The White House Project

Practicing What I Preach on the Campaign Trail
By Anne Doyle

For years, I’ve been whining about how few women political leaders and elected officials we have in the U.S.  – even today.  From the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to state legislatures and local school boards,  men still dramatically outnumber women.   We’re not even close to that magical 33% tipping point where you begin to change the conversation.

So, every chance I get, I’m always urging women to run for office.   This spring, it was another woman who finally called my bluff.   Mari Harvey Edwards, the former Mayor of my hometown of Auburn Hills, Michigan, told me, “Anne, how about practicing what you preach?  Why don’t you stick your own neck out there and run?”

She nailed me.  So I ran — for a seat on the Auburn Hills City Council. And I won!

Running for office requires moving out of comfort zones, knocking on unfamiliar doors and reaching out to neighbors in ways that daily life rarely requires.   In the process, it is the candidate who is enriched.

What did I learn?  Plenty.  The biggest insight is this:  American women are on the verge of a tremendous surge into political leadership.   What makes me so confident?

• We’ve learned that power takes money – and we’re getting over our fear of ASKING and GIVING. In the beginning, it wasn’t easy for me to ask for money.  But once a few great friends turbo-charged me with big checks, I started to get the hang of it.   Mine was a non-partisan election, and I was thrilled to receive checks from friends and colleagues from all sides of the political spectrum.  Each check that arrived was a vote of confidence.  A signal of trust.  I still can’t get over Eileen Padberg, a member of the California International Women’s Forum whom I’ve never met.  She wrote a check for my campaign because, as she put it, “I want to support another woman leader.”  So don’t believe that old husbands’ tale that “women can’t raise money.”  Yes we can!

• We’ve learned that we don’t have to do everything ourselves.  My bet is that most of you have as difficult a time as I do asking for help.  We’re so used to being independent and proving  how doggone capable we are that it feels like weakness to ask for help.  Sound familiar?  You just can’t run for office, at least not successfully, all by yourself.  You have to give in and accept help from others.  I was astonished by the amount of time that friends generously gave to help me with the campaign.  I was also incredibly lucky to have several high-powered, highly-accomplished, Type A friends in “career transition” with a little extra time on their hands.  We had a lot of fun together, and we all developed new skills in the process.   My 17-year-old son, Kevin, and his best friend, Luke,  – pictured here — also helped and learned about being engaged citizens.

• The pool of political mentors is getting deeper.  I had tremendous support from other women political leaders.   For example: Michigan Senator Gilda Jacobs, a seasoned politician, schooled me in campaign strategy and tactics.  Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence took the time to knock on doors for me, even though she was running for re-election herself.  I returned the favor, of course.  She was elected to a third term with 78% of the vote.  Clearly I needed the help more than she did!  County Commissioner Marcia Gershenson braved the cold and bitter winds on election day to stand outside voting precincts for me.  And it wasn’t just women who gave me a hand.  State Representative Tim Melton and County Commissioner Tim Greimel also jumped in with both feet.

• The White House Project is in high gear.  The WHP is another key reason I believe we’re about to see a big increase in the number of women political leaders.  It’s one thing to encourage women to run.  It’s another thing entirely to launch a national, non-partisan initiative focused purely on dramatically increasing the number of women running for office.  The WHP has already trained over 15,000 women candidates and plans to train over 36,000 by 2013.  I’m part of the Michigan Cabinet of the White House Project and also attended their one-day Debate Boot Camp.  Remember the TV series Commander-in-Chief, with actress Gina Davis playing the first female president?   Davis now serves on the National Board of the WHP, and last week met with women political leaders in Detroit, telling us, “It’s all about numbers.  We need to see a big increasing in the number of women holding office.”  In the photo with Gina is White House Project Founder and President Marie Wilson and Saunteel Jenkins, newly elected member of the Detroit City Council.
IT’S ALL ABOUT TRUST: It’s an incredible feeling to see your campaign yard signs on the front lawns of people you’ve never met.  I found myself stopping my car and running up to their doors to introduce myself and thank them.  It’s an even more humbling experience to stand at the City Clerk’s office on election night and watch the votes come in.   My joy over winning was quickly replaced with an overwhelming feeling of responsibility.  You start realizing very quickly that people are counting on you to represent them – to be at all of those meetings that they don’t have time to attend.  To be careful stewards of their resources and make the best decisions you can.

