Even though African American women are among the most highly-educated populations in the United States, there is a lack of support for their potential to attain leadership positions in organizations, including the government sector. It is essential to analyze the available programs and organizations that have been aiming to address the issue. Such programs include Polished Pebbles and Teach a Girl to Lead while the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) while White House Council on Women and Girl leadership are the organizations are the agencies that deal with helping the target group of women to become successful leaders.
Polished Pebbles is an Illinois Gold Star-rated program of mentorship based in Chicago, the aim of which is to increase the employability and communication skills of young women for them to be prepared for the future workplace. The organization has worked in several states with over four thousand African-American and Latina girls by offering more than five hundred mentors in more than a hundred schools (Polished Pebbles, 2020).
The importance of the program lies in the special attention given to girls of color, who are statistically more likely to experience childhood trauma, sexual abuse, and trafficking, which may divert them from school and limit adulthood opportunities (YWCA, 2017). While Polished Pebbles does not set the goal to encourage African American women’s participation in governmental leadership roles, the organization has built partnerships with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, the University of Chicago, and iHeart Radio ComEd to provide mentors and professional relationships for women of color.
The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) is a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (CAWP, 2020). It has been recognized nationally as the primary source of academic studies regarding women’s leadership and involvement in US politics. The mission of the organization is to enable a more in-depth understanding of women’s roles in the political sphere, increase their influence on public life, as well as broaden the diversity of women in governmental leadership roles. The programs initiated by the organization have been essential in promoting diverse women’s experiences and education in leadership positions through intersectional, practical, and imaginative approaches (CAWP, 2020).
The organization is important for helping African American women gain more opportunities to hold leadership positions at governmental institutions. CAWP has fifty years of analyzing and interpreting women’s involvement in American politics and has offered a framework and context for discussion (CAWP, 2021). It is the Institute for Women’s Leadership (IWL) member and aimed to make females in governmental leadership seen. Education and training through such programs as the Vising Program in Practical Politics and the NEW Leadership enabled increased women of color participation in politics. Women involved in CAWP-initiated programs have run for elective office, gained positions at the appointive office, worked on electoral campaigns, and were involved in social and political life in other ways.
Teach a Girl to Lead (TAG) is a CAWP-initiated project intended for inspiring girls and young women to learn from the examples of women leaders, both past and contemporary. The goal of the project is to make the leadership of women visible to the growing generations of the United States to help both boys and girls develop as individuals within an environment of inclusivity (UN Women, 2017). TAG has been created to be used by educators, the leaders of youth-serving groups, and media outlets targeting young audiences and their parents who are considered the first and the most effective teachers.
The programs offered within the framework of the project occur in various states and have different goals and orientations, such as the focus on civic leadership, general leadership skills, and knowledge, and educational leadership, including both female-targeted and gender-neutral initiatives (TAG, 2021).
Finally, the White House Council on Women and Girls was created by President Obama’s executive order. The council’s aim at ensure that the needs of diverse girls and women are met when it comes to equity advancement (Klein & Reynoso, 2021). It involves the participation of multiple stakeholders from federal, private, and philanthropic sectors who work on creating more ladders of opportunity for all citizens. It is notable that under President Trump’s administration, the council has not been working to the full extent, which limited its previous success at helping diverse women overcome the limitations of leadership and is currently being addressed by Biden’s administration (Gupta, 2021).
To conclude, there are currently several initiatives that work on helping African-American women become better prepared for capturing positions of leadership. Although not all of them are focused on leadership in the governmental sector, their role is fundamental in helping the population their target overcome the limitations associated with gender and racial bias, education barriers, socioeconomic challenges, as well as trauma, and abuse. However, there is still a lack of resources and programs with the specific aim of advancing African-American women’s leadership in governmental positions, although the change in administration could lead to some developments in such an area.
References
CAWP. (2020). About CAWP. Web.
CAWP. (2021). Center for American Women and Politics funds research projects to identify and address barriers and opportunities to women’s political power. Web.
Gupta, A. (2021). Biden signs executive order to advance gender equity. The New York Times. Web.
Klein, J., & Reynoso, J. (2021). The White House gender policy council: A message from the co-chairs. Web.
Polished Pebbles. (2020). About us. Web.
TAG. (2021). Programs & places. Web.
UN Women. (2017). Strengthening young women’s leadership. Web.
YWCA. (2017). Girls of color and trauma. Web.