Over the five years of women programs we have learned without question that it matters. It matters that their voices are truly heard. It matters they are a critical mass, not a token few. Conversations over the past year leave no doubt progress is connected. They can fund raise and provide models of leadership. And women ceos need women lawmakers who can champion the kinds of lawmakers and to grow the numbers in Business Leadership we need more Women Entrepreneurs like those generous to participate in our women rule week. Likewise womens advancements in sports have been a pipeline to women serving in public office. Today well hear from all of those women about what it will need to keep making progress. With Sexual Harassment dominating the conversation coast to coast well delve into that topic too as well. Its hard not to. We have learned what happens to women in hollywood is connected to women in the media and on wall street. The conditions that enable Sexual Harassment is bigger than any one workplace or sector of the economy. That is the founder of the me too movement who well hear from today and happens to be short listed for the times person of the year. Yeah. [ applause ] the me too movement reflects the opportunity as leaders and mentors. It is about locking arms, identifying where we have been left behind and where that happens and figuring out how we can make change to the status quo so we have equal representation and we are equal citizens. Today youll hear from from women who are trail blazers. Women who take a risk, women who foster change and have impact. Our hope is that hearing from this Diverse Group will inform you about the Bigger Picture and your own place in it. Our hope is to our hope is that it will empower you to go back to your organization and your community with not only a sense of inspiration but what we can do to make sure progress continues to be made. I just want to go off script for one second to thank a couple of people. Louisa savage and Alexis Williams and their brilliant staffs who brought this day to life. They have nurtured women rule like its their own child and embody the community and i want to make sure they were recognized properly. [ applause ]. And just in closing, if we all lock arms in this room our collective power is stronger than any one person. Thats what women rule is all about. Thank you so much for being here today. Lets get started. Id like to welcome Eliana Johnson to come on stage and start our first panel on the 2018. Thank you. [ applause ] please welcome Eliana Johnson. Thank you for being here. I cover the white house for politico. We are so excite today have you all here this morning. I have with me an amazing panel. And we are going to kick it off starting with the talk about the 2018 midterm elections. In 2016 there was a lot of discussion about having the first female candidate atop the president ial ticket to lead a Major Party Ticket and in the wake of that election a lot of talk about how gender impacted the results of the election but there was less discussion, i think, about what happened at lower levels for women. In reality there has been stagnation in the number of women serving in congress and at the state and local levels. Today women make up 20 of congress and 25 of state and local offices nationwide. That number hasnt increased for several years. This conversation and those numbers came out of politico women rule investigation that was published in june. Well focus more on that and in particular what its going to take to start increasing those numbers. For those of you who havent gotten a chance to read the women rule investigation i would encourage you to do so. It is fantastic. We have Copies Available at the registration desk. I want to get to my panel. Im thrilled to have all of you here. Im joined by sherry bus dcbust by phillip henderson, state representative from the greenville area. And last but not least if youre watching cable news, the editor of the cook political report. Amy, let me start with you, reading the New York Times yesterday here we go. Its like they stole your thunder. Yes. Anita dunn who served as Communications Director for president obama was quoted about the upsurge of women running in primaries. Her response was to pro claim 2017 and 2018 the year of the woman. Yes. Is she getting ahead of herself as far as midterm elections are concerned or can we prepare for an influx of female Office Holders if. Thank you for being here and inviting me. It is nice. It is not very nice i sit on a stage and look out to a sea of women. Usually the faces are [ applause ] how often do you look out of 99 men and then one woman stuck somewhere in there. So thats a fascinating question on its own. Personally it is also interesting because i came to washington there 1991. I think it was about two weeks before the clarence thomas, anita hill hearings. A lot of women noticed this all male panel in the Senate Grilling and literally looking down and grilling this African American woman. It was at that moment too where emilys list went from a small little we saw in 1992 a Record Number of women win. More women were elected that year than at any point in history which was a whopping 24 women in the house and five women in the senate but what we forget about that year, we talk a lot about it being a reaction to anita hill. 1992 had a couple of things that this year does not have. It was a redistricting year. So there were a lot of new seats. There was a huge scandal which was the House Bank Scandal when we learned many members of Congress Just overdrew their accounts by a lot and then they got to hide that fact. My favorite was that many of the men would say, you know, my wife, i dont know. You know women, they just spend the money. I dont know where it goes. This year you dont have those two factors. Some of the scandals, its the Sexual Harassment scandals. Different kind of house bank. You do have an energy though that feels similar to 1992 in that the sort of boil of energy voters. We have always seen a gender gap. But when you see the favorability gaps between how men and women view donald trump it is quite striking. I went and looked you know, this is the last wall street journal poll. Trumps approval is 42. Among women it is 3263 in the survey monkey poll 52 disapprove of donald trump. We are living in this intense energy. The New York Times points to a Record Number of women who are interested in running. Many of them are running against each other in primaries. Youll see a Record Number of candidates, not a Record Number of women in office. I think what we saw in virginia as well was in places that are suburb suburban, well educated Like Northern virginia, like suburban denver. It may be the time when we start to see those voters have an influence in the midterms. I was going to can you about the sorts of changes we might see in reaction to some of these scandals. You answered my question. Thanks for that. But i kept going. You plowed right through it. Our politico investigation found that women are as successful in terms of their win rate and they are as successful in terms of fundraising. The problem is that women simply dont run as often as men. Congressman bustos is partly responsible for the recruitment. I was wondering what you found are the most and whether they differ in terms of whats effective for recruiting women and whats effective for recruiting men. It is very different recruiting men in comparison to recruiting women. Ill walk you through a little bit of the scenario. Im still involved with that, mostly focusing on the midwest which is the area from a democratic perspective that we better figure out if we ever want to win back the house. Im in a district for a little more perspective. 14 counties, 7,000 square miles. 11 of the counties are almost entirely rural. Democrats have not exactly done well in rural america. Donald trump won my district. There are 12 in the u. S. House of representatives serving in districts that donald trump won in. I won by 20 points. It was part of that reason that i have my colleague saying what are you doing that is different and how can we help you be successful . I can tell you that the first question a man will typically ask is can i win . Thats usually what you hear first. The first question you usually hear from a woman is how will this impact my family . How do you take all of public criticism thats out there relentlessly and at the level when youre running for congress . Even some times when youll build a little more Comfort Level with some of the candid e candidates they will say theres such a large swath of issues, how can you plannage understanding all of these issues . I have never had a man ask me that question. You dont i have never had a man ask first about the impact on his family. So first of all to successfully recruit women first you to ask. Were you asked to run when you first ran for city council . I was. I was asked and elected to two on a town of 21,000 people. Any illinois people out there . All right. Anybody from down state illinois . One. So it is its completely doable with a lot of convincing because most women have to be asked to run. So i was asked to run for city council and frankly i wouldnt have thought of it. I wouldnt have thought of running. I was asked to run for congress. I would not have thought to run for congress. I had a lot going ton thon that motivated me to run. Phoniness is very apparent in people. It is very apparent. You better have that drive in wanting to make a difference. You talk through how it impacts your family. Whenrecruiting a woman with younger children, so when we are recruiting a younger woman who has children i say im going to have grace mang, who is a congresswoman from new york who has two little boys, i will have her give you a call. Grace will tell you the story about how when we are walking from her office to the house floor she is face timing with her kids doing homework with them. She will go back to the room and continue talking to them. We had two sets of votes last night. We wasnt to young chow on penn avenue. A group of us went to dinner last night. Grace had to excuse herself far little while. Her husband was out of town coming here to go to the White House Christmas ball tonight. She had somebody watching her kids and they were misbehaving. She had to facetime with them. So get somebody to relate to them. Most of you are women in the audience. You know that personal connection and somebody talking you through all of that and the attack ads and how you deal with all of that is what it takes to be successful recruiting women. Thanks so much. Representative henderson, let me turn to you, republicans and women, we have a female candidates but when it comes to republicans they have a serious problem. On the federal level and i know you serve at the state level, but just to give the audience an idea of what we are talking about, republican women comprise just 10 of the how republican conference and its about the same in the senate. There are 5 of 52 republican senators. Why do you think republicans face this problem . We dont see the same sort of split in the voting population. What do you think republicans can do to improve this . The fact is we will never approach parity in terms of representation of women unless we get more female republican elected to office. Right. Thank you so much. Let me ask, do we have any southerners . There we go. We wont talk about college football. Amy and i already chatted about that. I have been serving in an elected office since 2000. I started because i had a mentor. It is different than the congresswoman was talking ability. Women need to step up and say i want to do this. I worked for someone that offered me a job. I said i want to do this. So that was my first office. But the hard part for republicans, being from a red state, everybody is red in the south. And so it is very difficult. A lot of women i was a stay at home mom working part time when i ran. It is a very traditional mind set. I was really surprised though the first time i ran. I was in a very conservative church at the time. I thought these ladies are going to be getting on my case that i should be staying home with my children. I had a woman say you just go. Let me tell you, if i had the opportunity to do whether i was doing when i was younger i would have done it. I thought wow, that is not what i expected. I think that women need to understand that you just need to step up. I think one of the other big challenges is fundraising and money. We dont have the networks that men do to tap into for money, and i will say this. One of the best things you all can do if you dont run is write a check to somebody who is and work. Thats the biggest problem women have is fundraising. I have been fortunate im good at it and i like it. A lot of women candidates arent and thats very difficult, republicans or democrats. We do have a lot of challenges. Thats why i stay involved in order to help republican women run. We have democrats and republicans that have us all represented at the table and have a voice in helping to make things happen and make a difference. Is the fundraising aspect something you can speak to congresswoman . It is tough. Running for congress is it takes a lot of resources. I can tell you that as i look back at my first race i defeated a sitting republican. When youre a challenger running against somebody who is in office it takes a lot of resources. Now as a democratic prochoice woman emilys list was invaluable to me. That is something and not just helping on the fundraising part of it, but as a first time congressional candidate they sent somebody out to help me understand the baseics of fundraising. I was doing a lousy job at it. I quit my job. I was Vice President of a health system. My husband is a cop. I was the primary earner in my family. I had quit my job because this is a full time proposition. This is Something Else to think about, how you manage that. Im sitting at home with pictures of my three boys in front of hi me. I would send off an email to a friend. She comes and w5atches me and grabs me by my arm, takes me from my desk, sits me down and says you are not going to have your phone and computer in front of you. You will not have your kids picture in front of you. Youll make phone calls and this is how youll do it. It is not instinctual to run for office. Your messages, social media, your raising money, it is something that you have to be taught in a lot of ways. Like i said, you have to have the drive to want to do it but you need help. There are so Many Networks to help women run now more than ever. I did a shout out to emilys list, which i think incredibly high of. We started a program called build the bench which is to help we recruit mostly women and young people and people of color. Those are all areas we are underrepresented in our nation. We teach them the fundamentals in an all day boot camp. It is something that i feel very passionately about getting people to run for office. Thats what we are getting do. I want to talk a little bit about the wave of Sexual Harassment scandals that have in recent weeks. They impacted some of you or one of you personally. They are starting to shape the political landscape. Can we play the video that we have . If the last few weeks have taught us anything it is that we need more women in positions of power, not less. When youre choosing michigans next attorney ask yourself this, who can you trust most not to show you their penis in a professional setting . Is it a professional that doesnt have a penis . Yes. Im a woman. Thats a liable, not an asset. I approve of putting more women on the in november and i approve this message. That was an ad from a democratic candidate running for attorney general in michigan. Amy sent it to me and suggested that we use it. I loved it. Definitely captured the current political scene. Leader pelosi has been criticized for the way she responded to the way she resp d responded to sexual allegations. He announced this morning that he is going to retire the keyword being retire, not resign. I wanted to ask you a twofold question. How did you feel about the way that leader pelosi. It was the way she handled her response more generally. I think if you are entrusted by the public whether you are in the senate or whether youre in the house, whether you have been in congress for 40 years or a year we need to serve as role models. I know people dont see members of Congress Like that anymore but frankly if youre a perpetuator of Sexual Harassment i dont think congress is the place to be. No matter what body you serve in or ill tell you what, it is sad when the one area of bipartisan is when we have republicans and democrats who are sexual harassers. I just think its not a place to be i would like to win back the trust of the public. Part of it is we have legislation now that jackie spear is leading to require Sexual Harassment training. We have a piece of legislation that will require anybody who has paid out victims from this secret slush fund that that has to become public. The victims should they choose should not be subject to a gag order. If they want to speak out they ought to be able to speak out about it. Leader pelosi, i think many people felt she had a special responsibility in the third most powerful lawmaker in the country. She had a special responsibility to act and act quickly. Did she miss this . Are you asking amy . Im asking you. Good try though. Is it unfair to use her gender in that way . Whats going on . We have blake on the republican side who now its come out paid out 84,000 in this out of this slush fund. I dont hear people asking speaker ryan about why he is not calling for his resignation. If i had a republican member of congress i would be asking them the same question. I agree. I believe if youre democrat, republican, house member or seniority or no seniority you shouldnt be serving if youre a sexual harasser. Its