It wasn’t that long ago that women doctors and lawyers were in the minority.  Yet today, we’re on the verge of more women graduating from law school and medical school than men.

I predict the same thing is going to happen – sooner rather than later – in political leadership.  Let’s help each other over the hump.   Culturally, women still need that extra nudge.  I needed it, too.  Yet once I walked out onto the edge of that psychological “high diving board” and took the plunge into the political waters, I was absolutely astonished at the support that materialized all around me.

It felt like I was being lifted by invisbile forces.  Or, as if a strong wind was at my back  – urging me forward.  It’s urging you, too.  Come Run With Me!

To read the original article click here.

Forbes Woman
By Jennifer Allyn
November 23, 2009

Earlier this month, the White House Project released a report benchmarking women’s leadership in 10 different sectors. The good news is a majority of Americans (89%) are comfortable with women leaders. The bad news is women comprise only 18% of those leaders. Whether it’s business (16%), law (18%), journalism (22%) or the military (11%), women leaders have yet to achieve critical mass. The question is why and what will it take to have a breakthrough in those numbers?

In my opinion, it’s going to take ambition. When organizations talk about diversity and talent management, the conversation about ambition is noticeably absent. One reason is that it’s complicated. There are many things that influence our aspirations–family background, personality, talents and experience, among others–but gender also plays a major role. Men are assumed to be ambitious until proven otherwise. In contrast, women still receive mixed messages about their style, their commitment to work and their ability to combine leadership with family. As a result, organizations need to be more gender intelligent when it comes to identifying and grooming female leaders.

In her book Necessary Dreams: Ambition in Women’s Changing Lives, Anna Fels writes about the social pressures that undermine women’s career aspirations. According to Fels, ambition is composed of two key elements, the first of which is a desire for mastery. Over the last century, as women earned the rights and privileges that were once the domain of men, they demonstrated their commitment to mastery. But mastery of any task takes a long time, which makes recognition the second crucial ingredient: To sustain any ambition individuals need to be recognized, at frequent intervals, by a larger community.

While Americans love stories about people who succeed against all odds, the truth is leaders rise to the top with enormous help from a network of parents, teachers, mentors, peers and supervisors.

Recognition becomes a challenge for women because our expectations about femininity are not easily reconciled with our notions of decisive leadership. Or, as Anna Quindlen once wrote, we want women leaders to be “tough as nails and warm as toast.”

Furthermore, ambition is regarded as a masculine trait, so many women are reluctant even to claim the term. During a panel discussion at my firm we asked the audience what they felt when they heard the word “ambitious” used to describe someone. Almost all the men (94%) had positive connotations, compared with only 57% of the women; and 24% of the women had negative connotations about the word.

Then there is the work and family dilemma. When men become parents their commitment to work is presumed to increase. Wanting to advance on behalf of the family is a central part of a breadwinner’s role. As a result, fathers receive approval for sustaining their professional ambitions as they juggle family responsibilities. In contrast, women’s careers are still viewed as competing with their role as mothers. Suddenly the social feedback becomes mixed and working mothers have to justify their commitment to their careers and prove their worth as parents. That’s why motherhood is a critical milestone where women evaluate, and often downgrade, their long-term ambitions in favor of short-term balance. Organizations have an important role to play in changing that dynamic. By providing flexible options and elongating career paths, women would be able to slow down without giving up their aspirations.

Sigmund Freud famously asked “What do women want?” Too often I’ve observed women wanting what they think they can have. And according to this benchmarking report, that’s 18% of leadership positions.

