Garrett to Women Officials Network: "Now is your time, ladies"

"The country is ready for your leadership."

Shannon Garrett, Great Lakes Regional Director of The White House Project, traveled from snowy Grand Rapids to deliver that message Thursday to the Women Officials Network at a gathering in Bloomfield Hills. She cited The White House Project's study evaluating six years' worth of polling data, which showed overwhelming majority support for the idea of women in leadership.

In a 2008 Pew Research Center survey, Americans overwhelmingly said women and men would make equally good leaders, but rated women superior to men in most characteristics they value in a leader, such as honesty, creativeness, outgoingness and compassion. Women were rated equal to men as hard-working and ambitious. Men only came out on top in one area: decisiveness.

Still, women are under-represented in leadership positions, across the board. The White House Project's study "Benchmarking Women's Leadership" shows women hold an average 18 percent of leadership positions across 10 sectors. "The numbers of women of color who are leading are depressingly small," Garrett added.

Why do numbers matter? "They matter because we need more than token representation. We need a critical mass of women," she said.

When one woman breaks the gender barrier, Garrett explained, she is seen as the "first and only," expected to represent all things to all people. A stark example of this was seen in a study of political races.

"When one woman is in the race," she said, "the focus is on the three Hs: Hair, Hemlines and Husbands. When two women are running, it was represented as a 'cat fight'. But when you get three women in a race, it screws everything up. They don't know how to handle it."

The result: Rather than seeing candidates through a gender lens, their agendas get coverage. The White House Project works to see movement in that direction in business, politics and all sectors of American society.

"We need to move beyond gender to agenda," Garrett said. "We want to see women serving alongside men."

That doesn't happen, at least in equal numbers, in the area where TWHP focuses most of its attention: political leadership. Today, the Michigan State Legislature has the highest ever percentage of women serving in the House and Senate: 25 percent.

"That number could go down dramatically next year," Garrett said. "All nine women in the Senate will be gone in 2011. We need a volume of women stepping into the pipeline...I don't really care what party you're from, I just want women moving up the political ladder."

In 2010, Michigan's leadership will be transformed, with all four constitutional offices - governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state - up for grabs, along with two seats on the State Supreme Court and five dozen state lawmakers.

"Half of the 2011 legislature could be rookies," Garrett said. "That's the largest infusion of new blood since the Depression. Now is your time, ladies."

To encourage more women to run, The White House Project offers Michigan Go Run training, an intensive weekend of wokshops that provide women with the skills they need, from fund-raising to public speaking. Several alumni were in attendance, including Anne Doyle, the highest vote-getter in this year's Auburn Hills city council election and Maureen McGinnis, also top vote-getter in this year's Troy city council election. Garrett said the next training will be held in the spring of 2010. Debate Boot Camp, another offering, shows women how to tell their story, an important part of running for office, Garrett said.

She concluded by asking WON members and guests to do three things: 

• "I'm asking you - I'm begging you - to continue leading. Don't let the hard decisions scare you away, depress you or keep you from running for office."
• "Support women candidates. I don't mean vote for women just because they're women. I'm asking you to help create an culture that supports other women."
• "Invite more women to run. Use your stature and visibility to encourage more women to run for office."

Learn more about The White House Project.

Support Michigan Women's Forum publisher Joni Hubred-Golden's fund-raising campaign for The White House Project in Michigan.