By Sarah Lassberg, WOW Dems President
Sarah Lassberg
As we mark one year of the Covid-19 pandemic, in which women are the most affected, we’re also celebrating March as Women’s History Month. This is a time in which we examine the women of the past, women who literally redefined and changed our world, as well as the women who are presently creating history.
And make history we have, especially during this pandemic. At the end of last year, Harvard Business Review published an article showing research proving women were better leaders during a crisis. One study found outcomes related to Covid-19, including the number of cases and deaths, were systematically better in women-led countries. Examples are Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand; Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany; Sanna Marin, prime minister of Finland; and, Tsai Ing-wen, president of Taiwan. Another study looked at governors in the U.S. and similarly found that states with female leaders had lower fatality rates.
In addition to managing the virus better, women are also leading the charge on creating the vaccine. Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, a viral immunologist and research fellow in the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Health, is one of the scientists at Moderna developing the vaccine. Kathrin Jansen, Ph.D., is a senior vice president and head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer.
Stacey Abrams led the charge to create voting equity in Georgia. Because of her efforts, we will be getting Covid-19 relief passed in the Senate by the two Democrats she helped get elected and the tie-breaker, Vice President Kamala Harris. Vice President Harris was the first woman and the first African-American attorney general in California. She then became the first Indian-American woman elected to the Senate in 2017. The 19th Amendment, which said the vote shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or by any state on account of sex, was ratified 100 years before she was elected the first woman, first African-American and first Asian-American Vice President of the United States. Considering how often we’ve had to prove we belong at the top, those dates are all entirely too late, especially since we’ve been pharaohs, queens, empresses, czarinas, and the most successful and feared pirates around the world for thousands of years.
Being an empowered woman, Vice President Harris chose to empower other women during this month and shared the story of Frances Perkins, who, in 1933, made history as the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. Secretary Perkins spent 12 years as the longest-serving Secretary of Labor. The horror of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory disaster was her catalyst for positive change, and she became an American workers-rights advocate, helping implement social security, unemployment insurance, a federal minimum wage, huge advances in workplace safety, and an end to child labor.
Women have always been at the forefront of science, from Hypatia to Katherine Johnson to Katie Bouman. One of the best ways we can help each other is through uplifting and empowering each other with best practices, amplifying successes, building relationships, and learning more about the women that build and run our communities.
Join WOW Dems in the fight for empowerment.