Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!
Birthdays for notable women: Linnéa Allison, IREX; Helen Nicholson (1929 – 2018); Crystal Patterson; Sara Bareilles; Ingrid Michaelson, singer-songwriter and actress; Daniella Ballou-Aares, CEO of Leadership Now Project; Adrienne Adams, NYC councilwoman; Stacey Abrams; Alice Cohan, Feminist Majority Foundation; Mildred Cleghorn, first chairperson of Fort Sill Apache Tribe; Mary Ivy Burks, environmental activist; Rita Moreno, actress, singer and dancer; Grace Paley, author; Mia Seifers; Jennifer Connelly, actress and activist; Jessica Nicholson; Dionne Warwick, singer; Ella Baker, civil and human rights activist; Mary Todd Lincoln, former First Lady; Taylor Swift, singer and songwriter; and Margaret Chase Smith, 1st woman to serve in both houses of Congress.
Milestones: Supreme Court upholds right to unemployment during last three months of pregnancy (1976); Mary Casillas Salas became mayor of Chula Vista, Calif. (2014); Legislature of territory of Wyoming passed America’s first women’s suffrage law (to vote and hold office)(1869); the General Assembly adopted U.N. Declaration of Human Rights; Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the U.S., leads her first service (Temple Beth Israel, Meridian, Mississippi) (1950).
Ranked Choice Voting Act in Congress—Introduced This Week in Congress—Would Bring Fairer Elections Across United States
Every so often, a moment arrives that reminds us why this work matters and why we keep going, even when progress feels slow. This week delivered one of those moments: Led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md), Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), the Ranked Choice Voting Act was introduced in Congress, joining the earlier reintroduction of the Fair Representation Act.
For many, these may seem like technical reforms, but for those of us who have spent years listening to women candidates and community leaders describe the barriers built into our electoral system, this moment feels both hopeful and long overdue.
Ranked-choice voting (RCV) has always been more than ballots. It’s about giving voters the freedom to choose candidates they genuinely believe in, and giving women—especially women of color—the chance to run without being told they might “split the vote” or should “wait their turn.” RCV creates room for new voices, collaborative leadership, and campaigns centered on building broad support. These are qualities our politics desperately needs and areas where women consistently shine.
Our partners at FairVote captured the spirit of this moment well. CEO Meredith Sumpter said:
“The Ranked Choice Voting Act will give voters more choice and more power [… and] gives members of Congress incentives to lead, legislate, and govern together.”
That vision deeply aligns with RepresentWomen’s mission and with what we know voters are yearning for: a democracy that feels responsive, respectful and inclusive.
I am heartened by the women leaders in Congress who stepped forward as co-sponsors—Reps. Angie Craig of Minnesota, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Chellie Pingree of Maine, Delia Ramirez of Illinois and Kelly Morrison of Minnesota.
The introduction of the RCV Act is not the end of the story, but it is a meaningful beginning. We have been given a rare chance to rethink the rules of our democracy so more women can run, win, serve and lead on equal footing. I’m grateful to share this moment with you all.
Here’s more from the members’ news release on their legislation, which would establish an electoral system that consistently creates new opportunities for women candidates.
The Ranked Choice Voting Act would require RCV for all primary and general congressional races beginning in 2030, allowing voters to express their ranked support for multiple candidates. This would make our elections fairer and more representative and create a more positive politics…“
Ranked choice voting is a great advance in democracy. It gives voters more power at the ballot box and makes our politics more positive and inclusive, encouraging candidates to connect with more voters,” said Rep. Raskin. …
“Polarization in Congress is worse than ever, and this is making it harder and harder for Congress to solve basic problems for the American people,” said Rep. Beyer. “Ranked choice voting would help fix our broken political system by changing election incentives to favor leaders who build broad and diverse coalitions focused on solutions rather than divisive rhetoric. This reform would strengthen our democracy and make Congress more responsive to the needs of the people we represent.”
“Our democracy is at its strongest when everyone is heard and represented. Ranked choice voting offers an opportunity to break through polarization and strengthen our democracy by ensuring that our elected candidates have received the broad support of the folks they’ll represent,” said Sen. Welch. …
“The Ranked Choice Voting Act will give voters more choice and more power. It will make Congress more responsive and more accountable to the people they represent,” said Meredith Sumpter, president and CEO of FairVote, a nonpartisan organization seeking better elections. “At a time when polarization and gridlock are making it harder for Congress to deliver for the American people, ranked choice voting gives members of Congress incentives to lead, legislate, and govern together.”
