For the first time in over 200 years, a woman serves as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and we have witnessed the historic campaign of our country's first viable female presidential candidate.Yet, women in elected office hold only sixteen seats in the U.S. Senate and seventy-one in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Join a panel of high-profile female political professionals who have broken through the glass ceiling in government and politics to discuss the strides women have made in pursuit of leadership roles and the challenges they have faced in assuming and maintaining power in the political arena- The New School
Bio
Andrea Bernstein
WNYC Political Director Andrea Bernstein is charge of political and campaign coverage at WNYC. Since joining WNYC in 1998 Bernstein has extensively covered national, local, and state politics. She's covered Hillary Clinton since rumors began of a New York Senate race (including the short-lived Senate race against Rudy Giuliani) and has extensively covered City Hall during both the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations.
Ellen Malcolm
Ellen R. Malcolm has had a long career in politics, particularly in political fund raising. She is an heiress of one of the founders of IBM. After graduating from Hollins College in 1969, she worked for Common Cause in the 1970s.
She was a press secretary for National Women's Political Caucus and later Esther Peterson, special assistant for consumer affairs in the Carter administration. She went on to found EMILY's List and is now president of America Coming Together.
Dee Dee Myers
Dee Dee Myers is the first woman and youngest person ever to serve as White House Press Secretary. During the first years of the Clinton Administration, Ms. Myers explained the actions of the new president to a vigilant press corps and to the nation. She earned the respect of both with her sharp political instincts, sense of humor and ability to explain complex subjects in straightforward language.
Since leaving the white house, Ms. Myers has worked as a political analyst, commentator and writer. She is uniquely qualified to comment on the complex dynamics at work in the relationship between the president and the press.
Ms. Myers is currently a Contributing Editor to Vanity Fair magazine and a frequent political commentator on NBC and MSNBC. After leaving the White House, Ms. Myers was an original consultant to the NBC series, The West Wing, and contributed story lines and technical advice throughout its prizewinning long run.
In March of 1999, Gov. Gray Davis appointed Ms. Myers to the California State University Board of Trustees. The Board sets policy for the 23-campus Cal State system, the largest public university in the world.
Dee Dee Myers' book, Why Women should Rule the World (Harper Collins, 2008) considers the question: What would happen if women ruled the world?
Cecile Richards
Cecile Richards is the current president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She previously founded and served as president of America Votes, a coalition of more than thirty national organizations. Before that she was deputy chief of staff to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. She has also worked at the Turner Foundation.
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