Women, and the organizations they work for, should want more. To aim higher we need to reclaim the word “ambition,” step up to leadership despite the challenges and help each other sustain our dreams by offering our peers and protégés the all-important recognition upon which their success depends.

Jennifer Allyn is a managing director at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where she is responsible for designing programs to retain, develop and advance women at the firm.

To view original article click here.

November 20, 2009

The Washington Post

by Marie Wilson

In spite of Sarah Palin’s prominence as best-selling author, Hillary Clinton’s stature as Secretary of State, and 51% of the workforce now being female, we still face a crisis in women’s leadership, according to The White House Project’s just-published study, Benchmarking Women’s Leadership.

The majority of Americans are comfortable with women leading in all sectors, but the reality is women hold only 18% of leadership positions across the 10 sectors we examined, including politics, business, law, sports, academia, journalism, religion, film/TV, nonprofit, and military.

In politics, for example, women have lost ground in the last decade as elected statewide executive officials and have made only incremental gains in Congress, where they currently comprise 17% of leadership. On a global scale, the U.S. ranks a dismal 71st out of 189 countries, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in terms of women in legislatures, trailing behind nations such as Pakistan, Cuba, and United Arab Emirates.

At Fortune 500 companies, women hold only 15% of board seats, 16% of corporate officer positions, and a mere 3% of CEO positions, while women of color make up only 3% of board officers and 1.7% of corporate officer positions.

Even in sectors that have traditionally welcomed women – such as the nonprofit field – the numbers reflect the same disparity. Women comprise 75% of nonprofit employees, but hold only 26% of leadership positions. Women nonprofit CEO’s make only 74% of what their male counterparts earn.

The list goes on: from sports and military to religion and journalism, women are underrepresented in the halls of power and underpaid when they get there. So why does this matter, particularly when our nation faces such trying economic times?

As our Benchmarks report illustrates, the rose-colored lens through which we have examined gender in the workforce clouds this grim reality: women – and particularly women of color — are far from achieving parity in the arenas in which their participation and inclusion matters most: positions of leadership. And contrary to the popular talking points of today, the cultural ideal for women has not shifted to an all-encompassing and gender-neutral space, but remains firmly embedded in models of wifedom and motherhood. If anything, there is evidence that this cultural ideal is becoming further entrenched as the economy triggers anxieties about gender roles within both the public and private spheres.

I have been an advocate for women’s issues for over 30 years. From the feminist and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 70s to today’s “post-modern” struggles for equality, I have learned three important things: increasing numbers and changing culture are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing vehicles; action must be taken from the top down and the bottom up; and instituting change cannot be limited to one sector, but must be tackled in every sphere.

When we set out to write The Benchmarks Report, we were determined not only to puncture the conventional wisdom that women are leading in record numbers, but to poll experts in each sector and determine what steps need to be taken to achieve a critical mass of women leaders across the board. Here are our recommendations for closing the leadership gap:

• Work to achieve a critical mass of women in leadership roles in every sector. A critical mass of one-third or more women in leadership positions is essential for implementing and maintaining the changes recommended in this report.

• Use financial resources strategically. In choosing which firms to hire or which non-profits to fund, look through a gender lens, considering the representation of women, and women of color, on the board and in top leadership.

• Amplify women’s voices in the public arena. Prominently include women leaders in public forums and media so that they in particular–and women in general–are recognized as role models and considered for boards and other top-level positions.

• Collect and analyze the data. Surprisingly little information exists regarding the representation of women, and particularly women of color, in positions of leadership in individual organizations. Regular tracking and reviewing of the numbers – including the wage gap — are essential for setting benchmarks and monitoring progress.

• Maintain accountability through setting targets. If you lead an organization, set specific goals for including women in leadership. Create a timeline to achieve targets and impose actual consequences for failure to meet these targets.

• Improve flexibility in workplace structures. For women and men alike, increased flexibility–and a recognition of the need for work-life balance–promotes career satisfaction and job retention.