not the place to be. [ applause ] the assumption under our entire event today is more women in elected office is a good thing. I was wondering if i could have each of you address why you think that is. What is the value of having more women . Would you jobs be different in aim 34i you wrote you thought democrats had this moment. Would it be different . Were there more women in elected office . It is about why what could change if you had more women . Precisely. What is the value women bring to the table . I think where youre seeing this Sexual Harassment allegations and real assault is in industries that have historically been dominated. Its not that there are few women. Men are running everything, whether its the media world, hollywood and then congress. It shouldnt be surprising at all. I think the fact that we are not hearing a same level of scandals out of regular working america is because they have all right gotten there. All right . The fact that congress has to say we should have Sexual Harassment training. Anybody that worked in a company the last 20 years has had to have Sexual Harassment training. Its not like what . Thats amazing. I never thought of that. I think the fact too is everything gets referred to as the Ethics Committee which is an internal investigation by your peers. It also raises the question about can your own peers hold you accountable or should it be somebody on the outside investigating these in a way that does not raise the question of the credibility of the investigation. I just think overall i mean my sense i have been frustrated in some ways about the way in which we talk about the role that women should play in that its well, this is the year of Sexual Harassment so women are going to win. Like women only do well when its something that is a domestic issue that effects them personally versus i dont know, bim can do really women in the middle of an economic downturn, right . We really box women in into this very narrow sort of idea of what when they can rise and when they shouldnt. But overall i think that what women bring to the table when you have more than one or two in the room is that it is a very different incentive structure in offices and in situations where women are running the show, which is one that does not at least in my experience, focus simply on sort of survival of the fittest. I know we hear a lot about this collaborativeness. I think there is a sense when you have more women in the room youre going to get more questions asked. We saw it during the financial crisis. Who were the ones blowing the wlis l all along when the banks and the Mortgage Companies saying wait a minute. It doesnt seem right to me. Wait a minute. Im willing to ask the questions no one else is willing to ask. To have more of that at the table is going to clang the culture in general. I think the fact that the first question that went asked, i thought it was fascinating, is can i win right . It tells you everything. It is about winning. It is about you know, thats your number one priority versus how is this going to impact everyone around me as your First Priority . It changes all kinds of decision making. Representative henderson in. The one thing i was speaking about, we have a state house corruption probe thats been going on for years, campaign finances, people doing things that are ridiculous with their money. It is basically an issue of character with the person. I think its something amy hit on. When i got elected everybody expected to be sponsoring womens issues bills. We are not talking about that. I do economic development. I do transportation. I do jobs. I do health care reform. I do infrastructure. Thats really not my wheel house. Thats not my background. So i purposely chose that my path was going to be a whole different way because of my district. I have a very a bunch of international companies. Its like we do get pigeonholed. I think what women bring to the table that i see is that some of the things that these men are doing, whether it is Sexual Harassment or spending campaign money, i think women would never try to get away with doing things. I think power gets to people. It is a character issue whether youre female or male. I think women tend to be consensus builders and tend to get along. We tend to cross bridges. When i first got elected i started talking to people from the other party and making friends. People were medical report if ied. They were also mad bauds im from the upper part of the state the coastal part and upper part of the state dont get along. People were like youre from greenville. Your kids and my kids play soccer. Lets talk about that. So i think women find more of a way to build a Common Ground with other people that we serve with, whether it be for me, im a musician. We talk about music or sports or whatever to build relationships with people first and then issues second so that when its time to have something we are working on we can go to people in the other party and they will hopefully vote with us but at least listen to us and talk to us about what we are working on. So those are the things i find out with women and how we make a difference in the chambers, you know, the bodies that i serve and the organizations i have been involved in. So before i came to congress i was a journalist for 17 years and then i worked in health care for ten years. So this is my third profession. In all of those jobs i have never been in a room where decisions are made that its not better if you have diversity, never. [ applause ] and that means diversity of all sorts, age diversity, gender diversity, okccupational diversity. So i really think like in a dream world, if every elected body would truly make up the population of our country from all of those perspectives think about what a better nation we would be and what a better world we would be. As it pertains to serving in elected office, anybody in the room ever want to run for office . Awesome. Anybody else . We need some more. Ill tell you, it is through Public Service we should change the world. I believe it is a dignified profession. Im proud to be in congress. If you work hard and youre honest and youre doing it for right reasons i agree with representative henderson. You know, women, you know, we are relationship builders. I mean everything is build on that foundation. Amy and i play, we are both on the congressional womens Softball Team. So can i draw one contrast between men and women . So the men in congress have a baseball team. They play at the nationals ball park under the lights. You know, its a big game, a bunch of press and all this. The way they have their team structured is democrats against republicans. For congressional womens Softball Team we have senators and house members, democrats and republicans. Our opponent is the bims Washington Press corp. So we practice at 7 00 in the morning it is all for one game and we raised money for the young survivors coalition. It is for young women diagnosed but just to give you a feel for our infield we have various people play catcher. Its a good infield. It is a really good choice. You beat us last year. We have martha, republican from alabama on first. Democrat, florida second. Im shortstop, democrat from illinois and shelly, senator republican from west virginia. Thats our infield. And so what happens at that 7 00 hour when were going to practice with no makeup on, i have not even combed our hair. So we are there in our rawest form and you build a relationship where it leads to democrat and republicans working together legislatively because you know each other at a deeper level. You might go on target runs together and it really does build a deeper relationship. So to that point the more diversity the better off our country will be. I think its a great note to close on. Thank you all so much for being with us. [ applause ] and thank you all very much. [ applause ] thank you. [ applause ] please welcome anna palmer. Thank you guys so much for joining us today. I am thrilled to be here for our fifth annual women rule summit. Im anna palmer, coauthor of the politico play book. We want to encourage you to join in the conversation on twitter with womenrule. It is something we started crafting several months ago, women and sports and politics. It is regularly tweeting about the nfl and National Anthem but also athletes in general, using their voice in a much more active way on kind of issues across the political spectrum. I want to introduce wayne davis, former nfl player Michelle Freeman and a partner at sports and entertainment. She is a former lieutenant kmoonder and head coach of the mens. Yes. Im excited about this. A lot of stories here. Last but not least lindsay is senior Vice President of women and olympics at wasserman. So lets get started. I this it has a lot to do with President Trump here in washington. We all kind of focused on the nfl, the National Anthem. A lot of other athletes have joined in this kind of protest movement. Talk to us about what you have seen and also from my perspective i feel like 10, 20 years ago it wouldnt have happened in this sort of way. I think women really started this black lives Matter Movement first. [ applause ] yes. I think women were the first to work in solidarity, black and white. They are not given the credit for the work they have done. You have six entire teams and no mens teams have ever took those types of risks and rim arent given the credit and arent honored the same way men are. I this i we first have to step back and say women have taken all of the actual bullets and men are giving all of the credit. Talk about just a little bit as an owners perspective, when athletes are taking these big stands, i can imagine if i started tweeting certain things, are you ever concerned about them going too far or getting too far in front of the brand . Its funny because i think often athletes are separated from their personality or their journey. This being on the field or the court and then they are not supposed to talk about their personal journey or what got them there. I think as owners to honor a human being and say, you know, who they are and how they play and how they got there is important and the issues that matter to them are important is wonderful. You know, you and i spoke about braden who is the goalie for the capitals marching pride parade and the social media he took after that. It wasnt positive. It was absolutely not positive. The strength and courage that he showed and that these athletes are saying we are human. We have a yourfuljourney and it matters. As an owner its moments like that youre proud at least monumental sports and entertainment, you know, these folks come out and have a platform for change. They have a national voice. So why not honor that . From your sper specificive . Thank you. Not alms the perspective of all ownership but im very lucky to work in the league. I think, you know, to build on what you were saying in terms of whats so important about athletes an not wanting to miss that, thats when they are most powerful. I think the reason they can be such effective agents is because people can identify with them. Think about watching the olympics. How many times do you cry . It is all about those points of connection. These athletes and women can be leaders. They are humaning. They have a valuable point of view. For me i think its all about how you define risk. I would like to think we are in an era where we are reimagining what it means to be safe. For my clients the most unsafe thing is to not be authentic. We encourage our clients to step out and encourage our clients to become educated. Thats a really critical part of engaging for athletes who have a mic in their face not wanting to feel stupid on an issue or not fully informed. I think it holds a lot of people back. It starts really by being educated. You know, for me i like to think about the new safe is being on the right side of history and thats where we would like for our clients to be. I think historically if you put it in context athletes have very often lead when it comes to social justice work. You think about the athletes who have i dont want to use the word suffered but it goes way beyond monetary value but you think about athletes like i think its important we take someone like Collin Kaepernick who has taken hits for taking his position and being in solidarity and athletes standing and showing up for each other has continued to be very important. You are an athlete. You coach the all mens navy rugby team. Talk about that journey. Thats how youre breaking barriers, whats that been like in the last 20 years or so . One of the things that i recognize is that if this had been 20 years ago i would not be the head coach of the mens rugby team. It is only made possible by women who are willing to go out there and break barriers, being the first. It is very needed. One of the things that presented itself is this head coaching position. I was putting coining in that trust bank for almost 17 years. I had men that said even though we dont have a navy rugby team for you we will welcome you into it for us. Fast forward when this opportunity happens i am welcomed having been an athlete at a high level and putting my coins in that trust bank such a long period of time but im no longer being a woman in the leadership position. When i cam into the navy 20 some odd years ago i was working with men who had never worked with or more importantly worked far woman. I was an oddity. That is no longer the case. Fast forward 20 years later im flying to san diego because one of the women i came into the service with was so i am no longer one of a few. In terms of women coaching men it doesnt happen very often but it is a continue i am no longer an oddity im just a continuation that shifts over time. Talk about that for a minute. Do you coach men differently . Do they react well with when you had that position in. What you said about the points of communication, i have to figure out what really drives them, whats important to them, whats happening in their lives, being able to connect with them on a personal level. Its not whats happening on the rugby pitch. Its who are they as a person and how will i get the best out of them . Because of women breaking barriers and being in leadership positions and being part of the conversation i can have that as part of a mens team. I am lucky to have been in a position where i now have a seat at that table and i can claim that seat. We were talking before, you a unique position as a woman owner of these teams. Oftentimes im sure youre the only woman in the room. How has that been over the last several years . It has three female owners which owns the capitals, entertainment. They own the capitals, the wizards, the mystics, at capital one center. As we have shared, the more room in the room, myself, Sheila Johnson and lorine jobs, the more women in the room, the more important that becomes, and that voice is important. Something a previous speaker was saying as we were backstage about that diversity, when i look at the ownership of our teams, it actually reflects the fan base of washington, d. C. Thats the right thing, right . And so i think washington is lucky because we have someone like ted leonsis who thinks that way. I dont think thats true of every organization, be that a company or a sports team. But womens voices are important. We see things differently. We see things from a human level that maybe a guy doesnt pick up on. And i think the more women you put in that board room, the more women who are listening and feel comfortable speaking out or giving their opinion, the more rich that workplace and those teams, or whatever the opportunity and place is, i think thats true of all businesses. Have you had any of those moments where i mean, we were talking before, you are the woman in the they dont see you as the owner necessarily. I remember the first time i walked into the caps locker room. Ill never forget that. [ laughter ] pg13. Getting a little rrated in the morning. The interesting thing is that my male counterparts at monumental had always felt comfortable going in there. Lindsey tsarniak as a Sports Reporter she would walk in. I would stay back. Walking forward and walking through the doors and saying, i am an equal to the men who invested in this team too was an important moment for me. So i have seen that play out. This has been since 2002 i have been involved. And slowly, i think, you know, seeing more women and i want to go back to something we were just talking about. The coaches of these teams are critically important too. When i think of mike tivo from the mystics. He looks at his athletes and says, they are important, their voice is important and their lives are important. You know, sometimes you can think in sports that theyre just chess players, chess pieces that you are moving around. These are real human beings. And i think thats organizationally it starts from the top in the coach and goes through the entire system of an organization. What aone of the policy prescriptions i think we agree changed the face of women in sports is title 9. When you talk about i know there is concern about where the Trump Administration is on this, whether betsy devos and committed to keeping this in place. Is this something youre thinking about . Does it still matter as much as it did when it was put into place . I think it still matters. Gloria steinem said this. When we make a progress forward there is a force trying to take that back. And were seeing that. That force is patriarchy. I think we need to name that. We are in a space right now where men are trying to push back and take back control of womens bodies and how women show up in the world. Its important that not just women speak up about these issues, that men educate ourselves and we listen to the stories and the lives of women and start to add our voice to the conversation. In the idea that were all in this together, not just that were