#CelebrateHER

Photo credit: Executive Office of the Mayor // Khalid Naji-Allah

Women’s suffrage changed the course of history and put our country on a better path.

Now here we are — almost 100 years after the 19th Amendment became law — celebrating the progress our country has made and recognizing how far we still have left to go.

Earlier this year, I saw the fruits of our struggle in the faces of the thousands of women who marched alongside me during the Women’s March on Washington.

What I told them then, still rings true for each of us tonight.

When we speak up for families and education, when we speak up for climate change and health care; we need every woman and every man to speak up for us, too.

And you know what else we need?

We need the federal government to leave us alone.

Because, I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of being told what women should think and how women should feel about the health care choices they make.

I’m tired of the same old rhetoric that suggests women should simply accept whatever is handed to them.

If the months since Election Day have reminded us of anything, it’s that women aren’t puppets for political posturing.

We are leaders and independent thinkers.

We are trendsetters and the makers of our own destiny.

So, now more than ever, we need to lean in for each other.

Our city and this country need our creativity, our ingenuity, and our guidance.

So, tomorrow, maybe you can mentor another woman who’s striving to climb the corporate ladder. Next week, you can encourage your company to rethink its equity policies.

And all year, you can celebrate the amazing stories of women who have already changed the game and are knocking down the walls of inequity.

Are you with me?

I want you to know that here in DC, we’re doing our part to ensure that women of every background and every walk of life are treated like active participants — not bystanders.

My team and I are committed to giving every woman a fair shot and helping them secure a pathway to the middle class.

That starts with jobs, education, and opportunities for entrepreneurship.
It starts with health care and affordable childcare options.

And it starts with me.

Photo credit: Executive Office of the Mayor // Khalid Naji-Allah

When I first took the oath of office as Mayor, I vowed to lead and chart a better, brighter path forward for our great city.

I promised to make our growing prosperity more inclusive.

And I knew I needed women — the most talented and dedicated women — to serve alongside me and get the job done.

Because I know that the pathway to building a bolder, greener, healthier, smarter, safer, and stronger DC means making sure everyone has a voice at the table.

Today, I am proud that women serve as my Senior Advisor, as three of my five Deputy Mayors, and as more than half of my appointees.

This commitment to having a diversity of voices has helped us level the playing field for women and girls, and it’s helped them lean in for each other and support our collective success.

Photo credit: Executive Office of the Mayor // Khalid Naji-Allah

When it comes to jobs and employment, we have some good news for women in DC — the District has one of the lowest gender wage gaps in the nation and for three years in a row we have been ranked the number one city in the U.S. for women in tech. However, there is still progress to be made. While our wage gap is smaller than in most states, a 14 percent gap is still far from gender equity, isn’t it? And we know that for women of color the gap is even wider.

That’s why right now we are finalizing a policy that will ensure that in DC Government we hire candidates based on their qualifications — not their salary history. It’s also why we are empowering women to get involved and stay involved, to negotiate for higher salaries, and to advocate for better policies.

Last year, we partnered with BEACON, a DC Women’s Founders Initiative, to award grants that support DC-based women entrepreneurs.

During our #InnoMAYtion Hackathon, we hosted workshops and events focused on the advancement of women and youth in STEM.

Since coming into office, my Administration has awarded more than $1.8 million in funding to women-owned small businesses, helping ensure that our economy is representative of our community.

Through our WorkSmart Salary Negotiation Workshops, we’ve equipped more than 550 women with the tools and techniques they need to negotiate for equal salaries.

And by 2021, our goal is to reach at least 15,000 more women.

Additionally, our Fresh Start Wednesdays program is empowering women across DC — including 450 women in Wards 7 and 8 — with the tools they need to jump-start their careers and thrive in the workplace.

Photo credit: Executive Office of the Mayor // Khalid Naji-Allah

And as we strive to protect the rights of women in the workplace, we’re also committed to protecting their right to make health care decisions that work for them and their families instead of ones that work for the men on Capitol Hill.

You know — the ones who think they know us better than we know ourselves.

I stand by the principle that women should not be fired or demoted for the reproductive health decisions they make.

That’s why one of the first bills I signed as Mayor was the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act.

Ensuring that every mother can give her child the opportunity to thrive is a driving force behind everything we do.

In DC, we value giving every child, in every neighborhood the opportunity to succeed and we know that this work must start at a very early age.

So, from toddlers to teens, we are making investments in our young people.

Photo credit: Executive Office of the Mayor // Khalid Naji-Allah

Last year, we announced our new Reign initiative at DCPS. Through Reign, we will build community, confidence, and leadership skills in young women of color so that they go through school knowing what you and I already know — our young women are incredibly talented, incredibly smart, and they are the future leaders of our city and our country.
In our most recent budget, we invested $1.6 billion in public education …it is the single largest investment in public education ever made in our city’s history.
Additionally, with our new teachers’ contract, we are ensuring that not only are we treating our teachers right, we are making sure students in Washington, DC will continue to have the most qualified, most passionate, and most caring teachers in the country.

Of course, we know that our schools cannot do it alone. We know that if we want our children to succeed in the classroom, we must set them up for success by ensuring that their families have safe and affordable places to call home.

That’s why I continue to make unprecedented investments in building and preserving affordable housing, helping our seniors age in place so that they can continue to live and thrive in DC, and making the investments necessary to end homelessness in the District of Columbia.

When our mothers and grandmothers succeed, our young Washingtonians succeed.

Photo credit: Executive Office of the Mayor // Khalid Naji-Allah

As we strive to do better for ourselves and the young girls and women who look up to us, our voices and ideas must continue to be heard. And please remember that leaning in for each other means ignoring the critics who tell you you’re wrong to want what you deserve, it means speaking up for the causes that matter to you most, and it means making your goals and expectations clear. So tonight, can you promise me one thing? Can you promise you’ll do your part to help us lean in for each other?

Will you organize a group of women and attend one of the salary negotiation workshops I mentioned?

Will you mentor a fellow entrepreneur who’s struggling to get her business off the ground?

Will you help a young student fill out her application for college?
The only way for us to truly move forward is for us to do it together.

I am proud to stand with you on this night and every night as we keep fighting for everything that matters to us and our families.

It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as Mayor of my hometown.
When I think about everything you and I have accomplished, it makes me immensely proud.

Let’s keep fighting the good fight, together.

For news and updates from the Executive Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser follow@MayorBowser on Twitter.

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Mayor Muriel Bowser

Written by

Official Account of the Mayor of Washington, DC

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