Leadership Circle
Representation 2020's Leadership Circle provides regular guidance on our programs and publications and meets at least once a year to discuss our work and progress.
Marni Allen
Marni Allen is the Director of Political Parity and Deputy to Ambassador Swanee Hunt, the Eleanor Roosevelt Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and president of Hunt Alternatives. She leads the Parity team’s efforts to dramatically increase women’s political representation and provides strategic direction to Ambassador Hunt, including her partisan political activities. Ms. Allen has a background in urban policy, nonprofit management, and women's political engagement, and has served in leadership roles on several nonprofit boards in Boston.
Megan Beyer
Megan Beyer is a communications and strategic advisor advocating for women in the economy. She is a regular panelist on the national PBS program, To the Contrary, and speaks at national and international conferences on women’s issues. Beyer advises on communications and strategic partnerships for a range of national and international women’s organizations. In 2009 the DC Chapter of Girls, Inc. honored her for helping to build an equitable society.
Martha Burk
Martha Burk is a political psychologist, money editor of Ms. Magazine, and Co-Founder of the Center for Advancement of Public Policy, which promotes democratic management of corporations and governments and an end to discrimination. Dr. Burk is also the Director of the Corporate Accountability Project for the National Council of Women’s Organizations, a non-partisan network of over 240 women’s groups, and served as Chair from 2000-2005. She is highly active in the public policy debate, appearing on over a dozen national news shows and many major national newspapers, in addition to hosting her own public radio show, Equal Time. Dr. Burk’s latest book, published in 2012, is Your Voice, Your Vote: The Savvy Woman's Guide to Power, Politics, and the Change We Need.
Kathleen Drew
Kathleen Drew is a former Democratic Washington State Senator, representing the 5th District from 1993-1997. During her time in office, she authored the Ethics in Public Service law and helped improve the state’s higher education system. Ms. Drew also served for six years as a state policy advisor, and ran to be Washington’s Secretary of State in 2012.
Brenda Choresi Carter
Brenda Choresi Carter is the Campaign Director for the Women Donor Network's strategic initiative focused on creating a reflective democracy, which seeks to build a democracy that truly reflects its population. She is an organizer and strategist with over a decade of experience in the labor movement, electoral politics, and policy. She earned a Ph.D in American Studies from Yale University, where she led two strikes by teaching and research assistants, challenging poor working conditions and threats to academic freedom. In addition to her organizing work, Dr. Carter teaches courses on work, culture, and the economy at Brown University.
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Heidi Hartmann
Heidi Hartmann is the President of the Washington-based Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR), a scientific research organization that she founded in 1987 to meet the need for women-centered, policy-oriented research. Dr. Hartmann lectures internationally on women, economics, and public policy; frequently testifies before the U.S. Congress; and is often cited as an authority in various media outlets, such as CNN, ABC News, The New York Times, and PBS NewsHour. She also serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the National Council of Women’s Organizations and Editor of the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, and served as the Chair of the Board of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
Barbara Klein
Barbara Klein is the President of the League of Women Voters of Arizona, a nonpartisan, grassroots network devoted to improving democracy and advocating for political issues in Arizona. She has worked with the League for more than 10 years, serving as the state election reform chair focusing on Clean Elections, Merit Selection Retention of Judges, redistricting and election systems as well as moderating debates, drafting Voter Guide language, and delivering many types of presentations and League services. She also serves on the board of the LWV Phoenix Metro League.
Celinda Lake
Celinda Lake is one of the Democratic Party's leading political strategists, serving as a tactician and senior advisor to the national party committees, dozens of Democratic incumbents, and challengers at all levels of the electoral process. Celinda and her firm are known for cutting-edge research on issues including the economy, healthcare, the environment, and education, and have worked for a number of institutions including the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Governor's Association (DGA), Next Generation, AFL-CIO, SEIU, AFSCME, NEA, AFT, IAFF, Sierra Club, EcoAmerica, Planned Parenthood, Human Rights Campaign, EMILY's List, the KaiserFamily Foundation, and the RWJ Foundation. Her work has also taken her to advise fledgling democratic parties in several post-war Eastern European countries, including Ukraine, and South Africa. In 2008, Celinda worked as a pollster for Vice President Biden.
Paula Lee
Paula Lee has been an active member and leader in the League of Women Voters since 1994 in California. As a League leader, she focuses primarily on education about electoral reforms to encourage more civic participation, represent more voters and provide more opportunities for women to get elected. Those reforms include Proportional Representation, Instant Runoff Voting and the National Popular Vote for president. She currently serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors and Legislative Director for Californians for Electoral Reform. Paula is also a member of California Women’s LEAD, committed to encouraging and training women to be leaders in their communities and run for elected office. Paula is a violence prevention educator and child sexual abuse prevention trainer, founder of PreventionWORKS.
Laura Liswood
Laura Liswood is the Founder and Secretary General of the Council of Women World Leaders, as well as a Senior Advisor for investment firm Goldman Sachs. Ms. Liswood founded the Council of Women World Leaders, which provides a network for connecting and advocating for women leaders, with President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland in 1996. A nationally prominent speaker and advocate, Ms. Liswood served from 1992 to 1996 as director of the Women’s Leadership project, identifying contributions by women leaders, which are recognized in her 1996 book and documentary Women World Leaders. Her most recent book, The Loudest Duck (2010) focuses on how to improve workplace diversity. Ms. Liswood has also held management positions in the airline industry, and was a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group.
