Hello! My name is Ashton Barry and I’m the Director of Sales at Quorum, a public affairs software company based in DC. I’ve been a member of WGR for nearly 10 years and am currently lucky enough to serve as a member of the WGR board and liaison for the Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to sponsor and participate in PWIA this year.
In line with this year’s theme of “Women First”, I wanted to share a few highlights from data in Quorum that really speak to all of the historic firsts I know we will continue to see:
A number of newly elected freshmen legislators in the 117th Congress represent firsts — including but by no means limited to: Cori Bush, the first black Congresswoman from Missouri, Yvette Herrell, the first Native American GOP woman elected to the House, and Young Kim, Michelle Steel, and Marilyn Strickland, the first Korean American women elected to Congress.
15 of 24 current female senators are the first women to represent their state in the upper chamber.
A record-tying number of women are serving simultaneously as governor — 4 of the 9 female governors across the US are the first woman to serve in that role for their state
And of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our first female VPOTUS, Kamala Harris.
While we’re celebrating firsts, I’d like to talk about a few successful strategies we’ve seen client’s use in their advocacy efforts, particularly when working to engage with the 51% (according to 2020 Census data) of the electorate made up of women. It’s my sincere hope that sooner rather than later, this concept of ' ‘firsts' ' becomes the norm; women in these positions of influence and impact will become *almost* a commonplace occurrence (still worth celebrating nonetheless). We have a long way to go, but here are a few ways to start:
Include Your Inclusion and Diversity Goals Alongside Business Goals: Talk about your I&D goals in the same conversations as your sales goals and business metrics to keep them top of mind.
Meeting Numbers: Are you taking meetings with a representative sample of women legislators?
PAC Donations: Are a representative sample of your PAC donations going to female candidates?
Diversity in Your Storytelling: When you’re engaging advocates for stories to share with legislators and staff in order to discuss your issue, make sure you’re sharing diverse voices.
If you have more ideas, I’d love to learn about them!
WGR’s annual Professional Women in Advocacy Conference provides professional development and leadership training to women in all areas of advocacy. To learn more, click here.
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Hello! My name is Ashton Barry and I’m the Director of Sales at