text: RepresentWomen Staff on their annual staff retreat in Washington D.C.
  Author: Alissa Bombardier Shaw
  On paper, the 2024 Presidential election should be the most exciting election of our lifetimes. And in so many ways, it is. Partisanship aside, there is a very real possibility that the United States could finally elect our first woman President. When I log on for work every day, I can hear the words echoing in my head: “There is so much on the line this election,” “Our rights are on the ballot,” “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” That last one might be more of a symptom of being chronically online…
  But in all seriousness, there is a part of me that can’t shake the worry I’m feeling. It is such an honor to work at a feminist organization like RepresentWomen, which seeks to break down barriers for women candidates and officeholders. However, it can also be incredibly heavy.
  During our weekly department calls, we started checking in with each other about how we’ve been feeling as the election draws nearer. Not only was I relieved that my teammates shared so many of my hopes or worries, but hearing other people’s perspectives has been so valuable for processing thoughts and emotions as we live through yet another “unprecedented time.”
  As November 8th draws closer, sharing how we’re feeling is pertinent so you can know you’re not alone. I’m pulling back the curtain to share what things are really like at our feminist organization leading up to the general election.
  Afraid to Be Let Down (Again)
  For some members of the team, the anxiety we’re feeling has been intense - to the point where it’s difficult to process the events leading up to the election fully, and it has made it more challenging to be present. Even as we continue to do this work (and in many ways because we do this work) to build a better future for women elected officials and our democracy, some of us don’t want to get too excited or too attached to a particular outcome because the results of the election are so personal to us. We are all keenly aware of how our elected officials, from local to federal, impact our day-to-day lives.
  The same reason that so many of us are drawn to RepresentWomen is also why we feel this fear. Our political systems have let women, especially women of color, down time and again. How can we have faith in a system that has failed to support us for centuries effectively?
  Protecting One Another
  A thread that has come up on the team is the desire to protect each other and how the anticipation of receiving hateful messages has hindered our ability to feel more excited. Many of us with more outward-facing roles are bracing ourselves for potential backlash pre and post-election. We now have to ask ourselves, “How will people react to simply hearing the name of our organization, RepresentWomen?” Some staff members have already been dismissed by others simply because of the name of our organization. This concern extends beyond RepresentWomen, too. There are bound to be people who will target or take our partners and allies in the women’s representation movement less seriously because the reality is that many Americans simply do not support a woman at the top of the ticket or any women in elected office. To protect the team, we have to prepare and take precautions in ways people might not even think about, like removing individual contact information from our website.
  Holding on to Hope
  Despite these concerns, many team members remain hopeful and optimistic. With such limited time left, some of our staff feel more energized and invested. We are tracking races, watching the polls, and even keeping the news on in the background at all times. On some days, we are able to feel “possibility, hope, change, expansion, equity, and innovation,” as one team member shared.
  Many of us share similar gratitude for this brilliant organization of women dedicated personally and professionally to building strong communities. I know that if there is anyone I can count on and who understands what I’m feeling right now, it’s my teammates.
  At the end of the day, I don’t believe that any of us would be doing this work if we didn’t believe we could build a better and more representative democracy. We know that our systems need an upgrade and that changing systems is a daunting task that certainly doesn’t happen overnight.
  Regardless of the outcome of this election, we still have so much work to do to reach gender balance at every level of office. RepresentWomen has researched the policies that will help achieve this. We know that we can see significant increases in women's representation with a twin-track approach, combining the power of candidate training and recruitment organizations with system changes, including ranked choice voting, public financing, and term limits. We must also modernize our state legislatures with resources like compensation commissions to increase legislator pay, on-site childcare, paid family leave, proxy voting, and more.
  Very soon, whoever becomes the next President of the United States, things will likely change in a significant way. In the coming months, I implore you all to take care of yourselves, to check in with your loved ones, and be kind to one another. In times like these, I like to remember the words of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
  Feeling energized? Want to be a part of the solution? Sign our 2024 Declaration of Sentiments and join hundreds of people around the country demanding more power for women.