A world where there are fewer leaders named John
Today, the race for Republican Senate Majority Leader is between three men named John. Until last year, there were more CEOs named John, Jon, or James than there were female CEOs in the U.S. On this International Women’s Day, I’m thinking about how getting more women into leadership positions will accelerate critical changes that are needed in today’s world.
Let’s face it, the numbers are short of ideal. In the U.S., women earn only 82% of what men do. When you look at our political landscape, it’s overwhelmingly dominated by men. At the federal and state levels, about 70% of our leaders are men. Nevada is the only state that’s reached parity, with women representing 60% of the legislature. On the other end of the spectrum, it’s bleak. West Virginia ranks lowest in the country with only 11.9% women in the legislature and Tennessee, South Carolina, and Mississippi hover around 15%. Globally, the landscape isn’t any better. Only 26 countries have women at the helm, with just three countries reaching gender parity in local government.
Advancing gender equity is pivotal for success across all sectors, but progress has been slow. Sustainable Development Goal 5 aims for gender equality by 2030, yet we’re failing women and girls. At this rate, it will take 140 years to achieve equal representation in leadership in the workplace, and a whopping 286 years to erase legal gaps and discriminatory laws.
We’ve got a huge chance to speed up progress. In 2024, more than four billion people will have the chance to vote in more than 50 elections around the world. This election year could mean a big boost for women political leaders worldwide.
Here’s the deal: The challenges in today’s world continue to outpace the solutions, and unfortunately, they almost all disproportionately affect women, whether it’s new issues like Artificial Intelligence or old issues like reproductive rights. And when women aren’t at the table for the policy discussions on these issues, their perspectives aren’t represented.
Like any new technology, AI can accelerate or hinder social progress. It boils down to who’s shaping the decisions around access, use, and regulations. In the first year of an AI world, we have seen a massive increase in “deepfakes,” which are usually nonconsensual pornography, mostly targeting women. There are about 10,000 websites dedicated to this garbage — part of the larger problem of online image-based sexual violence.
Bodily autonomy and reproductive rights are essential for equality, yet in the U.S., these rights are moving in the wrong direction. Imagine if we had women holding an equal number of political seats, and you realize immediately there is no way we would be in this position.
As a woman-founded, owned, and led organization, Panorama is intentional about raising visibility on gender-related issues. We’re focused on increasing women’s political leadership through The Ascend Fund; combatting image-based sexual violence through The Reclaim Coalition, and, in partnership with Kati Collective, are working to raise awareness of the intersection of data privacy, digital rights, and reproductive rights, prioritizing women’s autonomy.
On this International Women’s Day, I challenge everyone to think about what role they can play — whether time, money, or talking to your friends — to help elect qualified, action-oriented women leaders at every level of government, and ensure a diversity of voices — and names — are heard.
