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.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Women in Congress Lead Committees That Control U.S. Spending; Celebrating Suffragists of Color

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

This week: The leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are all women, as is the top White House budget official—the first-ever all-women team to lead the congressional committees that control government spending; new research about women of color involved in the suffrage movement; the power of knitting; and more.

Ranked-Choice Voting Is on the Rise—From the Academy Awards to the Texas Legislature

and

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

This week: Academy Award nominations used multi-winner, proportional ranked-choice voting; Columbia University names its first woman president; some members of the New York City Council continue to have questions about ranked-choice voting, despite its giving voters more voice and more choice; and more.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: 14 States Consider Ranked-Choice Voting; NZ’s Jacinda Ardern Resigns; Massachusetts Gets Its First Black Woman AG

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

This week: 14 states have already introduced bills proposing ranked-choice voting; New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s resignation reminds us of the structural barriers women in public office face; Massachusetts has sworn in its first Black woman attorney general; Aruna Miller becomes Maryland’s first woman of color lieutenant governor; and more.

‘Historic’ 118th Congress Still Not Reflective of the U.S. Population

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

This week: Colorado’s 74th General Assembly has the largest number of women legislators in history; women make up more than half the U.S. population and less than one-third of Congress; Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) announced her run for Senate; women lawmakers have been more likely to sponsor bills focused on women’s health, and more involved in policy debates addressing gender equity; and more.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: How the House Speaker Delay Hinders Democracy; Two Women Are Now First and Second in Line for U.S. Presidency

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

This week: as the House begins its fourth day of speaker voting, a reminder that ranked-choice voting could save time and energy; Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has been elected president pro-tempore, making her third in line to the presidency; the percentage of women in Congress is just 27.9 percent; and more.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Georgia Considers Ranked-Choice Voting, Not Runoffs; Biden Confirms Most Women Judges in History

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

This week: Feminist icon Dorothy Pitman Hughes was a critical voice for issues of race, class and motherhood; Georgia could save voters and taxpayers time, energy and money with ranked-choice voting, rather than runoffs; South Korea’s new president is trying to end the Gender Equality Ministry; remembering feminist icon Dorothy Pitman Hughes; and more.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: ‘We Are Meeting Because We Are Prime Ministers,’ Jacinda Ardern Tells Reporter; Ukrainian Women Are Vital in Fight Against Russia

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

This week: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern makes a male reporter shrink into a ball of shame; a new school is training women to fly drones—a key component to Ukraine’s resistance against Russian forces; an all-women referee trio for the first time at the World Cup;

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Colorado Elects Majority-Women Legislature; Karen Bass, LA’s First Woman Mayor

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

This week: 2022 midterms will be a status quo election for women in Congress; federal candidates and political committees are projected to spend $8.9 billion this election cycle; Ruwa Romman, 29, makes history as the first Muslim woman elected to the Georgia House; Los Angeles, the second largest city in the U.S., has elected Representative Karen Bass to be its first-ever woman mayor; and more.