Almost three years ago, I wrote a post based on an experience I had on a board, and I came up with five reasons women should support each other. (Do we really need a reason?)
At the time, Biden was president. In my wildest nightmares, I couldn’t have imagined Trump would be reelected.
As I write this, I’m attending a Planned Parenthood conference — speaking tomorrow with one of our Capital Campaign Pro clients about how to be happy and develop better habits for more effective fundraising.
I’d love for you to go back and re-read my earlier post — and leave a comment.
But in case you’re not yet convinced this is urgent, let’s look at where we actually stand.
Calling All Women: The Numbers Don’t Lie
It’s 2026, and:
- Less than 30% of Congress is comprised of women (not good)
- Only 25% of senators are women (really bad)
- Around 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women (horrendous)
- We’ve never had a woman president (incomprehensible)
You’d think our own sector — where women make up the majority of the workforce — would look different, but it doesn’t.
According to Candid’s 2024 Compensation Report
Candid shared research last year confirming that women in nonprofits are still underpaid and underrepresented in leadership, especially at large organizations.
Women represented less than one-third of CEOs of organizations with budgets over $50 million, and they earned just 77 cents for every dollar male CEOs earned — down from 82 cents in 2012.
Read that again.
We’re not just failing to make progress. We’re going backwards.
Reversing the Trends for Women in Leadership
We’ve lost the federal right to abortion. Access to birth control is under attack. And conversations about rolling back women’s right to vote (conversations that use to be considered crazy or only lived in the fringe) are now showing up in mainstream media.
So what can we do?
8 Easy Ways to Support Other Women
Now is the time to support other women. Not in theory. In practice.
- Give grace to the “difficult” boss or board member. Invite her to coffee or lunch and get to know her outside the context where she seems difficult. Ask what she wanted to be when she grew up and how she got to where she is now. Ask how her job is measuring up to what she expected, and what she’s struggling with. Ask how you can help — and mean it.
- Make sure women get credit for their ideas. If you watch someone else’s idea get claimed by another person, speak up. In the moment or afterward.
- Share your salary. Transparency is one of the simplest ways we can combat pay discrepancies.
- Invite women to the table. If you’re in a leadership position, bring others in with you. Let them shadow you. Mentor someone. Give them a literal seat at the table they might not otherwise have access to.
- Be a cheerleader. Compliment women on their ideas and their leadership — not just their outfit, shoes or haircut.
- Host a gathering. Bring women in your community or professional network together to build skills and support each other.
- Support women running for office. Local, state, federal — reach out, ask questions. If you like what she has to say, volunteer, donate, and advocate.
- Shop with women-owned businesses whenever you have the choice.
When Women Help Women, We All Win
I love this quote from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which a reader named Karen shared in the comments of my original post:
When I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court]? And I say, when there are nine. People are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.
Women helping women. Yes, please.
It’s more important than ever that men and women both actively support women leaders.
If you’re in a position to give someone a raise, offer advice, make a recommendation, hire, or support a candidate — do it.
What are you doing to help women leaders right now? Let me know in the comments.
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