helping women. I think policies like title 9 are important so that we can continue to see women in sports, that we can continue to see the richness of your lives and the stories that are behind those. One of the other big issues we were talking about, lindsey, is the wage gap. Talk to us about whats happening in the state of professional sports, wnba in particular and any efforts that are going on right now. We were going to do the collective Bargaining Agreement here. Perfect. Lets make the news, guys. Take the mikes off first. I am sure it will get done. Look, we are at an important moment. This is an Inflection Point in history, obviously. I think a lot of the conversations you are seeing that are led by womens sport around equitable support. E equity, diversity. And its not always just race and gender. Different abilities, being an agent who represents athletes who i like to think cultural conversations and really represent a lot of different types of constituencies and communities its important. I want to talk a little bit about title 9. Its not just about sports. Thats important to mention. [ applause ] thanks. This is a direct attack on womens ability to do things like report rape and how its investigated and its about opportunities for everyone. I think it is Super Critical that we remember that and not just make it about people who can play. As important as that is, because i think the studies are pretty clear about the benefit of sports for women in leadership. I think it shows clearly, i think its a 95 level of women in csuite offices have played sports. Over half, i think, played at the university level. Sot impact of title 9 should not go unnoticed and we should all be fighting to maintain that. On title 9, i agree with lindsey. We were talking about title 9 last night and kind of its farreaching pieces into society and college life. There is a great organization, if i could plug, called its on us which was in the Vice President s Vice President bidens purview. It addressed title 9 and the rape culture on colleges and how thats tied to funding through title 9 of colleges when women report rape and colleges arent giving them the right resources they need and the help they need. So i think title 9 is important on the cultural side, and i think its important on creating athlete leaders. And look, you know, playing sports, you know, transcends what happens on the field. It just does. It creates leaders. It creates confidence. It gives women the opportunity to meet other strong women. So, you know, we need to, as women, speak out and speak up about title 9. We need to continue to support it. You talked a lot about back stories that we were just talking about, kind of what your next hope is for the navy, in terms of having a womens rugby team. Talk to me about is that the next continuation of making sure women have the same experiences as men. Absolutely. One of my personal regrets is that i never got to represent my branch of service in the sport that i had dedicated so much i my time to. This is my way of being part of that continuum. Its important because you have just like you said, its not just about playing sports or just about giving athletes an opportunity to get on the playing field. Its about giving them opportunities to excel. Opportunities to develop leadership, character, camaraderie. I look at the navy folks as my brothers and sisters. We have gone through a lot together. But we have to continue to create those opportunities that the men have had for so long so that we have women who are aspiring to leadership positions as a result of the confidence, character development, everything that rugby gave me for which i am very thankful. It was a long road of a lot of trips to orthopedic surgeons and therapists. My mom was not happy when i switched from soccer to rugby. She said, where is your nose . I said its in the middle of my face and i still have all my teeth. Its about giving women those opportunities. I am not going to rest until we get the navy allwomens rugby team up and running. We have to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to do that. Its not just about the sport itself. Its what it brings to you as a whole person and what you can bring to everyone that you encounter as a result of having that participation level. I was just going to say, on one other thing about the pay gap between the wnba and the nba is, you know, the wnba is 22 years old. The nba is a bit older than that. That can sound like an excuse. And maybe it is. Because the disparity is pretty incredible. You know, what we need, what the wnba needs, is support. We need people to come out and watch games. We need people to support the athletes who are playing it. Thats the way you grow a sport and women end up getting paid the same amount. Three sponsorship. If you are in the csuite and you see the sponsorship come across, you know, make it as important as an nba game. And then we can get women the same amount of money as men are making. I appreciate this. Clearly there is a lot more that we were hoping to discuss, but unfortunately we are getting the hook. Thank you guys so much for doing this panel. [ applause ] please welcome politico editor. Carrie budoff brown. Thank you so much. I would like to now i am very, very pleased to have secretary of transportation elaine chiou, join us on the stage or a keynote interview, women in the Trump Administration. Secretary chiou was this is sort of a please welcome here. [ applause ] secretary chiou was one of my first interviews i did on the women rule podcast months ago. And it was a great conversation. I really appreciated your candor about lots of things. There is no other way to be. Exactly. Exactly. We are pleased to welcome you back today. Thank you so much. Women in the audience who are immersed in policy. I would like to start there, with infrastructure. Sure. Its something that weve we thought would happen earlier this year, possibly a plan in the third quarter, maybe it would have been tied to tax reform. Its december 5th. Almost the end of the year. What is up with infrastructure . This 1 trillion plan that we thought we would see by now . Well, youre going to see it, just not at the original time frame. Though we did come out with principles on may 25th, and it was thought that the Affordable Health care act would go first, then tax reform and infrastructure. So, if anything, it shows the you know, it shows the dynamics of the legislative calendar. And time on the legislative calendar is the most precious commodity. So after tax reform, first of all, the Senate Just Passed tax reform last week. We will now go out lets be respectful. We will go out. There is going to be a conference. I do not expect infrastructure to come out until probably early next year. This is all part of the dynamic of the legislative process. Would you predict that a bill will pass by 2018 midterms . I hope so. I think its really needed by our nation. We have crumbling infrastructure. This administration, this president , has proposed a 1 trillion Spending Program in infrastructure, which would include not only roads and bridges, but also water, energy, broadband, health care through the veterans hospitals. It would do a lot of good. I think, if anything, this proposal has the greatest potential of being bipartisan. When you say early next year, are you talking first quarter, january, february . Give me a date. I think we hope to get it out, i would say, you know, early january, but again, that depends on the legislative calendar that we are not in control of. Are you concerned that health care will once again push it back . There is a desire by the president to go back to that issue as well, or do you feel like its you have to go with infrastructure . Thats not really within my lane. I have enough just handling infrastructure. I hear you. So, you know, we will see what happens with the legislative calendar. So you had what i would call one of the most memorable lines of 2017. Really. Yes. I stand by my man. Oh. Both of them. And i wanted to go to that moment in part because i was fascinated because how youve handled that moment, just to catch people up in the audience, this happened over the summer when it was the basically the secretary the announcement for the transportation. Transportation infrastructure permitting process. Yes. But it also came at a time where the secretarys boss was fighting with her husband. They werent exactly fighting. They werent . No, no, no. They were not. It was a Healthy Exchange of views. [ laughter ] is that what we call it . This is a democracy. We all this different points of view. At that moment, where i think you make great point. You were there to talk about your issues. Right. Transportation. You stood in front of a group of reporters, who asked you about nonetheless what appeared to be a feud between you were caught in between. What were you thinking at that moment . Isnt that interesting. We were supposed to talk about my life story and how to mentor women, and we are talking about this. Well get to that. If you are going to be, like, in the public sector, you just have to be prepared. Anything can happen. So when i was first starting out i got really rattled. I am asianamerican. If they said anything bad about me i was afraid the New York Times would at a elaine chiou disgraces family and three generations before and after will remember that i disgraced the family. Then i learned that this is part of the democratic process which is so precious to our heritage and to our tradition. And so, you know, being part of an increasingly experienced in the public sector, you just kind of learn to roll with the punches a little bit more and learn to anticipate different kinds of questions. Well also, word of advice, they can ask the question. You have the choice as to what you want to answer. That is true. That is true. That is good advice. Not one that i would support as a journalist, but nonetheless. Its something used often in washington. Touche. I had a great interview with you in april. Yes. One of the reasons why i wanted to i accepted this invitation, because i thought what you and i both share is an is a deep, you know, a deep concern and also desire to help empower women. Young women in particular. I do a lot of that. I have mentored a lot of young women. So i think the world ahead of us has so much possibility, so many opportunities and how do we encourage women of all ages to understand id like you to speak to that. And take advantage of them. Back stage i learned i didnt know this when we spoke in april, that you had parity when you were a labor secretary. I was. I am proud of that. Which is remarkable. And now a lot of your appointees are women, the carryovers are women. They are appointees. I have two women here. I am going to brag a little bit about the yes. When i was secretary of labor, 50 of the Leadership Team at labor were women. And i remember [ applause ] yes. They were all competent and outstanding in their field. But because i think of my diverse background and how i grew up, i just saw leadership in a different kind of packaging. And it was okay. So i think i was much more open to recruiting people who look different and yet who were leaders. So i went to visit iraq in 2004, and i went to visit hala, a Womens Center there, they had just gone through the war. Many had lost their husbands. They were trying to make a new likelihood for themselves. I was thinking of leaving them with something memorable that would really inspire them. So my team and i got framed a photograph with all the Women Leaders at the department of labor at that time. And we gave that framed photo with these six women as a present and the women at hala who were going through such difficulties, they were so dumb struck. They could not believe that, in a country called america, 50 of the leadership of a Huge Department with so much resources were headed by women. And they were not ancillary positions. They were, you know, worker training, employee benefits, you know. And overtime. These were really important, large offices. Employment standards administration. Wage and hour. I mean, these were really important departments to the department of labor. So these women were so moved and so touched. And it gave them a great deal of hope. So one of the women officials who accompanied me to iraq is lau laura generoux. Thee she is in the back. I also have tam summerville, a Senior Adviser to the secretary for all things. And then i have five women who are heads of modal administrations. So we have heidi king, head of nhtsa. Brandy hendrickson, who is from indiana who is head of federal hi highways. Jane williams, head of federal transit. Vicky hillebrand who is cio, technology. Drew pearce is head of pipelines and cathy gaudreau, head of federal Motor Vehicles administration. Thats an amazing lineup. What is the impact of that . What does it mean to have women in those positions . What how does it change the conversation . I think its important for women to be at the table because i think more diverse perspectives is helpful in the political arena, in the government arena, to come to the best policy decisions. Because i worked in the private sector, in the public Nonprofit Sector as well. Part of the challenge of being in the government sector is that there are so many different stakeholder groups. Were a democracy. There is a cacophony of different voices sharing what they view is really important to them, to our country, to the department, to the traveling public. And how do you address all these different viewpoints . You cant do it if you only right . Thats the whole point. We need to that is difficult in itself, but the first, most important thing is you have to understand what your stakeholders are saying. If you are not diverse in your perspective, you dont know what theyre saying. Yep. Its only when you have all these diverse viewpoints, being voiced, that you actually have a slice of reality. And once you have that and you understand what different people are saying, then you can begin to craft a solution that would try to address not all, but you do try to address all these viewpoints, ultimately you may not be successful, but having this diverse point of view is important, and it cant come from one person. It has to come from this team of people with varying experiences and viewpoints. When you were staffing the department of transportation, as you know, secretary chiou was eight years at labor, full bush term. When you were coming over here for your second cabinet post at transportation. Did you how conscious are you when you are hiring for these spots to meet exactly what you said, or is it just that you hope you get parity or how do you consciously do it . How do you do that . Its important to have diversity. So its a conscious so i do Pay Attention to it. And again, its not preferential treatment nor is it discrimination. But its understanding that, in my work, i need to have people who think differently so that they can tell me what reality is. Because the worst thing that can happen in the public arena is that you think you know reality and you really do not. So when you frame the debate or the discussion or the policy, you are missing an important point. And that would not be the best policy for our country. What is your piece of advice for younger women in washington who are looking to make it in policy and politics right now . Nobody could have been further behind the 8 ball than me. I came to washington. I was so naive. When did you come to washington . A long time ago. I am very old. [ laughter ] so i came in the reagan administration. I came as a white house fellow. The reason why i applied for the white house fellow, i am an immigrant to this country. I didnt understand so much about america, so i thought, if i went to, you know i was curious about the federal government. I wanted to know how it worked. So i credit my parents with giving me a sense of curiosity. That was very important in how i advanced in my career. I didnt understand so many things, but i was curious and i wanted to find out, in a responsible way. So i came as a white house fellow. I was so naive. Somebody came to lobby me about an issue. I was shocked. I said, you want to change the law . Thats what its all about, you know. And then i wanted to volunteer for a campaign. And i didnt know anybody. I couldnt even volunteer. They wouldnt accept me. Why . Because, you know because people want people that they know to volunteer because they may not know you, they dont know whether youre speaking really nefariously. They dont know you, your capabilities. They dont know how loyal you would be. Did you feel you were underestimated because you were a woman and a minority . And then i was young. People ask me all the time. How do you make it if you are a woman and a minority and young . The young part of it rapidly took care of itself. If i thought about that, i wouldnt get out of bed in the mornings. It would be just too much. I had a great sense of adventure. I was interested in exploring. I refused to acknowledge if i didnt understand something until i understood it. That was training to myself. I refused to be confused until i understand whats going on. So i basically, you know, had no friends, no one there were people who were mean, because i didnt know anybody in this town thats so highly connected. I mean, i had nobody who i was i was connected to nobody. And so i was a nobody. So nobody paid attention to me. Where did you start, then . How did you get connected . I was so excited about being in washington. Good lord i get up in the mornings. I can see the white house. I would walk to work. Then i would see the washington monument. It was like, life was good. Then i had such an excitement about what i was doing. People were mean. But because i came from such a Strong Family background and i have five sisters and i thought, you know, i cant disgrace my parents or my community. I