The RCV Act is endorsed by FairVote Action, Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Public Citizen, People Power United, Third Way, Ranked Choice Voting Maryland, National Council of Jewish Women, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, United Church of Christ, #unifyUSA, 7th Generation Labs, Better Ballot SC, Bridge Alliance Education Fund, Citizen Works, Clean Elections Texas, Connecticut Voters First, DemCast USA, Divided We Fall, FairVote Illinois, FairVote Minnesota, Fix Democracy First, Founding Mothers Movement, Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda, Greenpeace USA, HeadCount, Healthfox US, Indivisible Howard County, N.C. For The People Action, National Network for Arab American Communities, National Organization for Women, NH Ranked Choice Voting, Ocean State RCV, Rank the Vote, Rank The Vote Ohio, RepresentUs, RepresentWomen, SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce, Task Force for Democracy, UpVote Virginia, Vote Nevada, Voter Choice Arizona, Voter Choice Massachusetts, Women’s Committee of the Forward Party.
Reading the full text of the RCV Act here, then contact your congressional representative to share your thoughts on the Ranked Choice Voting Act using this link.
A Seachange in New Mexico’s New Women-Majority Legislature
The Santa Fe New Mexican has a critical article about changes in the New Mexico legislature, which is now 55 percent women. Here’s an extended excerpt:
Legislators cite another change that coincided with the female majority: The Roundhouse began shifting away from its reputation as a stereotypical “boys club” and what one lawmaker described as a “culture of silence” for women when it comes to speaking out about sexual harassment they have experienced.
Parenting is political, too, for many female lawmakers, since women often bear the majority of child care responsibilities. In 2024, nearly 1 in 10 New Mexico legislators were mothers of children under 18, according to data from the Vote Mama Foundation. Their dual roles as parents and lawmakers bring unique perspectives to the Roundhouse—and unique challenges, like additional child care needs.
Several candidates unseated longtime incumbents in 2024, bringing in a new batch of lawmakers, many of them women and some of them mothers. After widespread reckonings on sexual harassment and with new blood in the building, the Capitol is becoming a place of relatively equal-opportunity politicking.
“I think the Roundhouse today is a place where — no matter where you come from, no matter who you are, whether you’re male or female — it is about the ideas, and that has taken a long time to achieve,” Szczepanski said.
“If you have good ideas, if you can champion them with excellence,” she added, “you are going to be heard, and you are going to have a chance to get your ideas into law.”
Rep. Yanira Gurrola, D-Albuquerque, appointed to the Legislature in 2023 — just one week before the start of the session that year — said she feels supported by her colleagues in the Roundhouse.
“The way that they embrace me and mentor me and back me up in everything — it was a different experience. I don’t think I have experienced something like that, so supportive, in my past jobs, in my past commitments. So it has been, actually, a great experience,” she said.
Eileen Higgins Will Be Miami’s First-Ever Woman Mayor
Former county commissioner Eileen Higgins on Dec. 9 won the 2025 mayoral runoff in Miami with 59 percent of the vote. From CBS News:
Miami‑Dade County Mayor Levine Cava congratulated Higgins, noting that Higgins is the first woman ever elected mayor of Miami. In a statement, Levine Cava called the win a milestone for representation and said voters sent a clear message that they are tired of chaos, corruption and rising costs. She pledged to work alongside Higgins to deliver a city that “works for everyone.”
“For nearly 130 years since Julia Tuttle founded this city, Miami has never elected a woman as mayor,” Levine Cava said. “That changes tonight.”
More than a symbolic shift, Higgins’ campaign platform emphasized structural reforms. It highlights affordable housing, climate resilience, improved municipal governance, and expanded representation by proposing expanding the city commission to better reflect neighborhood diversity. For analysts and advocates studying urban governance and equity, Miami’s election may represent a significant case study of how demographic change, mobilization around equity and cost-of-living issues, and a pivot away from partisan polarization can combine to produce transformative local outcomes.
Higgins won big in the runoff election, but such head-to-head contests can be punishing and expensive for candidates. RepresentWomen’s research shows that women and candidates of color tend to benefit when elections reward coalition-building, broadened voter engagement, and majority support in a single trip to the polls with ranked-choice voting.
In a world-first move, Australia has enacted a nationwide ban on social media accounts for children under 16. As of Dec. 10, 2025, major platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Reddit and X, must block or remove accounts under 16 or face heavy fines. This landmark legislation stems from growing concerns about the harm social media can pose to youth mental health, self-esteem and exposure to harmful content.
