Author: Cynthia Richie Terrell

Cynthia Richie Terrell is the founder and executive director of RepresentWomen and a founding board member of the ReflectUS coalition of non-partisan women’s representation organizations. Terrell is an outspoken advocate for innovative rules and systems reforms to advance women’s representation and leadership in the United States. Terrell and her husband Rob Richie helped to found FairVote—a nonpartisan champion of electoral reforms that give voters greater choice, a stronger voice and a truly representative democracy. Terrell has worked on projects related to women's representation, voting system reform and democracy in the United States and abroad.
Sports Ethic Drives Women Athletes in Congress, Too: Weekend Reading on Women's Representation

Sports Ethic Drives Women Athletes in Congress, Too: Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: examining the depth of the $648 billion (and growing!) untapped opportunity in the care market; electing more women to office also correlates to greater overall happiness; the many women winners in New York’s ranked-choice voting primary; D.C. pushes for ranked-choice voting; women who serve in Congress who were/are athletes; the barriers women face as athletes and the over-representation of men on the International Olympic Committee; women hold 63 percent of seats in Spain’s Cabinet; and more.

Why the Senate Is Still Old, White, Wealthy and Male: Weekend Reading on Women's Representation

Why the Senate Is Still Old, White, Wealthy and Male—and How to Fix It: Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: strategies to address the representation crisis in the U.S. Senate; the history of women governors; only one state gets an “A” for women’s representation; 77% of Biden’s judicial nominees are women; the status of races for city council in New York City; the 173rd anniversary of the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention; suggested reading; and more.

NYC Didn't Get Its Woman Mayor—But the City Sure Broke Records: Weekend Reading on Women's Representation

Ranked-Choice NYC—The Women Who Won: Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation

New York City didn’t get its woman mayor—but thanks to ranked-choice voting, the city sure broke records.

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: LGBTQ people and women are projected to hold a record number of seats on the NYC council; 109 men, zero women as NYC mayor; Vanessa Gibson may become the first woman Bronx Borough president; the candidates and the organizations that helped women in NYC run viable campaigns; not much opportunity for women to pick up many, if any, seats in the upcoming gubernatorial races;

Generation Equality Forum convened by U.N. Women

Here’s to Setting New Ambitious Goals on Gender Equality: Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: The U.N. Generation Equality Forum’s serious commitments being made to advance women’s representation around the globe; Melinda Gates has pledged $2.1 billion toward programs to advance women’s equality over the next five years; barriers for women in politics continue in China; women’s representation in Algeria dropped significantly; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduces the PAID Act, which would require executive branch personnel to track and publish the demographics of political appointees; and more.

How NYC's Ranked-Choice Voting Fared—and Where We Go From Here: Weekend Reading on Women's Representation

How New York’s Ranked-Choice Voting Fared—and Where We Go From Here: Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: NYC’s ranked-choice voting election saw the highest turnout since 1989; how women are faring in the NYC city council race; top companies for gender parity; strategies for women incumbents to retain their seats; India Walton may become the first woman mayor of Buffalo; and more!

G7 Gender Council Urges Women Be "at the Heart" of COVID Recovery: Weekend Reading on Women's Representation

G7 Gender Council Urges Women Must Be “at the Heart” of COVID Recovery: Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: women’s representation on corporate boards; how women get selected as candidates and rise to positions of leadership; G7’s Gender Equality Advisory Council has a call to action to promote women’s health; women’s representation increased in Mexico after recent elections; how Argentina again became a leader in Latin America on progressive legislation; increases for women in office in jurisdictions with ranked-choice voting; and more.

A Record Number of Women Are Gaining Traction in NYC Mayoral Race—Thanks to Ranked-Choice Voting

In both donations and polling, a record number of women and women of color are gaining traction in the New York City mayoral race. The presence of ranked-choice voting has helped to minimize typical fears of too many women candidates splitting the vote, and has even helped to address questions of likability and electability that often plague the campaigns of women candidates.

women representation politics

Honoring Women in Politics With Big Ideas—from Lani Guinier to Stacey Abrams: Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: accusations against Lani Guinier in 1993 were troublingly similar to the smear campaign leveled at Biden’s nominee Kristen Clarke; political openings for Black women in the coming election cycle; Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat, won a landslide victory in New Mexico; gender equality is also a man’s job; LGBTQ reads in honor of Pride Month; and more.

Women Investing in Women: Weekend Reading on Women's Representation

Women Investing in Women and Their Families: Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: the potential transformational impact of Melinda French Gates’s Pivotal Ventures and other women investors; why being a parent in the U.S. is harder than in other rich countries; how to increase women’s political power in advance of next year’s midterms; the youngest woman (!!!) to qualify for the Olympics in the triathlon; and more.