live here.

MARCH 23 | Leading the Way 2022: Women in Leadership series: Join our training partner Louisiana Women Lead for a Facebook Live discussion with 26th Judicial District Court Judge Candidate Allie Aiello Stahl! Learn more.

MARCH 28 | WPLN Facebook Live Partner Spotlight — Nevada Women's Leadership Alliance: Get to know our newest training partner, the Nevada Women's Leadership Alliance! We'll be joined by NWLA's Founder and Chairwoman Liz Arnold; Ann Carpenter, current NWLA Board member as well as a mining professional and founding member of the Women's Mining Coalition; and Miranda Hoover, Director of the Nevada Mining Association, to learn more about the political environment for women candidates and elected officials in Nevada! Learn more. 

MARCH 29 | WPLN Women Officeholders Roundtable Discussion with the National Retail Federation: Join us for a FREE virtual call with the National Retail Federation to discuss how to support small business recovery and explore the tools available to public leaders to help get people back to work. Learn more.

APRIL 2 | Republican Women's Campaign Training with TCSYale: Join Republican Women for Progress, The Campaign School at Yale, and The George Washington University for their annual one-day workshop on political campaigning! This event is specifically for Republican women and will cover topics including making the decision to run, finding your voice, and effective networking. Learn more.

APRIL 6 | Nevada Women's Leadership Alliance training: Our newest WPLN state training partner Nevada Women's Leadership Alliance (NWLA) is finalizing the details for their April 6 training — so keep an eye out on the WPLN events page or on the NWLA website! Learn more.

APRIL 7 | Colorado Women's Alliance Lunch 'N Learn - A Parent's Role in Education: Join our training partner Colorado Women's Alliance for an important online conversation about navigating your child's education in an ever-changing environment. Learn more.

Support WPLN programs and resources by making a contribution today!

Women’s Public Leadership Network (WPLN) is a non-profit organization organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent provided by law.