The new last coincides with the installation of what many analysts call Australia’s most gender-balanced Parliament in history. Following the 2025 federal election, women now hold 56.6 percent of the Senate and 46.0 percent of the House of Representatives, translating to a majority of women overall. The Financial Review lifted up women’s leadership in the legislation:
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has anointed the youngest member of his cabinet, new communications minister Anika Wells, to guide the reform. Wells, a Millennial MP with three young children, has overseen changes to the aged care sector after a royal commission. Alongside eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, she is one of two women on the front lines pushing back against the tech giants, some of which have a market capitalization greater than the gross domestic product of Australia.
The combination of meetings arranged between politicians of all persuasions with parents who’d lost children, and a steady stream of news articles with statistics of self-harm and suicide, proved to be powerful. “No one walked away from a meeting with them without being moved,” says one senior Canberra staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Not many MPs are saying no to the parents of dead kids.”
Men have advocated for this policy as well, but a female majority may shape not only legislative content, but the priorities and perspectives that influence policymaking. The convergence of progressive youth-protection laws and enhanced gender representation invites reflection on how representation shapes policy choices, and on the broader implications for democracy, childhood and digital rights. The world will be watching, especially as other countries grapple with youth mental health, digital governance and calls for more representative institutions.
The 2025 Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women and What It Reveals About Global Influence and Gendered Power Structures
The 2025 Forbes ranking of the world’s 100 most powerful women spotlights an increasingly diverse and influential generation of female leaders across business, politics, technology, media and culture. Rather than simply acknowledging traditional positions of power, this year’s list reflects a growing recognition of complex, cross-sector influence. This includes heads of state, corporate CEOs, AI pioneers and cultural innovators.
A few key trends stand out.
Women now lead companies that collectively generate trillions in revenue and employ millions worldwide, which is a clear marker of economic clout. The list features figures such as Mary Barra (CEO of General Motors) and Jane Fraser (CEO of Citigroup), whose decisions influence global markets, supply chains and financial stability.
In addition, the rise of technology and AI executives (such as those at leading AI firms) signals that women are at the forefront of shaping not only markets but also the technologies that will define the coming decades. Leaders like Fei-Fei Li, whose contributions to AI ethics and innovation continue to shape the field, and Safra Catz (Oracle), who directs one of the world’s most influential software enterprises.
Lastly, “soft power” (i.e., culture, media presence and public influence) is increasingly valued. Artists, media moguls and cultural disruptors are now joining business and political elites on equal footing. It is more visible and thus more global. The inclusion of figures such as Beyoncé and Taylor Swift illustrates how cultural capital functions as political capital.
For those concerned with gender equity, the list underscores a broader shift: power is no longer monolithic or confined to traditional arenas (like politics or industry). Instead, it is diffused across sectors and increasingly accessible to women with growing structural, financial, and cultural consequences for global leadership.
MacKenzie Scott Set a New Benchmark in Transformative Philanthropy
This week, MacKenzie Scott announced that she has donated $7.1 billion to nonprofit organizations in 2025, her largest single-year giving to date. That brings her cumulative philanthropic contributions since 2019 to roughly $26.3 billion.
What distinguishes Scott’s approach is several structural and strategic features that depart from more traditional, foundation-driven philanthropy. Arguably, the most important is unrestricted, trust-based giving. She offers large grants without demanding applications, reporting or strings attached which serves a model that empowers organizations to allocate funds according to greatest need.
She also focuses on historically underserved institutions and communities. In 2025, a substantial portion of her giving was directed toward higher-education institutions serving marginalized populations, including historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), tribal colleges, community colleges and other access-oriented institutions.
Scale and scope can reshape organizational trajectories. For many recipient institutions, Scott’s gifts have been the most significant single donations in their histories, which inject resources at a scale that can fund scholarships, infrastructure, and research.
Scott’s 2025 giving challenges conventional norms, in which she instead entrusts funds to institutions, signaling confidence in local leadership and the value of autonomy. In doing so, she underscores a key shift in how wealth can be deployed for public good, not as a means of control, but as a tool for empowerment.
P.S. —
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If you would like to submit a birthday or milestone, please do so. However, please note that any additional entries that come in today will be featured in the online edition and not in the print copy.
Great Job Cynthia Richie Terrell & the Team @ Ms. Magazine Source link for sharing this story.