hear you. Thats how i feel most of the time. My sisters are i cant be a failure to them and disappoint them. So there were a lot of people who were supporting me and loving me, and that gave me a lot of courage. And i felt, you know, okay. So they fire me. If they fire me, ill go back home. I was very lucky that i had a home to go back to. That gave me so for those of you, see, you see elaine chiou started. People didnt know her. They were mean to her. She tried to volunteer and they refused to accept her. If i can start like that, you guys are certainly better prepared, better connected and youll have wonderful futures. I think you have to have a sense of adventure, a sense of knowing what your core values are. When i got discouraged, i had a little picture. It was a picture of my fathers village in china. And it was thatched huts, chickens and pigs running around. And that was good because that meant they had money to be able to have chickens and pigs. And i would look at that and i would say to myself, if my father, whose blood i have running through my veins, can go through an environment like that, i surely can prevail. So youve got to do the same thing. You know . [ applause ] there is someone in your family, in your surroundings, and there is something that inspires you, so that when you get discouraged you can whip out that photograph or that touchstone or something, you know. And that will remind you all of a sudden whats really important and how you need to have confidence in yourself. Then you pick yourself right up and go ahead. Push through. So to fast forward. You have served four president s. You have been in Washington Four decades, about. Told you i was old. No, no the at all. So with that perspective and that experience in mind, like, i would love to know, with the conversation that we are having right now that is dominating Sexual Harassment, i just wanted to know if you have had a me too moment. Of course. I think thats a dirty little secret that a lot of women have held for a long time. Many of us, especially i think the in years passed, have experienced it. The environment was very different. Could you tell us a story . The person is still here. Still around. I mean all the more reason . [ laughter ] right . I mean, come on. This is an important lesson, you know. You will go through difficulties in your life, and i hope you will all triumph. And when you triumph, you need to you need to help others along the way, but you also must have magnanimity of spirit. Things change. Times change. And its not worth my while to go back and revisit those negative moments. I will fight for other women and i will stand up for other women, but of your own, you have to let it go. Because otherwise its too corrosive, its too negative and it does you a double injury because it holds you back. So i can say, i am sure many of us have been in circumstances and this is a commonly cited example. You Say Something thats quite important, thats got value, and the conversation goes on. And then somebody else picks it up and its a guy and he says the same thing that you just thought that you said, and everybody is like paying attention. Well, i think its important not to get discouraged by that. You just jump right in and say Something Else. So i think have confidence. This is a world that we are changing as a country. We are changing as a world. We have i think in many ways we have there are so many opportunities, so dont get discouraged. To wrap it up, what are one or two things you would say we need to do to make sure this dynamic permanently changes, that this isnt just a conversation and we are on to Something Else, you know, in ten days from now or a year from now . When you are seeing injustice, you must stand up. This applies not only to the issue we are talking about. I was very active in Human Trafficking. Working with condy rice. I have always boosted women wherever i can. As i got into positions of greater responsibility i was able to appoint a more diverse team. Is that the most tangible thing you can do, that we can do, is making sure women are given opportunity and that they have i am sure there are so many other ways. For me, as i have ascended in my career, i have found it to be helpful to give other women the opportunity. And i think we have i think the environment is getting better. And for women to be able to speak up, it shows that they have much more confidence in the system that will allow them to speak up. But the other thing also and you have heard me say this i think its important to work hard, and i think its important to prepare. I am still not very good at winging it, as you know, and i just i just feel better, i feel more confident if i am more prepared. So thats for me. I am with you so thank you, secretary chiou. Thank you. Its a pleasure. I found her to be the stories to be quite uplifting. And i actually subscribe to it. You work hard, you support people, you be nice, and i think a lot takes care of itself. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. [ applause ] good luck. When you all become big and successful, take my phone call. [ laughter ] thank you so much. Good luck. [ applause ] thousands of women are using two words on social media to identify themselves as survivors of Sexual Harassment and assault today. It happened to me too. Me too. It happened to me too. In less than 24 hours. 650,000 tweets on twitter. I have been organizing since i was 14 years old. My life has been centered around social justice work. I have, for the last probably 15 years been really focused on women and girls of color. But during that work is when we realized that the girls that we were working with were encountering Sexual Violence in various ways. I met a young girl when i was pretty young myself. She was probably 12 or 13. She came to me and shared her history of Sexual Violence and the things that happened to her. It was a thing that was repeated i was repeating in my head as she was telling her story. I was like, me too. I know what this feels like. The magnitude of what she was saying was so similar to my life, i was scared. I was 22. I didnt know i ended up sending her to another counselor who i felt could handle what she had to say better and who would give her services and figure out how to get her out of the home or whatever, but i didnt tell her anything. And i have over the years written her letters. In my mind. I dont know where to send them. But just apologizing because it feels like the worst you can do as somebody who is committed to young people. My partner and i decided we have to take a step back and figure out what to do. Like, we were both survivors. So me too came from this idea that we have to do this groundwork first. So we started doing the work. We would do workshops wherever people would let us. Libraries, churches, schools. Empowerment through empathy is the way that we describe the work of our me too. It is really an exchange of empathy between survivors. When i became a mother i have a daughter it set with me that i wanted my daughter to live in a world that saw her, that recognized her and acknowledged her power. A lot of the work im doing in this world is so that they have the kind of world i want them to live in. You can say you are not alone, you are not alone, as much as you want. But the Empirical Data that we have generated from this movement is just forever existing. This is not about predators. This is not about individual people. Its about systems. If we keep dealing with the individual people who pop up its like playing whackamole. After a while its like. Look at this one. That one. Were surprised. Oh my god. I cant believe this beloved person. There are systems in place that allow Sexual Violence to flourish. If we dont change our conversations to talk about patriarchy and privilege, we will have the wrong conversation. Please welcome Politico Congress reporter rachel bade. [ applause ] good morning. I am so pleased to welcome tyrana burke, the founder of the me too campaign. [ applause ] [ standing ovation ] oh, wow. [ applause ] thank you. First off, thank you for being here and for sharing your story with us today. Thank you for having me. So i have been covering Sexual Harassment from a capitol hill standpoint ever since the Harvey Weinstein news broke. I was stunned to learn in this video that you founded me too in 2006 on a my space page. Okay . So tell me, why do you think it took more than a decade for this to catch on . And take us inside that day when that hash tag went totally viral. I think it took more than a decade because the reality is people dont want to talk about this issue. People dont want to amplify these discussions. Those of us who work in Sexual Violence, we talk to each other, we go out and work hard. We are in our communities trying to amplify the voices of survivors but its not a pop culture issue. For me in particular, i started this work, working with black and brown girls in the south. So you cannot get more marginalized than that, really. So it had to have the light of pop culture shine on it before people would really Pay Attention. In some ways i am grateful for that because now we have a National Conversation that we have never had before. But i definitely did not foresee this in 2006 when we started doing this work. There was like no such thing as viral, no such thing as like i dont think twitter had even started yet. So that wasnt the vision. But it was a vision. We did have a vision to have something that people could connect to, that survivors could connect to that was simple. But it was it showed an exchange of empathy so that people really connected with each other. Its really easy for somebody to say, when you tell your story, any kind of trauma. Somebody says, oh my god, i am so sorry that happened to you. Though the person is wellmeaning and wants to make you feel comfortable, there is still a distance there between you and them, right. Its this thing that happened to you but not me. The difference is when you tell somebody somebody shares something thats the most traumatic thing that happened to them and at the end of that you can say, yeah, me too. There is an instant connection that happens that at least for the two of you frees you. Its a its a liberation that you cant trade for anything in the world. There is no money that can help you have that feeling of having a connection with somebody that says, my god, i am not alone. I am not crazy. I am not an anomaly. I am not some weirdo. The feelings i have are real and genuine. Take us inside that day. Did your son blphone blow up . Sunday morning picture it i started having notifications on my phone. Not a lot. Just a few going off. I checked one. A friend sent me a message. She said there is something happening on twitter. What are you doing . And i was like, sleeping. I am not [ laughter ] nothing in particular. She said, you need to go online. Theres people talking about me too. I was like, okay. I had like videos out and, you know, i had been doing the work a long time. But when i went to look on twitter i was like it wasnt viral yet but there were an awful lot of posts. At first i panicked. This is weird. I do the work in a very specific way and honestly a very specific audience and that wasnt the audience that i was seeing. I also hadnt really tackled Sexual Harassment in the workplace and that kind of thing. Street harassment, yes, in schools, yes. And so i went through a wave of emotions. I think, by the Late Afternoon i was more panicked about the idea that there was mass disclosure happening in such a public way because, while me too is obviously about people disclosing and telling their stories, i was worried about people not having a container to process. Like, its a very big deal. I think we lose the idea that social media is the world, right . Once you put it out there, its in the world. And i was like, what are these people going to do . There is a wave of emotions that happens after you disclose something thats so personal. So then i was just like, okay, i need to figure out how to insert myself in this conversation to give context to this. Its not just two words. It is a declaration and its a disclosure that has some impact. Right. When we use it, there is a theory of empowerment through empathy. I wanted to introduce that into the conversation. I was fortunate enough that these women who are, you know, i am a writer as well and do a bunch of, you know, have created a network of people who do social justice work. Over the last 20, 25 years. They immediately they know my work. They immediately came and said we need to amplify your voice on this. People need to understand what this is about. Speaking of disclosure, i can tell you from my standpoint on the hill talking to a lot of these victims there is a fear, even now, of coming forward that they will be blackballed, wasnt be able to get a job, and there is a sense that this watershed moment has not reached washington politics. Why do you think that me too has not quite hit the political arena the way it is spreading across the country right now . I think it hasnt hit a lot of arenas. I think thats a real fear we need to be clear about. The attention is great. The media, the glitz and glam. I can go on television and talk about a lot of things. My going on television and talking and speaking in front of you does not protect a woman right now who is at her job fearful she could get fired from her boss, whether its capitol hill or mcdonalds. I think that we have to be people keep asking me what happens after this moment. I am like, this is a movement. Movements are built over time. They are strategic and methodical. For me, this moment is a triumph in the overall movement and we should celebrate it but not forget there is a whole body of work that has to happen. Laws need to be implemented, policies need to be changed. There is work on the ground. I love being here and talking to people and getting the message out, but i have a lot of work to do. Part of that is because it hasnt reached everywhere. Now that we have this sort of spotlight, we neat ed to amplif the conversation and represent those people wherever they are. What would you say me too as taught you about mobilizing full networks of women . Listen, women lets talk about women. I love being a woman. I love being a black woman. I love that we are so we are always at the forefront regardless of their if there is a camera there or not, if there is attention to be paid. Other people paying attention. We are on the ground doing the work. This moment would not happen without women. No question. The bravery and courage of the women who came forward. Even the courage of the women who havent come forward. I think we should always acknowledge the fact that, when you are when you are a survivor of Sexual Violence, the thing that happens is your choice is taken away. Your right to choose. Your autonomy is taken away. A choice is a choice. Even if you choose not to disclose, thats a choice and its a powerful choice people should hold on to. I hate for people to get caught up i get messages of people saying i want to say me too. I want to disclose but i am scared. I say dont. You hold and own that choice. I think this moment has given choice to women in ways that we havent seen in a long time. Right . Giving that power back to choose whether you disclose or you dont. Whether you stand up, whether you dont. Whether you support somebody or you dont. Its your choice. [ applause ] we are almost out of time, but i wanted to ask you about the young girl whom you talked about in the video who inspired all of this. You said that you write letters to her in your head. I want to know, have you ever found her . Has she reached out . Do you think you will . And what would you say to her . This child, who i have to really i am 44. [ applause ] shout out to over 40 women. Go viral. I have not found her. The odd thing is that i ran that camp for almost ten years, and the young people who come come over and over. She only came that one summer. And a couple of things i have realized in this moment. One is that i was 22. I think, when i think about it, i think of myself as an adult who was with a child who didnt help the child. I was 22. Which is awfully young. I have a 20yearold daughter who is a baby to me. Hi, baby. And so, what i would say to her, i always think i would apologize for not being who and what she needed me to be in that moment, but she is probably about 34 now, 33 or 34. So i would imagine that life has probably given her some lessons too that lets you know there are times in your life when you cant show up the way you want to. But i would also want her to know that that moment helped me spend the rest of my life being able to trying to show up every time i get the opportunity to do so. Tyranna spoke in the video about how Sexual Harassment requires systemic change. She will be on the next panel talking more about that. Everybody give her a round of applause. [ applause ] please welcome the race card projects founding director, michelle norris. [ applause ] hello, hello. Good afternoon, everyone. I am michelle norris, founding director of the race card project. And for a whole lot of years i hosted a show on public radio called all things considered. [ applause ] today i get to do what i love best, which is to talk to interesting people about an important topic. And we are here today to talk about Sexual Harassment. There is very few topics that are more important than that right now. I am thrilled to be participating in todays summit. I am sorry that we actually have to have this discussion, but we do have to have this discussion. Because from hollywood to capitol hill, tech to media, highprofile accusations of Sexual Assault have sparked a National Debate surrounding the realities of Sexual Harassment in the workplace. And today were going to discuss what it will take to finally put an end to harassment in the workplace. What role companies, boards and executive leader play Holding Perpetrators Accountable for their actions and what is the responsibility of media and all of us in conferring allegations and reacting to allegations before theyve been proven in court. So i want to introduce our panel. At the far end. Congresswoman Jackie Speier from california. Thank you so much for being with us. And thank you for elevating this issue by using your voice. Chris silverman, managing director of icbm partners, he is with us all the way from california. The west coast is in the house because rachel rennic is with us. The ceo and creative director of wethos. We just heard tarana burke, founder of the me too movement, long before we were familiar with hash tags you were introducing us to this. Congresswoman speier i want to begin with you. We just heard in the previous actually, the previous conversation or the previous conversation, we heard secretary chiou say that women are coming forward in part because they have much more confidence in the system. But on capitol hill, we have not seen as many women come forward. Its a different kind of conversation. There seem to be different impediments to gaining that trust for women or bringing some sort of comfort where they can raise their hand and say me too. Help us understand whats different about capitol hill. So, in congress it is a system that has basically been there to protect the harasser. And the victims have been without resource. For example, the office of compliance, to which a victim would report, would have to first go through 30 days of legal counselling, then 30 days of mandatory mediation and then signing a nondisclosure agreement, and then 30 days of a coolingoff period. All the while still working in that harassing environment. I mean, that is what i am trying to change with the me too congress act, inspired by tarana. We have over a hundred cosponsors, republicans and democrats right now in the house. [ applause ] how long has that system been in place . This is a very protracted system. 