Nothing has surprised me more in working to advance women’s leadership than women’s own measurement of personal success and the routes they must navigate to get there. As a young woman in a major financial firm told me, “They watch you here, and if you are perceived to be too involved with your children, you are not seen as a good candidate for leadership. If you are not involved enough, you are seen as a bad mother and not to be trusted.” I was shocked to hear that an older woman pulled her aside after the meeting and remarked, “There are lots of children you can love; go find them. But if you want to succeed here, don’t have children of your own.”

Unfortunately, that naysayer seems to be right. Perhaps that’s why so many executive women who have been on the leadership track have chosen to never marry or have children (52% and 61%, respectively, according to a UCLA-Korn Ferry study; for executive men, 5% and 3%, respectively). The sacrifices women must make to ascend the leadership ranks are still disproportionate to those made by their male peers. Numbers like this show that the lack of flexibility and childcare in the U.S. is not improving fast enough to allow the numbers of women stuck in the pipeline to really ascend. Instead, they remain in lower positions or opt-out completely from the workforce. In either case, the pool of ideas, talent, and experience among our decision makers shrinks.

Over the long term, I am optimistic about making change. Three polls conducted over five years as part of our Benchmarks report revealed that 90 percent of Americans are comfortable with women leading across the ten sectors profiled, from business and politics to film and journalism. As a 2008 Pew Research Center study found, the public thinks that women – even more than men – have what it takes to be leaders in today’s world, scoring women higher than men in five of eight character traits they value highly in their leaders. The recent report from Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress, “A Woman’s Nation,” shows that, by and large, everyone believes that the inclusion of women at all levels, from government to business to our faith communities, is good for our economy and our country.

The acceleration in moving women into leadership will only occur if there is a thoughtful, creative, and committed approach to doing so. We must promote a national dialogue that sees women not as competitors for male jobs, but as allies in building a stronger economy and better institutions.

Most importantly, we need a cultural shift that values the unique leadership traits and diverse perspectives that both genders – men and women — bring to the table, and a commitment to having them work side-by-side to tackle the challenges we collectively face. These are difficult times, indeed. Yet history has taught us that these are the moments which are ripe for greatness, if we dare to imagine and embrace a new way.

November 20, 2009

Association Bisnow

November 20, 2009

Minnesota Public Radio

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin brings out strong opinions, from people in her own party and from others across the political spectrum. Experts on conservatives and women in politics talk about what Palin’s possible political career means.

Guests

• Ronnee Schreiber: Political science professor at San Diego State University and author of “Righting Feminism: Conservative Women and American Politics” (2008).
• Matthew Continetti: Author of “The Persecution of Sarah Palin.” Continetti is a staff writer at the Weekly Standard, where his article, “Palin Persuasion: A Case for the new populism,” appeared on November 16th.
• Erin Vilardi: VP of Programs and Communications at The White House Project.

For the broadcast, click here at Minnesota Public Radio: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/11/19/midmorning1/

St. Cloud Times
By Amy Bowen • November 13, 2009

Marie has recenlty jumped back on Twitter. You can follow her at: Twitter.com/twhp

Add @TWHP and stay informed about everything at The White House Project, including our Add Women, Change Michigan event with Geena Davis on November 18, 2009.

November 13, 2009

ABC News

by Maureen White and Ari Pinkus

In terms of sheer numbers, women now surpass men in the work force, but they’re still lagging far behind their male peers when it comes to cracking those glass ceilings.

Women account for just 18 percent of top leadership roles in 10 sectors, including business, nonprofit groups, law and religion, according to the new report, “Benchmarking Women’s Leadership.”

“Women’s leadership is stuck in every sector of American society at a time when we need their innovation … when we need their talent, and the research tells us [to] bring in the women if you want to change things,” said Marie Wilson, president of The White House Project, the nonprofit organization in New York that produced the report.

As many as 90 percent of women and men report being ready to see women in charge. At the same time, people also believe that both sexes are “already leading equally,” which is a misconception, according to the report.