Onida Coward Mayers
Onida Coward Mayers is an award-winning Communications Executive and the Director for New York City’s Voter Assistance at the Campaign Finance Board (CFB). For the past 10 years, Ms. Coward Mayers has directed strategic voter outreach, policy, and vision planning for one of the largest voting populations in the United States. In her capacity at the CFB, Ms. Coward Mayers led the launch of the nonpartisan NYC Votes Program aimed at increasing voter awareness, education, and participation. In 2013, she led New York
City to place second in the United States for highest number of people
registered in a single day. Ms. Coward Mayers is also an Adjunct Professor of Public Speaking for the City University of New York.
Amalia Perez
Amalia Perez is a sophomore at Brown University where she writes for the Brown Political Review. A native of Maryland, Amalia served in student government at Montgomery Blair High School and volunteered at CASA de Maryland.
Jamie Raskin
Jamie Raskin is a Maryland Democratic State Senator, representing Takoma Park and Silver Spring. Elected in 2006, Mr. Raskin has passed nearly 50 bills on issues ranging from the environment to consumer rights, and has been named one of the most influential lawmakers in Maryland. He helped pass the nation’s first National Popular Vote law, which calls for an interstate compact requiring states to cast their Electoral College votes for the winner of the national popular vote. Mr. Raskin is also a constitutional law professor at American University’s Washington School of Law.
Shauna Shames
Shauna Shames is a Ph.D. Candidate in American Government at Harvard University. Her primary area of academic interest is American political behavior, with a focus on race, gender, and politics. Shames has published articles, reports, and book chapters on women as candidates, black women in Congress, comparative child care policy, work/family conflict, abortion, feminism in the U.S. and internationally, gay and lesbian rights, and U.S. public opinion. She has also designed and taught courses (as an instructor and as a teaching fellow/assistant) on race, class, gender, American politics, women's studies, the history of feminism, and has lectured widely on gender, race, and politics.
Kate Stewart
Kate Stewart currently serves on the Takoma Park City Council and is a Principal in the communications firm ConwayStrategic. Kate brings expertise and wealth of public opinion research, policy, and communications to assisting reproductive rights, heath and justice organizations. Before joining ConwayStrategic, Kate served as the Executive Vice President for Advocates for Youth, where she crafted the organization's policy and communications strategies, developed messaging, and helped shape the ground-breaking 1in3 Campaign. Kate’s work has advanced the goals of many organizations, including the Ford Foundation, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, the Illinois Education Association, and many others.
Erin Vilardi
Erin Vilardi is the Founder and Executive Director of VoteRunLead, a US organization leveraging technology and training to accelerate the number of women in political leadership. She has served as a Leadership Development Consultant for a range of clients including Fortune 100 companies, global girls' initiatives, and the U.S. Department of State, reaching women leaders in a dozen international cities. Vilardi serves on the Advisory Board of Girl Meets World, Democracy.com, the New American Leaders Project, and is the New York Delegate for Vision2020, a 50-state initiative to increase women in leadership. She has appeared on CNN, BBC, and Fox News, and her work has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine and in numerous international and domestic publications on women, politics, and leadership.
Susannah Wellford
Susannah Wellford is a lawyer and founder of two organizations designed to raise the political voice of young women in America. In spring 2007, Ms. Wellford founded Running Start to inspire young women and girls to political leadership. Running Start furthers the work begun by the Women Under Forty Political Action Committee (WUFPAC), which Susannah cofounded in 1999 and led for the first five years. WUFPAC is a national women’s group dedicated to electing young women to political office. Ms. Wellford speaks frequently to colleges, law schools, political groups, trade associations and nonprofits about the importance of involving more young women in politics. She has also lectured about politics to many international groups, including women from Kuwait, Southeast Asia, Korea, Bahrain and Russia.
Marie Wilson
Marie Wilson is the Founder and former President of the White House Project, an organization that advocated for women’s leadership positions and ultimately for the presidency, in addition to conducting significant research on women in media, politics, and business. Ms. Wilson is a co-creator of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (started 1993), and served as the head of the Ms. Foundation for Women, a national advocacy group dedicated to fighting for women’s rights, which created the Marie C. Wilson Leadership Fund in honor of her achievements. In addition to being a renowned speaker, writer, and leader in the women’s rights movement, Ms. Wilson has the distinction of being the first woman elected to the Des Moines City Council as a member at large, in 1983.
Joseph Zimmerman
Joseph Zimmerman is a political science professor at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy of the University at Albany, SUNY. Dr. Zimmerman’s work focuses on federalism, the Electoral College, and the relationship between state and local governments. He serves on the executive committee and is the former chairman of the American Political Science Association's section on Representation and Electoral Systems.
Rina Shah Bharara
Rina Shah Bharara is a strategic consultant, media commentator, & millennial entrepreneur based in Washington, DC. Prior to launching Rilax Strategies – a government and public affairs firm –- Rina served as a senior staffer to Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-5) and Rep. Jeff B. Miller (FL-1). Her expertise includes building winning strategies for political campaigns as well as coordinating public affairs efforts for Fortune 500 companies. She currently serves as an Advisor to VoteRunLead, Spokeswoman for NextGen GOP, a 2015 Founder of RightNOW Women PAC, Co-Chair of Concord 51's DC Chapter, and as an inaugural member of the U.S. House of Representatives Republican Conference's Indian American Advisory Council.
Rina Shah Bharara is a strategic consultant, media commentator, & millennial entrepreneur based in Washington, DC. Prior to launching Rilax Strategies – a government and public affairs firm –- Rina served as a senior staffer to Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-5) and Rep. Jeff B. Miller (FL-1). Her expertise includes building winning strategies for political campaigns as well as coordinating public affairs efforts for Fortune 500 companies. She currently serves as an Advisor to VoteRunLead, Spokeswoman for NextGen GOP, a 2015 Founder of RightNOW Women PAC, Co-Chair of Concord 51's DC Chapter, and as an inaugural member of the U.S. House of Representatives Republican Conference's Indian American Advisory Council.