30 days, 30 days, 30 days. What was it created in response to . It was created in 1995. It was called the congressional accountability act. It was on the heels of the scandal in the senate with senator packwood. This was going to be a new system that was going to create accountability. As we have seen, it doesnt create accountability. There is a secret fund. The member is never identified and the result is habitual harassers are allowed to continue to operate, and we are seeing it right now. How many women were involved in creating that process . I have a guess, but i really dont know. And since the it was predominantly a male congress at the time, i would suggest probably very few. And the on the other side, not just women coming forward, but members of congress and staff coming forward to talk about this also, you know, are do the tribal realities on the hill make this difficult . Democrats are sometimes reluctant to talk about the improprieties of a previous president , republicans are reluctant to talk about the Sexual Harassment charges made against a current president. Do the tribal tendencies on the hill make it harder to actually put this issue on the table, examine it, interrogate it and figure out how to solve it . I think it does. As we are contemplating a new system, i think we need to look at creating a thirdparty function that will be outside of congress, not populated by members of congress so this issue of this uncomfortableness that is associated with calling out a member of your same party is not there. But you know, the institution is special. But members of congress arent special, and we need to be treated like everybody else. [ applause ] in many cases when allegations have been made, people have stepped aside, voluntarily or not, when theyve been asked to step down. In that sense it does seem like members of congress are moving on a different or parallel track in the adjudication of these issues. What should happen with senator frankel. Congressman conyers. Others now. Should these members step aside . Should they be asked or counseled to step aside while these allegations are examined . I liken this to a corporation. We like to talk about ourselves as we are the ceos of our office. In a corporation, if a ceo is identified as being a sexual a harasser, they dont wait until the next annual meeting so that the shareholders can vote on it. The board of directors determines and typically what happens is that the ceo is out. No matter who they are, no matter how great they are or what kind of an icon they are. I think members of Congress Need to realize that we have a board of directors, whether were going to call it the Ethics Committee or the actual congress, and we need to act. We cannot allow this to fester while two years go by until the next election takes place. So weve got a lot of work to do. And i am just optimistic because i do think we have seen an age of new enlightenment. We cant let this moment go. I mean, we cant let this just be a blip. It has to be a concerted effort that is not its got to be sustained. So, for my part, i have suggested that congressman conyers should resign, senator frankel should resign and congressman fahrenthold should resign. Thats what its going to take. We talked about a wave of enlightenment. Does it feel that way in congress right now . You personally have a company. You have a lot of contracts that run across your desk, a lot of projects that you are involved in. What has changed in hollywood, and is it a reaction to the moment, or do you think that this time its the kind of meaningful, lasting change that will have a real impact long into the future . You know, i think that the one so, first of all, were a private company, so we have the ability, when this happens, we can deal with it quickly, and we can just get rid of the problem. So we are not going to have somebody if they are creating an uncomfortable environment for people, theyre not going to be around. Theyve got to go. We can do that quickly and easily. A lot of the stuff thats happened in hollywood and thats come out, i mean, clearly there is Harvey Weinstein, thats criminal behavior. He should be in jail. There are things like that. And i think that that stuff has been really put out so quickly, its been obviously kept down for too long. And its going to be this tidal wave which should have happened a long time ago and its really good that it is happening right now. So i think, then, what we need to do as companies is look at this and listen a lot and figure out what are the real things that we can do to create lasting change because that does have to happen. I mean, i think companies should reflect more the world around them. You know, we represent tens of thousands of clients from all walks of life. And i think the people who are representing them, that we should reflect our clientele and reflect the people around us. Its on us to listen a lot. What ive personally identified for us to do are the culture of silence which i find incredibly troubling that people are really frightened for themselves to come out. I love the fact that people can come out and talk about this and that they are being empowered because of that by you, that theyre being empowered and recognized. Its a good thing. I think thats great. And then i think mentorship is the other thing we are focused on. I dont think things can change overnight. We cant snap our fingers and say half the Department Heads in the company will be women and half the board. It will take time. But that requires mentorship. I benefited personally i have had great female mentors in my life. There are very strong women who have affected me and mentored me. And that, i think, you know pay it forward. But its on all of us to mentor people in a much better way and really focus on mentoring women as well. What about men . You probably are a real role model for a lot of men and i am sure you have mentees. Can you share with us the kind of conversation that perhaps youre having with people right now about how to order their steps, how to raise their hand if theyve been boorish or have tiptoed in an area heading towards Sexual Harassment. What kind of advice are you giving people to make sure they understand the rule of engagement . We put a lot more women into leadership positions in the company. Because there might be times when theyre not comfortable someone comfortable. Someone as much of a Good Relationship as we might have, thats tough. I understand that. I know women do need to be put in more positions of leadership. Everyone in the room would agree on that. But what men need to hear to understand this issue . What do men im sorry. Im just not really its for instance, if in dealing with race in america theres an expectation that people of color often take a leadership position in that, in trying to interrogate something that was put together, white collar. In Sexual Harassment, theres an expectation women will raise their voices and lead on this issue. Even though this is not a problem of their own making. So what is the role of men in taking on this issue and using their voice . As someone who is a leader in the industry, what kind of advice you giving them . I think its listening more and being open minded and being protective in a way that people should be able to speak freely, where a man might feel the power to speak freely about something and women might not feel that power. You have to be sensitive to that and create open lines of communication so people can talk freely. A protected environment. When people do talk freely, they are not punished for it. Contrary, they are rewarded for it in a way. Thats probably the wrong way of saying it. You know what i mean, they are empowered. I think thats something thats cultural. Thats a cultural shift in the company. Thats cultural in terms of how people look at the world, how people interact with each other. Its something everybody has to make a commitment to together. Its something we talk about a lot. Its a conversation, a culture shift. It takes time but it takes real commitment to do that. Someone who has been in the News Business a long time, i love to say, this just in. If you have your phones on and following the twitter as my mother calls it, the twitter or facebook or instagram you may know congressman conyers was scheduled to have an announcement and he announced he was retiring. Just to keep our conversation current. Youre shaking your head. Youre not saying anything but your body language is saying something. Well return to the rest of the panel. Congresswoman, youre anticipating that. I was anticipating he would be resigning, thats what happened. Now hes going to force the house of going through the process of investigating his conduct and the house is going to have to take action. Its not good enough to say in a year and a half or a year im going to retire. Its a serial harasser. Effective immediately. Hes stepping down. Today is his last day. No. Hes not resigning. Hes going to retire at the end of his term. Is that right . No, hes stepping down. Full retirement. What is he doing . Full retirement. Effective today s he stepped down today. Well clarify that. Rachel, so we have the hill, hollywood, i want to take on Silicon Valley, because the power balance is theres quite an imbalance in Silicon Valley, in part based on numbers, in part based on access to capital. In part based on a startup culture where women tiptoeing in the industry, its difficult to do this unless you have angel investors, unless you get access to vc funding. Does that create its power dynamic, system of inequalities. Help us understand what is unique about Silicon Valley, the tech industry. Absolutely. I think theres a couple of different scenarios that happened within tech that should be addressed. The first one is the power dynamic between investors and founders, whether first time founder, female founders. It creates a susceptible environment for you to be vulnerable and be taken advantage of. I think fundamentally it sort of comes down to this idea that we dont take women seriously. And the fact that in my experience i had quit my job, i was eating ramen, picking up side jobs to pay the rent and working night and day to put together materials to pitch Somebody Just to walk into a meeting and get hit on. Youre sitting there and you feel like a fool, because youve spent all this time and energy doing something and you walk into a room, just to not be taken seriously about something you have a vision for, something you need money for. Weve talked a lot about vcs. Theres definitely power dynamic, a diplomatic structures around how we handle the situation. We can actually get rid of them and do something about it. Whats not talked about as much and what we experienced was angel investors. The difference there is these are just really High Net Worth individuals that can do whatever they want with their money and say whatever they want. If they want to meet you in a hotel lobby at 8 00 p. M. And youre desperate trying to get your business off the ground, you kind of know every woman knows that feeling of, well, im going to go to this meeting. Well see how it goes. On top of it, theres a culture of do whatever you need to do to get your business off the ground. So you have a sort of dynamic between power, emotional manipulation, and then on top of it just objectification of who you are walking in the room. Im a gay woman, an openly gay woman. You would think it would deter some things, but no. The life of a lesbian. Women are sexualized. You put two women together and youre hyper sexualized. Youre running up against all these barriers. Youre trying on top of just simply trying to figure out how to start a company, which is hard enough in and of itself. We talk at Silicon Valley the investor, the dynamic is within the Actual Company and the policies. This sort of call to action right now of we need new policies, we need to do something. We need to enforce the policies we have. The only way to do that is to show people there are consequences. The only way to create to chriss point an open environment for women is let women know there are consequences to these actions. Women will only step up and come forward when they know something will be done. Why would i speak up if not. On top of that, you have to get 10 women together just to take down the one predator. So theres a bunch of different dynamics. To go on here, i think the investor situation is one thing in and of itself. We really need to hold Silicon Valley and tech needs to hold a mirror up to itself and really think about what are the policies they have, are they enforcing policies and are they creating environments sometimes you can create policies that are so difficult, so protractive its dynamic, protects the company, not the victim. You used your voice to talk openly about this. There are some things you cannot say. Thats true for many women going through this process, there are disparagement, gag rules, some sort of settlement. Is that a problem in and of itself, that people are not allowed to talk about this issue, that theres some comfort on the part of the companies knowing we dont have to talk about it either if we can settle this fight. I think theres sort of a difference between, you know, dont talk about this issue. Like most people know this is ro wrong. Most people know Sexual Harassment is wrong. They will say to you, wow, that sucks. Youre looking for what do i do about it. Nobody is going to tell you to do anything about it. I think that silence comes from almost everywhere. It comes from women who dont know anything but silence, and it comes from men who are saying probably dont ruffle any feathers. For me, most predators are not stupid. He did everything in person. I have no written evidence of any of this. I just have my experiences in my head. So that sort of idea that i cant name names. I cant really even remove him from the environment because of the way it was set up and the way it was approached. All women have right now whats really powerful is a Whisper Network. That has like unequivocally taken people out of positions of power because you were able to coordinate and just warn people. Like, hey, im going to this meeting. What does anybody know about this guy . We talk. We know. Theres a whisper. And that has been easily the most powerful tool that weve used to do a lot of this. So its good to know women have the Whisper Network and they are using their power but its also kind of sad that women have to whisper about this while the men who are responsible for this kind of behavior are still sitting in their positions operating. So what else can women or should women do if they find themselves in this situation . Who should they talk to . Should they keep a record of things. You say, rachel, there was no paper trail. How do you create some sort of trail if you do raise your hand and say me too, have you some sort of dossier you can go forward with . I just was talking about this the other day at another function, in really brass tack ways, people have to get like spies. Have you to keep track of everything, right everything down. Email your self, tell your friends. You have to create your own body of evidence almost. Email your self so you have the dates. So you have date stamps, time stamps. The same thing you were doing if you were being any issue. The first thing people tell you is document, like keep track of it. You may not have something official but you may write it in a journal. I think its also helpful to tell other people if you cant go to the higher up to tell other people. Theres power in numbers clearly as we see. So when the opportunity strikes, you are ready to have something to say like add your voice to this, either a chorus or youre the first one. So you created the need to move before it was a hashtag. I think everyone in the media has seen hash tags in social media at this point. Are hashtags helpful. Would