It takes 33 percent of women in top positions for change to occur in the workplace, Wilson said.

“A third women makes it [seem] normal for women to be there,” Wilson said in an interview with ABC News’ Bianna Golodryga. “A third women makes sure that you focus on the agenda and not gender. A third women actually allows women to be themselves and men to be themselves. And what we are looking for is enough women leading alongside men so that both of us can contribute equally.

“I’d really like 50 percent,” Wilson added. “But 33 [percent] really gives us the edge.”

In pockets of corporate America, it’s far below that number. Among the Fortune 500 companies, only 66 have females on their boards, according to the report. In the corporate ranks, women are known for promoting greater transparency and for being more averse to risk. The bottom line, too, gets a boost when women are at the top. For instance, there’s a 34 percent greater return on equity and shareholders’ investment, according to the report.

This has prompted some firms to consider putting more money in the hands of women.

“You are now having a fund started to invest in companies that have more women on their boards because that is the way to actually be more successful — innovation and as well as money,” Wilson said.

Read more at http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/YourMoney/white-house-project-reports-womens-leadership-hurdles/story?id=9068095

November 10, 2009

by Marie Wilson

The Washington Post

Over this past year, as we’ve realized our collective economic stability is anything but, more and more people want work with some larger purpose, often involving service. More citizens are volunteering for political campaigns, and, whether it be by design or circumstance, they are using their free time to work in their communities for the greater good.

At The White House Project, our own trainings for women who want to run for political office have been consistently full, with over 100 women in the room and waiting lists of 50 or more. Women and men are seeing positions in the not-for-profit realm as not only a new opportunity to fill their time, but an opportunity to work and lead for a purpose bigger than earning a salary.

For many of our citizens, a career in the military has been a means to get an education, find stable employment and give back to country. Men and women have enlisted in the military knowing that their commitment to service is also a commitment to give their lives. Not many of us reading this today can say we agreed to such a condition when signing up for the jobs we now hold. Our soldiers are put in harm’s way in conflicts overseas from the moment their boots hit the ground. What we don’t expect is that these dangers follow them onto the bases within our borders, as we saw last week at Fort Hood.

And the wars we have asked our soldiers to fight are conflicts where the lines between combatant and civilian are blurred at best and obliterated at worst; the casualties of war used to be 5% civilian and are now 90% civilian. It is no wonder that their leader and Commander-in-Chief, President Obama, is taking his time in deciding the course of these conflicts. As citizens we can lobby him and hope he thinks well, and send our thoughts of all of our service men and women at this time of suffering.

The White House Project worked and trained on international security issues for a few years, and one of the take-aways from that work was the understanding that there exists an enormous and long-term trust for the military in this country. The military has traditionally been a male field, and the officers in the top ranks are invested with extreme authority both from within the ranks and from the civilian population.

What struck me on my first visit to meet then three-star General Claudia Kennedy at the Pentagon was the institutionalized, formal representations of this respect that is given to our military leaders and that is demonstrated with each encounter (Gen. Kennedy was saluted over and over again as we traversed the halls of the Pentagon, for example). This respect is born out of a reverence for the duties they undertake are and the service that they give, often service unto death. Our military leaders must remain nonpartisan, and this reinforces their selfless service, to our nation and not to a certain administration or political party. This further bolsters the respect that our citizens have for our military officers, especially when we consistently see them on television and read about them in the newspapers as they help our country wade through two wars.

In my work at The White House Project, I have taken lessons from our military leaders and applied them to our trainings. For women in leadership it’s definitely about how we authorize each other, since there are few salutes and no flags. And for all of us, it’s about how deeply we value people in authority who are there to serve the higher good. When we honor and respect our soldiers, we are honoring the best in humanity: selflessness and dedication to a greater good. When we lead in our own civilian endeavors at work, it bodes well to try to recognize a staff member or team that exhibits a dedication to the work and to honor those positive qualities with the equivalent of a salute.

Africa News

November 10, 2009

by Kent Mensah