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The Albright Women and Running for Office
2/9/2009
By Andrea Dew Steele, President, Emerge America
On Saturday night, I went to the annual World Affairs Council dinner. They were honoring Madeleine Albright and her three daughters Alice, Anne and Katie for their respective contributions to society and the world. It was a fantastic program. It was particularly inspiring to hear her daughters talk about how despite the fact that their mom always "worked" whether it was a volunteer or paying job, they never felt short-changed. All of the working moms in the audience breathed a sigh of relief to hear those enormously successful women talk about how valuable it was to have such a strong role model in their mother. I asked Secretary Albright about this and she said that she thinks the most important thing you can do as a mother is to make sure your children know that they are your first priority.
Research shows that family obligations continue to seriously hinder women from even considering running for office. As the President of an organization dedicated to getting more women into the pipeline, I couldn't help but wonder whether these talented, smart, hard working women had ever considered running for office. At the end of the program, I went up to Katie Albright who lives right here in San Francisco and asked her when she is going to run for office. She said her main concern is not being at home in the evenings for her young children. As the mother of young children, I truly understand her concern. There is nothing more satisfying than eating together as a family, reading books and tucking your children into bed. How can we make politics more family friendly so we can attract fantastic women like Katie Albright and her sisters? Please, especially if you have confronted this issue in your own run for office, we would love to hear your story.
On Saturday night, I went to the annual World Affairs Council dinner. They were honoring Madeleine Albright and her three daughters Alice, Anne and Katie for their respective contributions to society and the world. It was a fantastic program. It was particularly inspiring to hear her daughters talk about how despite the fact that their mom always "worked" whether it was a volunteer or paying job, they never felt short-changed. All of the working moms in the audience breathed a sigh of relief to hear those enormously successful women talk about how valuable it was to have such a strong role model in their mother. I asked Secretary Albright about this and she said that she thinks the most important thing you can do as a mother is to make sure your children know that they are your first priority.
Research shows that family obligations continue to seriously hinder women from even considering running for office. As the President of an organization dedicated to getting more women into the pipeline, I couldn't help but wonder whether these talented, smart, hard working women had ever considered running for office. At the end of the program, I went up to Katie Albright who lives right here in San Francisco and asked her when she is going to run for office. She said her main concern is not being at home in the evenings for her young children. As the mother of young children, I truly understand her concern. There is nothing more satisfying than eating together as a family, reading books and tucking your children into bed. How can we make politics more family friendly so we can attract fantastic women like Katie Albright and her sisters? Please, especially if you have confronted this issue in your own run for office, we would love to hear your story.
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