it help if men had hashtags, to include, encourage men to askyoursister, askyourcoworker, askyourmother. Would that work . Hash tags can work, move into the streets, a larger base and it brings awareness. We have enough Empirical Data from the me too hashtag to show the world nobody can say, ive never heard of that. If you engage on social media, if you are awake and on a computer, youve heard it. So you know, it could help to have a hashtag. Also the thing that bothered me so much sometimes when we talk about like ask your mother, ask your sister i almost said a bad word. Youre a human being. I want beahuman. It bothers me that men dont have to train other men not to touch a mans penis when you go to a meeting. Not whispering, look out for that guy, he might hit you on the butt. You dont have to be trained to do that, im a human being, dont touch me. I dont know how we shift that culture. The conversation has to be privilege. This is about privilege over more privilege and power and how people use their privilege. Privilege is not going to go anywhere any time soon. Its how you use your privilege. You have to use it in service of your people. I think people understand the concepts and shifts the way they behave when they interact with other people. Be a fricking human being. You were careful with your language there. I was very careful. Do we really understand before all of these allegations surface and before the me to Movement Really blossomed, do we understand where we were . We watched seven seasons of mmd men thinking we watched something that took place in the past. Maybe that was a mirror to what was happening. Do we underestimate how many progress weve made in society on this issue and do we need to stop doing that . I think the problem is that culturally theres still that tension that allows them to say, i dont believe her, she is not telling the truth. We have to flip that where the presumption is that she is telling the truth, because we do know that anyone who comes forward is going to be badgered, is going to be put under a microscope. More obvious than not is going to be blackballed. Its interesting, the judicial system in which someone is innocent until proven guilty. But this is not a judicial undertaking. This is a Workplace Environment where someone is violating civil rights act, title vii. It says you have the opportunity to work in a hostile free Work Environment and that you should not be subject to severe or pervasive Sexual Harassment. Also think weve talked about this but there is a spectrum. Only at a certain point does it become criminal. So you know for anything on that spectrum weve lumped everything together. To your point allegations of rape. Anything from little death by 1,000 paper cuts, little bit of s sexism here and there to full on sexism, Sexual Harassment, verbal or other, to assault, which is criminal. To your point, there is a certain point you reach the judicial part of it but all these things in between that need to be handled and consequences for it. Most of the time its woman, well move you off the team, shuffle you around. No meetings with women. Dont get me started with that. I think were at a Tipping Point where were angry. We need to give ourselves space to be angry then approach case by case. Every woman is different. We have to make sure women are driving that. How about the lower end, boorish behavior, to deal with that because its a gateway to more aggressive, more harm fful its important. If you see senior level people acting like assholes, lower level people will, too. It needs to come from the top. People know how to be good normal people. I believe that. It needs to be reinforced, stated as a core value of your company and say its important. Be important how youre affecting someone else. Understand it and talk about it. We represent a lot of powerful people in the world whether they are men or women. Im really proud of that. I think companies have an obligation like us to make sure that internally we reflect that as well. Its not that i agree with you about the anger and people need to get this out because ive seen it and ive seen it for years. Its important to me in the position im in now to make sure we deal with that and create an environment where that does change. Its something i want everyone to be proud of, proud of the agency. We want people that work there to be proud of it. I think its important it comes out now and people show leadership and mentorship, not just women but men, just be cool. Its not really i know it sounds simple and its a bigger issue than that but people know how to be good to each other. I think the cultural problem is important. When we think about the spectrum of Sexual Violence, it starts on one end of Sexual Harassment, boorish behavior. Those are the things to create culture for more serious things to happen. It bothers me people talk about Harvey Weinstein as Sexual Harassment case. He raped women, he sexually assaulted women. Thats not chasing somebody around the desk, thats not pinching somebody in the office. He commit add crime, put pell crimes. Systems in place because they allowed him to flourish and invested in who he was as an individual. Thats because the culture of your company was you protect the king. If he falls down, we all fall down. People invested in the power, money, not Human Dignity of the women who suffered at thehan of this man for years. Its important all is important. The boorish behavior is important because that opens the door to kuch folks. It has to be dealt w cultures have to be shifted later on. It has to be stomped out in the workplace, in the streets, in congress, wherever they exist because they open the door to allow this other behavior to happen. How do you stomp out that culture. Many people, have you to go through Sexual Harassment training by tuesday. You go through on your computer, sit through a classroom. Theres ways that obviously hasnt been effective. How do you effectively change the culture and stomp out the culture. What chris said is important about leadership. People have model what the culture in the company is. It has to be not just taking it on the computer, reiterating it every couple of years, people in leadership have to have zero col ra tolerance around it. You cant laugh at rape jokes. Oh, hes just like that. You cant tolerate that. There has to be zero tolerance around the way we respect each other and like each other. Thats how we shift culture. Leadership sets an example for what we will deal with in our company a company. And put more women in charge. [ applause ] you talked for just a minute about industries not represented in this panel, women who work in retail, women who work in manufacturing, women who clean the hotels in this hotel, clean the rooms in this hotel. Do they have adequate support or understanding for the challenges they face . As we talk about this movement and problem overall, are we spending enough time looking at their challenges . Go ahead. Okay. So i mean for me, my work is really around most marginalized. I feel like we have to start with those women. Start with the most marginalized and work your way out. If you dont do that, those women will be left out. When i talk about power and privilege, im not just talking about men who have privilege. If youre a Woman Working in the workplace and there are policies in place to protect you and arent policies in place for women who clean up the office, then youre not doing your job. We have to use our privilege in service of. If im in a place where im not going to have myself protected and make sure everybody who is vulnerable is protected. I think thats one of the ways we do that. Weve heard a lot of i think its also important for us to appreciate that the module you see on the computer is woefully inadequate. We have to change the environment so its interactive, relates to the industry, and its something that comes from the top. I think weve all said that. If the message is very clear from the top, then youre going to see behavior change. Weve heard a lot of lament about the number of men who left their various industries and the talent drain of powerful men. Your body language is speaking before i ask a question. I want to hear in tech, in hollywood, on capitol hill about the talent drain of women who cut their sales, who exited and just said, i cant deal with this, who were less ambitious than they would have been or have been the walking wounded for years and sometimes decades carrying this around. What dont we will we ever be able to measure the talent drain of women whose jobs were whose lives in their work space were cut short because they faced this kind of harassment . Im haunted today by a story that appeared in one of the papers about the woman who was working for congressman farenthold. She received an 84,000 settlement that came out of the secret fund in the u. S. Treasury. She was absolutely blackballed. She was told before she filed the complaint that she would be blackballed, and she hasnt been able to get a job. Now, now wonder that 70 of women who are sexually harassed dont come forward, because they need the job. And thats the dynamic that has to change. We have to make it very clear that someone who comes forward is going to have support, counsel and whistleblower protection, so they can, in fact, feel free to come forward and not be black balled from an industry which they want to work. You have a couple of questions chosen not to name names, even though you said you know there are other people on capitol hill, just explain to the audience why you have chosen not to do that. Also, tell us about the reaction you received on capitol hill. I imagine youre saying things that people would rather not have to talk about. Youre dragging this issue into the spotlight forcing people to talk about it. Whenever youre going to air the dirty laundry, youre making people uncomfortable. I would say in terms of the people that i know that have sexually harassed, i have said that i am protecting the victim. I am here to protect the victim. If the victim is prepared to come forward, and ive encouraged the victims to come forward, its got to be their decision in these two cases that im talking about. In terms of what im hearing, its amazing, its almost like a huge burden has been lifted for women in the house. I got stopped at trader joes last nights from women who said thank you so much for what youre doing, then they told me their stories. Ive had women come to me and tell me stories. The stories they tell are so repugnant. Imagine having someone come up to your desk, unzip their pants, and stick out their penis. She is afraid to say anything because shes a single mother and she needs the job. So congress, we have a problem, and weve got to fix it. Have you ever considered approaching the men involved to tell them i know about this, and you should think about what youre going to do. My concern is if youve signed a nondisclosure agreement and youve now already told me about it and i go and tell the member, then conceivably you have violated a nondisclosure agreement and the settlement you have received, you could lose. So what i want you to each think about a specific thing. Theres longterm solutions and shortterm solutions. For now shortterm solutions we can take on individually or as the industries you represent that could be done by friday or by the end of the month or by 2018 to really make a difference in dealing with this issue. Ill start with you. I think that the solutions say it again. Longterm solutions but things we can do right now. Things you can do right now to make a difference . Im an organizer by training. I think we have to organize around these issues. I think the women who are prepared have the voice not to force anybody to do anything they dont want to. But those who are prepared and have a voice need to come together. One of the things the me too hashtag does is identify people who are publicly talk to your friends, talk to the women in your office. If you see somebody put the hashtag up, have lunch with them and say lets talk about this. Do you want to do something . Even if its to support the other women, thats one thing. See what kind of actions can be taken by the group of people who you know have come forward. I think thats something that can happen immediately, to start looking for allies and support, whether its in your work industry, in your church, in your organization, whatever it is. Find like mined folks and allies and see what people want to do. Its important to know in the workplace its seen as if she has an army behind her. I think for me theres two things. I think for women, we need to listen to our own voice. I think the emotional sort of aspect to all of this is what weve been conditioned over decades to dismiss ourselves, to tell ourselves, oh, it wasnt that bad. Oh, its not a big deal. Im making a big deal out of this. For women, this is one of my favorite things Michelle Obama has ever said, women are taught not to listen to their own voice and it keeps us from fighting the fights we believe in. That is an actionable thing. Just tweaking your inner monologue, just taking control of that voice in your head to not be so hard on your self, to try to grapple with whats happening to you and recognize it and say im not alone, its okay. I think changing that inner dialogue is something we all have to work on because we have been conditioned to dismiss ourselves. For men, theres a lot of work that guys need to do. I would say i dont need you to defend me when im in the room. I can defend myself. What i need is for men to defend me when im not there. So men have access to the spaces and the pockets in which this behavior really thrives. We witnessed it as women. But we know behind closed doors probably how much worse it is. We need men right now, as allies, not for a pat on the back, but to do the hard work behind those closed doors, to call out their friends, to call out their coworkers, to say to them i dont appreciate you speaking that way about women. That is not an easy thing to do. That is absolutely not an easy thing to do. I think that men have a lot of work to do in that area. Because if youre not defending us while were not there, youre not doing anything. [ applause ] as the man in the crowd, i want you to answer the question of what we can do to make immediate change thats a tough one to follow. I think rachel has ginned it up for you to address what you can do to speak to the interest of women when they are not in the room. Ill speak to what were doing as a company. I believe we can only effect whats right in front of us. I believe by doing it better for us we make an example for everyone hopefully. And we made a commitment, you know, like i said, a cultural shift. Its going to take time. We have a company over 50 women. But not in leadership positions. So as far as Department Heads go, we have 40 of our Department Heads or women. As far as the board goes, 30 of the board is women. So my job, our job together is over the course of the next two years hopefully is to mentor enough people so they come into those jobs as leaders in the company and Department Head jobs and on the board from that they earned it, in a sense. I dont mean earned it by putting them through the paces. Not just a quality for women but a standpoint of we spend time together and they are going to succeed in those jobs. I think thats super important. Put them in those jobs and make sure they do great. Supported. I would say youre not theres not really going to be a lot of those back room conversations as you put it. You want to have women front and center in those conversations. The men should worry about what the women are saying about them in those conversations, its fine with me. I think that companies in my opinion work really well when they are in balance. I think their just needs to be a lot of balance put into this stuff. So thats what were trying to do. Im really proud of us, at least were making progress along that way. Hopefully it will be something years from now everybody will be talking about, which will be great. [ applause ] i would say that its two things. Its very important to talk about it, to talk to other women about it, to empower each other, to recognize that as a bystander you can be very powerful in supporting another person. Then im looking up here and seeing women rule. We dont rule. Were only 20 of congress. But things are changing. The largest march in the history of this country took place on january 21st because women and men across this country marched. There are more women [ applause ] there are more women running for congress than ever before. 356 women are running, oftentimes in multiple numbers in the same race. More women are contributing than ever before. So this is an opportunity that we cannot let run through our hands. We have got to be there to speak up, to vote, to run, and to transform the body politic in this country. Thank you very much. Thank you for using your voices. To the women in the audience, thank you very much for being here. Just know that because its a room full of women, there are certainly people in this room who have probably experienced this, who perhaps have not found the words to raise their hand or put a hashtag behind the words me too, but know there are a lot of people who are working on this issue, who are dedicated to this issue. This is just not a story thats in the headlines right now. This is something thats going to be with us and people are going to work hard to get this right. