20.4 percent. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, that’s how many women mayors lead in cities with populations of 100,000 and above.
Here’s another statistic: in U.S. cities with populations of 30,000 and above, the percentage of women mayors grows slightly to 20.8.
And in America’s top 100 largest cities — you guessed it. Just 20 of those cities are led by women mayors. Despite representing 51 percent of the population, nationwide, just over 20% of local elective offices are held by women.
In my job working with NLC’s Constituency Groups, I have the privilege of working with many women leaders. Mayors, city councilmembers, commissioners, clerks—no matter their office, their ethnicity or party, I’ve seen the passion and devotion that they hold for their communities.
That’s why the Women in Municipal Government (WIMG) constituency group created the WIMG Leadership Award. Our purpose is to recognize the outstanding female leadership in our cities, towns and villages and to share their success stories.
Do you know someone who leads with passion? Someone who has created an innovative and successful program in their city? We want to hear about them, particularly if their leadership has served as a specific mentoring model for future female leaders.
If you know someone who fits this profile, nominate them today! Learn more about the award and nomination criteria here. While the nominee does have to be an NLC member, they don’t have to be a member of WIMG. A panel of judges representing WIMG and NLC members, private industry representatives and civic leaders will determine the finalists and the winner of the awards.
WIMG’s goal is to bring together women local elected leaders from across the county to support and learn from each other. While we talk about issues that affect women, this is not just a “women’s issue” group; it’s a leadership group, where city leaders share the tools and skills necessary to make them more efficient and impactful.
Nominate someone in your community today!
Together, we can change the statistics and see more women in local government. But we have to start by celebrating and supporting the women in office now.
About the author:
Anna Lopez-Buck is the Program Director for the Constituency Group Programs