Women in Biden-Harris Leadership

The Best Birthday Gift for Trump? Voting in Every 2025 Election

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

This week:
—2025 is often considered an off-year for elections, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
—Washington, D.C., is the site of dueling images: Pride and Trump’s alleged celebration of U.S. military might.
—Hannah Pingree has joined the crowded Democratic field for governor in Maine.
—U.S. Rep Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) will join Virginia’s Abigail Spanberger as Democratic nominees for governor in races leaning toward Democrats.
—San Antonio elects Gina Ortiz Jones as mayor.
—Ranked-choice voting is a women’s issue.

… and more!

From Reckoning to Backlash, Black Women Reflect on the Stakes of the Moment

In 2020, the killing of George Floyd shocked Americans into action and into the streets by the millions, protesting the unrelenting killing of Black people by police. 

The moment sparked a nascent reckoning in America around systemic racism and institutional inequality—in many cases, with Black women at the center. Already the backbone of our democracy, many were called on to also be a bridge to racial healing.

Five years later, many of these same Black women find themselves at the center of a backlash, confronted with attacks on the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that were previously championed.

From Biden’s Cabinet to the Crisis Council: Isabel Guzman on AI, DEI, Elon Musk—and What Real Leadership Looks Like

Isabel Guzman previously served as the 27th administrator of the Small Business Administration under President Biden and was the fifth Latina woman to serve in the Cabinet. She cites serving in Biden’s Cabinet, which was majority-women and the most diverse Cabinet in U.S. history, as ‘humbling’ and an “honor.”

Since leaving the Biden administration, Guzman is now on the frontlines of corporate leadership, helping CEOs confront the reputational dangers of AI, DEI and disinformation. Guzman recently sat down with RepresentWomen’s digital media manager Ria Deshmukh to speak about her transformative journey through the public and private sectors. This is her first in-depth interview since finishing her tenure as the SBA administrator, providing a multifaceted perspective of life as a woman leader in public service and business development.

“The most critical moments in my career have been when I’ve taken myself out of my comfort zone.”

“Women need to continue to be bold about their worth and their value for inclusion.”

‘This Work Is Not at the Fringe’: What It Was Like to Lead the White House Gender Policy Council

Jennifer Klein, head of the first-of-its-kind office, reflects on the wins and the challenges—most notably, the end of federal abortion rights.

Gender equity isn’t simply good for women, she stressed, but good for America, good for the world. “If you look at the data, there is a well-established link between political stability and the treatment of women,” she said, making gender equity essential for national security. 

Ms. Magazine’s Top Feminists of 2024

From top athletes, to community activists, to badass lawmakers, here are our 25 picks for the top U.S. feminists of 2024, and two of the best things they did or said.

Featuring: Kamala Harris, the 27 women who sued the state of Texas for its abortion ban in Zurawski v. Texas, Sarah McBride, abortion providers and funders, Black women voters, Jasmine Crockett, South Carolina’s “Sister Senators” and more.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland Advances Healing and Justice for Indigenous Peoples

and

On Friday, Oct. 25, at Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, President Joseph Biden delivered a formal apology on behalf of the United States to an assembly of Native American leaders for the genocidal impact of 150 years of U.S. Indian boarding schools, which sought to erase Indigenous people, culture and languages.

“I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we did,” said President Biden. “It’s long overdue.”

This apology came as a result of years of work by Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of New Mexico’s Laguna Pueblo. The U.S. Department of the Interior oversees U.S. relations to American Indians, Native Alaskans and Native Hawaiians.

Biden Administration Releases First-Ever Report on Diversity in Federal Government

The human resources arm of the federal government has released its first-ever report on diversity across the federal workforce. The 31-page document breaks down hiring and retention across agencies and gives a snapshot of the administration’s efforts to remove barriers for applicants from underrepresented communities. It’s an area where the federal government has historically struggled.

The government can’t change what it doesn’t measure, said Dr. Janice Underwood, director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) at the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

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.

Keeping Score: Spain to Offer Paid Menstrual Leave; U.S. Soccer Teams Score Pay Equity; Taliban Dissolves Human Rights Commission

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in in this biweekly round-up.

This week: Spanish Cabinet approves paid sick leave for employees with menstrual pain; Lisa Cook becomes first Black woman on Federal Reserve board; baby formula shortage concerns U.S. parents; Oklahoma and Louisiana advance unprecedented abortion bans; Taliban dissolves nation’s human rights commission; American voters support upholding Roe v. Wade; America left reeling after back-to-back mass shootings; and more.