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. [ applause ] before i make my remarkse were going to watch a short oneminute video. This is a story about possibilities, aesthetics and doing good. This laura, shes a doer. Shes also an expert in science, technology, engineering and math. Just say stem. Right. Years ago she helped engineer gps technology. Today shes mentoring a new generation of doers in stem to do it her way. A veteran doer, making possible things these veterans thought they would never do. Impressive. This is sydney, a doer, too. A bit of a music nut. Laura told her how music explores the game, how might lead to cures like alzheimers. Lauras inspiration knows no bounds. Shes in lauras classroom, a big dreamer. No telling where it would lead. Girls do remarkable things with stem. With support from teachers, this generation may change the world. Doers together inspiring future users to use s. T. E. M. For the good of us all. [ applause ] im excited to be part of the conversation about empowering the next generation of women. Women in government, women in business, and women in media. As part of that conversation, i want to make sure we also talk about empowering the next generation of women in s. T. E. M. , science, technology, engineering and math. In my 30year career as an engineer working for a Global Energy company i worked in six Different Countries on five different continents. Ive seen how the energy we produce has the power to build economies and lift people out of poverty and produce products we rely on in our every day lives. Today im based in pittsburgh and lead chevrons unit developing natural gas and shail in pennsylvania, virginia. This is a part of our country that has one of the largest natural gas fields in the world. A little more than a decade ago, we didnt think it was possible at all to produce this resource. M in fact, my technology wouldnt exist if it wasnt for Major Technology breakthroughs and science. I have a personal goal to encourage more women to pursue s. T. E. M. Fields. When i think about the next 20 years, when i think about the global challenges we face now and in the future, its going to take scientists to come up with solutions. I want to make sure that more women are part of these solutions. I read a study recently that said unless things change in the u. S. , well come up short by 1 million s. T. E. M. Professionals over the next decade. Women hold about half of all the jobs in the u. S. But only slightly more than a quarter of s. T. E. M. Jobs. At chevron we realize the success of our business depends on a skilled and diverse workforce. Our technology is to invest in education along a continuum starting with k through 12 education programs. Over the past three years weve invested more than 100 million in education in the u. S. More than 340 million global. Were supporting s. T. E. M. Programs for thousands of students around the world and in our own backyard. In the appalachia basin, weve pledged 20 million over five years to support education and training throughout the region, including many rural areas. Our focus is to inspire more women and underrepresented students to pursue good careers and arm them with the skills they will need to be successful in the future. In addition to investing in educati education, i believe role models and mentors will mayan Important Role in filling the s. T. E. M. Pipeline. Over the course of my career, ive seen a shift in the representation of women in business and in government. But i think we need a lot more role models today, especially in s. T. E. M. When i began my undergraduate degree, i majored in petroleum engineering. You might say i bucked a trend. I was a woman pursuing engineering before we really even talked about s. T. E. M. As a thing. For me, my mom was my role model. She has a Computer Science degree, mba and a law degree. She served as an elected judge for 12 years. I didnt grow up in a home with stigmas or stereotypes. All i knew growing up was that i was smart. If i worked hard, i could do whatever i wanted. When i graduated from college, my first job out of school was as a drilling representative on a rig in the gulf of mexico. In those days, my job title was more traditionally known as company man. I was obvious the om chevron employee on the rig, and i was often the only woman on the rig. I worked seven days straight with 75 men. But despite what you may be thinking, this is one of the best experiences i ever had. I had a lot of responsibility for someone new in a career. I got used to being way outside my comfort zone, and i gained confidence that helped me say yes to knew and exciting opportunities that came throughout my career. In those early days on the rig, the men i worked with supported me. They helped me learn the business, and they wanted to see me succeed. This is an attitude ive encountered throughout my career at chevron. I know that many women are not as fortunate to have the same experiences or role models that i have had, but thats exactly why we need more women and men to support women. We need to send a message to the next generation of young girls that says youre smart, youre talented, and with hard work you can do whatever you want in this world. Then we need to show them what those opportunities look like. I have two daughters, simone and lillian. Im happy to say they are in college and both of them have chosen to pursue s. T. E. M. Fields. This the one piece of advice i give them, and i give to any young person, get a role model. It doesnt need to be your mom. Just find someone who can inspire you. Seek out Accomplished Women in your field and talk to them. Do research on the internet. Read books about successful women. And to everyone here, i say, be an intentional role model and mentor. You dont have to be perfect to have an impact. Just be deliberate. Encourage women to speak up in meetings. Select women on your teams to lead complex projects and encourage them to get outside their comfort zones. Finally, support them along the way. Make sure others in your organization do the same. Over the course of my career, ive seen a change for the better. When i think about my daughters, im excited for them. Im excited for what their generation has ahead of them. Im optimistic about the future. The challenge of getting more women involved in s. T. E. M. And advancing them throughout our organizations is not simple. One company or one person wont solve this alone. Its up to all of us to enable this bright future. But with deliberate and concerted efforts to mentor, support and encourage women im confident we will succeed mentoring the next generation of female leaders. Thank you for your time and attention today. Please welcome chief International Affairs columnist susan glasser. Wow, i can see nobody came this morning. Well, i want to thank everybody for turning out this morning. Of course im delighted to be back at women rule and see what an incredible institution this has become and how many years weve been doing this. I think were all delighted to be part of a really important conversation today about how we can come together to stop and to understand the problem of Human Trafficking. These are all four leaders in the field, in different ways but all four leaders in the field. I want to introduce quickly participants in the next conversation to everybody and then well jump right in. So i imagine Everybody Knows senator marco rubio. We have to thank you for being with us today and also for being wildly outnumbered as is totally appropriate. Thank you marco rubio. Next to senator rubio, the former director of u. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement service. So she had a nice easy job the last few years. We that you so much for joining us this morning. [ applause ] kate bosworth, actor, filmmaker, will talk a little about her upcoming film on this very issue of Human Trafficking, nona. Shes also better known in my family for having played journalists. We encourage her to keep up with those roles. Thank you very much for joining us. And most importantly in many ways, barbara, who has shown us survivors of Human Trafficking can also come and take the lead in the movement to stop it. Shes the author of her own story nobodys girl. Shes an activist. Were really, really honored to have her with us today. Barbara, thank you. [ applause ] so lots of introductions. Everybody here is an activist. That takes on different words. Im really glad in many ways this handle is coming after this powerful conversation we had this morning about Sexual Harassment and this Incredible National moment of reckoning that were having about whats happening in our workplaces, how we can seize back control of them, and also the continuum on which it exists. So thats why im glad were able to talk about it as part of a continuum. Barbara, youre the only one on this panel who can speak directly to both what its like to have the experience of being trafficked and also what we in washington, what dont we get. Why are we so stupid . Why cant we fix this. What do our lawmakers and Law Enforcement need to do they are not doing. Thats a so thats an easy question to answer. Have this figured out by lunchtime. If i could answer that question, we could all just go home. Unfortunately you mentioned Law Enforcement. When i was a 12yearold being trafficked in the streets of new york over a decade, started at age 12, i was arrested many, many times. I was arrested but the trafficker and the other people were never arrested. So i think training for Law Enforcement and medical personnel is so important. Training on identification. That paradigm shift, mind shift, wait a minute, maybe that person is a victim, not a criminal. That would be good. I speak across the country today. Youd be amazed. Im not going to out any universities but they dont think trafficking happens in the United States. Awareness and education trucking along. I dont have a magical answer. I wish i did. Backpage. Com, thats a good moment to bring in senator rubio. Im struck by the fact we have gotten more sophisticated on capitol hill. Youve been an activist many times proposing legislation targeting specific things. Tell me what you see to do . What are the steps going forward. Keep doing what were doing, create a better understanding of what it is were speaking about. More important to focus, what is the end result of trafficking slavery. The end result trafficking slavery, people forced to work little or no pay against their wills. Trapped in situations that arent just physical confinement but psychological as well. From that, obviously sex trafficking receives a lot of attention, rightfully so. Labor trafficking is an enormous problem as well. In fact, its even bigger. Bigger. By the way, they are interrelated. Oftentimes, it deals with people vulnerable. Someone is vulnerable and therefore falls prey. Third aspect methods by which people are trafficked. Back page is a place where youre able to ties these services and hide behind the notion, we dont know what it is. It claimed one thing and did another. They know full well not only do they know where it leads to but very profitable to them. Its my hope the legislation will passed. A little bit of an impediment but working on getting through that. The last was raised a few moments ago, how do you interact with a victim. We still find too many Law Enforcement who treat someone say someone arrested at a massage parlor, they have been trafficked. They treat them the same as an arrest. They think arresting, intimidating, you get them to testify against someone. That doesnt work for someone psychologically shattered, in fear, whose mind is controlled by the individual who put them there. That requires a longerterm Awareness Campaign to better train Law Enforcement, state attorneys, district attorneys and u. S. Attorneys across the country. Well, thats an important point. You want to bring in sarah on the Law Enforcement piece. Quickly, lets stay on capitol hill for a second. You mentioned this new legislation. We talked about back page. Youre getting pushback from Tech Companies. They make a lot of money on this stuff. Its not free speech as far as youre concerned. Free speech does not you cannot argue you are protected by free speech and the ability to facilitate an illegal activity, criminal activity. The vast majority, for the most part the industry doesnt like regulation. In fairness a lot of industry players are on board, platforms on board. If this is a significant amount of your revenue, youll face criminal liability for facilitating it, of course they are going to fight against it. Of course they will come up with intricate and novel argument for why we shouldnt be able to regulate it. The fact of the matter is they know for a fact they are willing and openly facilitating the trafficking and ultimately slavery of human beings and making money off of it and they dont want to be liable for us. Whats your estimate of chances on we could unanimously pass it. We have a couple of senators who are blocking that. Theres a way to do it, bring it up for a floor vote, and i believe we will. Okay. So sarah, this has kind of been unusual outpost of bipartisanship, this issue and some of the bills senator rubio shhh, dont ruin it. I dont want to let you in on the secret here but i do believe Elizabeth Warren and marco rubio are cosponsors on this. [ applause ] actually on a couple of things. Also cosponsors on amendments to help train Law Enforcement to better identify it. I can see the contours of our government of National Unity taking place. On this issue for sure, yes. Okay. So sarah, Law Enforcement issue primarily or is it really an issue of this legislative framework missing. Whats your view . You know, im not so sure that Law Enforcement is real helpful in this area. Difficult say that . I think i said that. Youre the former director. I think the headlines grab away one of the most Important Missions of i. C. E. Because everyone focuses on immigration area, we should focus on the immigration area, but there is a core of i. C. E. Agents who focus on investigations of criminal activity including sex trafficking, trafficking of all kinds, sex trafficking, domestic slavery and any situation where theres coercion or a child involved. To say that in 2017 i. C. E. Had about 1,000 indictments nationwide, and thats just those that passed the federal test of this is a case we cant take every case. This is a case that has national impact. This is a case involving a lot of people. Theres a network involved. We can have a better impact if the feds take this, because states have their own Human Trafficking statutes as well. So i just dont know how much of a message it sends when so many of our traffickers, because there is an International Aspect to this. The cases i worked with in particular involved, for example, im thinking of one in particular, korea, where korean businessmen were being catered to in dallas, where i was the u. S. Attorney at the time with women who had been brought over thinking they were going to get an education and good paying jobs once they got out of school. Instead they were working in a bar and living in the second floor of this traffickers home, his personal home. So one of the saddest thing i have, when we discovered the records, which we kept meticulously in his garage, thank you very much, were the names of countless women who had gone through that second floor of those second floor bedrooms who we were never able to find. We were able to find the 12 there at the time but we werent able to find the other one. We do render justice and we go after perpetrators, put them in prison. But the most important thing is, and this something we teach all our agents, its a victim center. The most important thing is, you cant extend the investigation if a victim is being threatened and is at risk at that moment, youve got to stop it, rescue the victim and bring them forward. So we have a certain it more important, forums like this where we can discuss what the public can do to happen. A couple of quick questions. Youve raised a lot for us to unpack. I do want to raise how victims get caught up in the Law Enforcement net. Quickly to you first, how much do you think this current immigration crackdown were having in the United States might end up having trafficking component or ensnaring victims of trafficking as well. One thing im told, traffickers might have Legal Immigration status but exploiting those who dont. An outcry to somebody outside of the ring of People Holding them. Its not a leap of faith to say someone in the country illegal, not going to report a crime where they will become the criminal. Just like sex trafficking and other areas where looked like as criminals first. Maybe we do have to do something to help them. So i dont have numbers on it, but i believe theres a negative impact when you have this push towards anybody who is out there. I think i read the other day, senator, i think i read the other day something about the person who is running i. C. E. Right now in an acting capacity but who is a nominee say you should be afraid if youre in the country illegally. See, that doesnt spur, i think, people to come forward and Say Something. Its one of the leverage points a trafficker will use against the victim. Number one, no one knows youre here. If you die and disappear, no one will know. Two, sometimes you hear about threats to families back home. Three, many cases far from home, like places people traffic from china, they are really disconnected. The third if youre going to go to the authorities, whats going to happen. Youre going to get sent back. Sounds like a good statement for an oversight hearing, doesnt it . Yeah. Im from here, an immigrant, but i was programmed to believe purposefully that everything was my fault and my idea, that i would be arrested, and i was arrested. That reinforced what i was told. There were psychological bonds in place. Victims dont selfidentify as victims. No victim is going to walk into a Police Station and go help me, help me, im a victim of Human Trafficking. Time, which you touched on, it takes time to get to that point with the victim. Nobody has time. Its an issue. So kate, i want to bring you in here, because, in fact, the story that you are telling in your new film is a story of immigrants caught up, trying to come across the border. Tell us a little bit