With November’s election looming in the United States, who will be in power is on most of our minds. The election represents a critical window to increase female representation throughout government. Beyond the presidency, women are vying for 21 seats in the Senate, 240 districts in 49 states in the House, seven governorships, and many other elected offices.
Why is increasing representation of qualified women in government so important? In a recent report by The Bridgespan Group, Illuminating Impact: Why Gender Matters for Funders in Any Issue Area, we discuss how paying attention to gender balances and biases can reveal broad-based opportunities for philanthropic impact. Supporting women leaders is one of our top recommendations, based on that research.
Importantly, getting women into positions where they can shape decisions is not just for “gender funders.” As Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Open Society Foundations President Binaifer Nowrojee write, “Ensuring that women have political power and are equally represented in decision-making is not only morally right; it also yields practical benefits.”
We’d like to offer some insights on why funders should consider getting behind women leaders in government and beyond—and how they can go about doing it.
Women Leaders Make a Difference
Women decision-makers in rooms of power can influence outcomes in any issue area.
Take climate: Countries with a bigger share of women in legislative bodies are more likely to ratify environmental treaties and adopt policies that address climate change. And companies with more women on their boards are more likely to prioritize improving energy efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and investing in renewable energy.
Or consider health: Across countries, more women in government leadership is associated with an increase in public health spending and a decrease in the gender gap in life expectancies.
The benefits of women in leadership roles are apparent across sectors, too. In business, for instance, women leaders “help increase productivity, enhance collaboration, inspire organizational dedication, and improve fairness,” reports the American Psychological Association. What’s more, businesses where more than 30 percent of leaders are women are more likely to perform better than organizations with less balanced leadership by gender.
Within the pool of female leaders, leaders of color offer distinctive strengths, including greater comfort leading collaboratively and a greater likelihood to employ out-of-the-box thinking.
The Glass Ceiling Remains in Place
It’s disappointing but not surprising that women continue to be underrepresented in leadership roles across sectors. While representation has been inching up at less senior levels, women comprise just 14 percent of head of state and head of government positions globally, 10 percent of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, and 22 percent of CEOs of US-based nonprofits with annual budgets of $50 million or more.
Underrepresentation is especially stark for women of color. Consider that they represent 20 percent of the US population but hold only 4 percent of C-suite roles.
How Funders Can Help
As you define your strategies for impact on the issues you care about, consider who is making decisions and how your strategies can supportwomen to increasingly play a role. Of her investments in political leaders, Melinda French Gates explains, “I’m trying to look at the whole chain for women and make sure they run, they get elected and wow, then they govern effectively from day one.”
There are many ways to ensure you are centering women’s leadership your giving, but we’ll highlight a few key ways here.
Support Leadership Pipelines for Women
Help pave the way for more women to assume leadership positions by providing supports to individuals, such as funding fellowships, or making structural investments, such as changing institutions and policies.
For example, among other things, Co-Impact’s Gender Fund invests in advancing women’s leadership in the domains of law and economics. Given the influence of these domains on national priorities, policies, and resource allocation, and the significant underrepresentation of women in decision-making roles in key institutions, Co-Impact supports institutional change so more women can enter into, thrive in, and rise to leadership positions with influence, voice, and agency.
Support Women Leaders to Stay and Thrive
Steadfast funder support is critical to women as they pursue and assume new leadership roles. This is particularly true for women of color, given the differential challenges — such as increased philanthropic fundraising expectations and needing to prove leadership capabilities with minimal support — they face. Valuable supports include: maintaining grants through leadership transitions; providing unrestricted grants that give new leaders running room; offering access to platforms and networks to increase connections and elevate profiles; and funding mentorship, executive coaching, and well-being activities like sabbaticals.
Amina Doherty, feminist and women’s rights advocate and an inaugural fellow in Black Women in Executive Leadership (or B-WEL), said, “B-WEL is the first time I shared community with other Black women leaders at the executive leadership level who were grappling with many of my same questions and who felt safe enough to share solutions together.”
Other crucial areas for support include investments in improving caregiving options, shifting gender norms, and addressing gender-based hostility — including online harassment, which poses a significant barrier to women stepping into public roles.
Left to the status quo, our systems and society are built to keep the current face of our decision-making rooms in place. To change it will require intentional work by us all.
Debby Bielak is a partner in Bridgespan’s San Francisco office. Nidhi Sahni is a Bridgespan Group partner and Head of Advisory in the U.S. The authors thank Cynthia Phoel for her editorial support on this piece.