about your new film and what inspired you to make it. Well, i feel really grateful to be here. Thank you all for having me. You know, im new with this subject matter, so im learning a lot, and im really grateful for everyone here and to learn from them. My husband and i made a movie called nona. My husbands mother is from mexico and she came across the border when she was about four. So there was a lot of, you know, personal its a personal story for him in many ways and for me as well. We had heard the story of a house in los angeles, which is where were from that had been busted, a sex trafficking house, and that there are 44 known houses in los angeles alone. We just couldnt believe that in our own backyard just around the corner from where we lived this kind of abuse was happening and no one knew about it. The more we spoke about it with other people who are very knowledgeable, educated people, so many of them would say, whats trafficking again . Whats Human Trafficking . We thought, well, something needs to be done about this. The only thing that we really have to speak out on our platform is art. So we decided to make this movie called nona which is about a girl who is from honduras. She is trafficked through los angeles. My husband took a crew of about eight people. He wrote, directed, photographed the movie himself. He filmed starting in honduras and san ped ross, through guatemala, all the way through mexico and i met him inti tijuana, across the border. I was producing the movie in los angeles, which a lot of people asked me what was it like to be a producer and also a wife on that movie. You know, the subject matter was much bigger than ourselves, though there was one moment that i thought was quite nervous. He was in guatemala and i actually was here in washington, d. C. , speaking with vital voices, started by Hillary Clinton about 20 years ago. Amazing group, by the way. Please check them out. Theyre really incredible. And there were two women from guatemala that i met. And they said, i told them about the movie we were making. They said, your husband is in guatemala now. I said, yes. They said, did you know what happened yesterday . I said no. There were about 30 women rounded up who had been protesting being trafficked and they were essentially killed. So i called my husband. And you know, made sure that everyone was okay there, and told him what happened. It really we felt so overwhelmed by telling a story that not many people know about, and it kind of fueled us more to be involved with this issue. It started as a very pure human place for us, the movie really is about a human being. I think we lose sight the more im introduced to the subject matter, of the humanity of this. This is not a statistical problem. Although the numbers are high. This really starts with a sister, a daughter, a mother, a niece. You know, but for the grace of god, it could be any one of us. Thats really what our movie is about. And why i feel it was so important to tell it. You know, barbara, i see you nodding your head here. You know, this is a story that shes telling about immigration, but its also something that literally happened to you right here. Tell us, you grew up here. Well, originally. Im from fairfax. When people ask where are you from, i hesitate because i left fairfax when i was 12. And i ended up being under the influence of a trafficker in new york for over a decade. And as i mentioned, i was arrested and i was i mean, every type of violence you could imagine or not imagine i experienced. Became addicted to heroin. Im a cancer survivor. I had uterine cancer which is directly related to the fact i was a trafficking victim, hpv. I was nodding my head because you were talking about the humanity and the reason i escaped from new york, got out of new york city, is i put myself into a drug clinic when i was 22 and heavily addicted to heroin, and the intake person there, all she was supposed to do was intake clients, and she went above and beyond her scope of work for whatever reason, and she looked me in the face, and she gave me eye contact. And for the first time, i dont know how long, maybe my entire life, i felt like a human being. And she treated me like a human being. And she went above and beyond her scope of work. She sent me on a job interview. I didnt get the job, but i went on the job interview. If i would have gotten the job, it would have been a miracle, but anyway. She found out family members were living in nearby philadelphia, and she set the ball rolling and i left and never went back until 2013. Taking time and treating people like human beings and, you know, i know counselors and social workers and everyone else, you have clients, but you have to slow down and treat people like i think its overwhelming to think about, you know, there could be a girl in Fairfax County right now, you know, 20 minutes outside the beltway, experiencing this. You mentioned heroin, and i want to ask one more policy question before, by the way, get your questions ready. Were going to try to get questions from the audience into this, too. You mentioned heroin and the fact you became addicted as part of this whole cycle of abuse you were experiencing. This has become obviously a much discussed crisis in our National Politics today. Have you seen senator rubio, or you, sarah, in any of the conversations around the policy issues that this is being factored into our discussion about how to respond to the Opioid Crisis . Not enough because its one of the leverage points against the victim as the victim becomes almost always unwillingly addicted to an opiate or heroin. This person obviously now is suffering from that disease as well, and your trafficker is the person who possesses that substance to keep you out of the suffering that happens when you go through withdrawal. So its another one of the tools of abuse, along with other things we have talked about. All in our conversations, i am not in any way diminishing or minimizing the number of people trafficked into the country. We should not lose sight there are people domestically here, runaways and young girls who become prime targets for what they might not realize is trafficking until its really developed into something much more serious. You say there might be a girl in Fairfax County, there most certainly is, and probably more than one. From this experience, learning a lot about kids in the foster care system being targeted, which i think is important to be aware of. And theyll be found trafficked, sex trafficked, and then straight back into the foster system. You can imagine that these are kids, children, that are so vulnerable already, not having parentso any kind of foundation, and they have got through this sick cycle of abuse straight back into the foster system. There really needs to be a scenario in which people are helped for this type of situation, and have a sense of healing. I went through this system. I went through because i ran away more than one time. I ran away many times and i ended up going through the juvenile Justice System and foster care system and all the systems but i fell through the cracks because nobody took time. And thats what happened to me, pretty much. Okay. Questions. Theres a lot to unpack here. Help us with your questions to get at some of the issues. Im having a hard time seeing so im going to go to the front. Go ahead. Hi, im samantha. Senator rubio, how is it cosponsoring thank you. Im samantha. I work with running start. For senator rubio, how is it cosponsoring a bill with Elizabeth Warren and how is it working across the aisle on this issue . Do you get support from other republicans or some of your coworkers, or is that something thats really hard to do . Yeah, so and i get that question a lot from people because the vast majority of americans only see political figures in their interviews on television, like these are real human beings. We interact with one another. We agree on a lot of things. By the way, one of the most one of the most sought after things in the senate is bipartisanship. Youre almost always on any issue, youre almost always looking to bring in a lead from the other party to work with you. Its are rr actually not the first issue i worked with Elizabeth Warren on. She was the lead on an mia, missing in action, killed in action, veterans issue that i was a part of as well and we just had a ceremony for that a couple weeks ago. Any time you have a bipartisan sponsor, it increases dramatically your chances of getting a result. On an issue like this, it doesnt have natural partisan confines. Its actually very productive. The only thing i would say is, and this is kind of a sad state of affairs in some way about the way politics is practiced and covered, the more controversial it is, the more likely you are to know about it. Politics is practiced over conflict. What are people fighting over . The coverage this bill has gotten is not what a great idea it is and how many peoples lives its going to improve. The cover is there are people against it for privacy reasons. Its a conflict driven environment. And so thats why you dont hear enough about it. Theres plenty of conflict, trust me, but on this particular issue, there really shouldnt be. If there is, its more idealogical on that privacy thing than it is on the broader need to be helping people. The conflict is between the Tech Companies and the sponsors of this measure . Yeah. Again, im not here to defend Tech Companies. Thats another problem with them, but on this particular issue, the big platforms are not the issue, but there are some general organizational groups that dont like any sort of regulation that touches internet and speech on the internet. Its a new area that were going to continue to have to work through. I saw one in the back there. Yes, maam. Hi. Senator rubio. I want to ask you, recently in texas, there was [ inaudible ] it turns out that i. C. E. Deported them after promising them new visas. What are you doing to make sure in this age of trump that people who are promised visas because of trafficking get them, and can you please always support the d. R. E. A. M. Act . [ applause ] so on the first point, no matter what administration, if Something Like that happens, the people who did it should be investigated and if true, should be fired and disciplined for anything that leads to loss of life. The job of an i. C. E. Agent is to enforce the law as theyre ordered to do, but not to endanger the people for whom they interact and not to lie or do so under false pretenses. If in fact all those facts prove to be as they were, its my sense these individuals would not only be fired but they would be potentially disciplined. Again, its got to be a factbased thing. I dont want to solely go off initial reports, and i have no reason to question that to be the case. The d. R. E. A. M. Act is important. I have long supported an accommodation for people who didnt commit a crime. Theyre here, brought here by others when they were young. And have grown up in our country. Theyre in fact the profile, if you look at it, college graduated, speak english, have professional opportunities. Theyre exactly the profile of people that some are arguing we need to move immigration towards. A merit based system. I think the question becomes how do you achieve it. I have been pretty honest about it. In our constitutional republic, in order to get a bill passed, you need 60 votes in the senate and a majority in the house. To do so its my opinion if you want to make a permanent change in law, not a codification of daca as a bridge, but a permanent change in law on the immigration status of people, theyre going to have to pair that with a permanent change of some sort in enforcement. Thats the only way you get to 60 votes in the senate. We have this conversation yesterday with senator durbin on the senate floor. My hope is that i believe theres a majority of people in the house and senate that want to achieve Something Like it. I think the disagreement is over how to achieve it. But i do think theres and youre seeing new voices, new senators like tillis and lankford who have become involved in this issue that werent involved in it a couple years ago. So thats a positive development. You know, sarah, i want to get another question, but i want to ask you, because your background both in texas as u. S. Attorney and from i. C. E, is there something happening to your former agency that concerns you right now . Do you think this would have happened in a previous era . Okay, so a couple things. Let me start with i think she wants to talk about this. Let me start with facts that are facts that are facts that are reported sometimes are not always accurate. I know that is a news flash. But there was a newspaper i really admired and read every day in my prior life until they started reporting facts as facts which were not facts. So i would just encourage you to be whats the word . Critical in your vigilant and critical in your reviews of News Coverage on things because you have to be careful with that. One that was reported was that there was barbed wire around our Family Detention Centers and guards, armed guards with ak47s that were aiming them at children just to kind of keep never happed. Never happened. The retraction appeared several months later buried in the newspaper. I dont read that newspaper anymore. I just lost faith. But yes, i think theres i just volunteered to the senator free of charge my services to work on because i am always a lawyer, to work on any kind of legislation we can do, which i think has to be comprehensive. You cant just piecemeal, okay, well kick the can down the road for six months and extend daca, for example, and i think you agree with that. Sure. The sixmonth theres got to be a fullthroated effort as opposed to one sliver of the immigration issue. No doubt it all has to be solved. I think the only debate is can you do it in one massive piece of legislation, which is difficult to do, or through a sequence. But youll never solve the immigration issue unless you deal with all of it. Some of the facts are dealing with the fact our Legal Immigration system is too expensive. Its all intertwined. You have to deal with all of it. I know we cant run over, but i want both of you to promise youre going to come back to women rule summit and tell us how this collaboration to rewrite americas immigration laws goes. Thank you very much to both of you. [ applause ] this has been a fantastic conversation. And you know, this year, what were doing at women rule, which i think is great, is ending every panel by just in a lightning round, we know youre sitting out there, and especially on a problem like this, youre saying what can i do. You know, how do i process, what do i do with this. So this is a lightning round, you know, barbara, what do you think . What would you say to these wonderful women in this audience about what they can do . First of all, being here is something you can do. Being here and listening and opening your mind. To all the other communities out there, and everyone else thats listening to this. Taking time to learn about the issue and to learn about the gap between policy and practice. And to learn about whats needed. And you know, educate yourselves. And time, it takes time. I know nobody has that, that we all have to slow it down and take time to learn about whats happening. And what we can each do to make a difference. And whats missing in our particular communities and states. Okay. You dont have to make the plug for the movie. Please watch the movie. Youre sweet. Actually, im going to echo whats you just said, which is really education is the most important thing one can do. You know, i still feel very intimidated honestly to be here with such educated people and knowledgeable people, but im very committed to knowing more and to staying open. I think its very important to listen to the survivors of these situations, to really understand the solution. Its difficult to speak without any kind of personal experience to what a solution may be, so i think really you had a saying. Tell them your saying. Oh, nothing about us without us. Yeah. And i think thats really important. [ applause ] yeah. Thank you. So i work with a group, the coalition against trafficking. So really understanding kind of those groups and, again, educating yourselves on the groups when are on the front lines of helping, you know, find solutions to these major issues. And really listening to survivors, i think, is very important. The blue campaign, department of homeland securitys efforts to raise awareness on Human Trafficking, go to dhs. Gov, ice. Gov, youll find tools to take back to your communities. Governmental organizations to inform people what to look for, because its very much a hidden crime. Behind closed doors. And you have to know what to look for, including Law Enforcement. And i would just say do everything you can to convince people this is real. Its not an urban legend. A lot of people you dont associate with Human Trafficking are the product of it. Virtually everybody trafficked in prostitution, forced into labor, even in the Diplomatic Court in washington, we have had instances of that. Its not an urban legend. These are not isolated cases. Its much more widespread and closer to where you live than most people realize. Do everything you can not just to become fully informed but to let others know about it as well. Wow, what a great, great conversation. I want to thank everyone here, and thank all of you for this. Thank you. [ applause ] [ applause ] all right, thank you so much. My name is anna palmer. Im back. One of several panels today. Im very excited about this next conversation that were going to have. Im thrilled to be joined by sue, leaders in the women communities. Were going to share stories, recommendations and insights about how we can ourselves further our own careers, and im joined here by gloria, who is chairman of story partners, and heather podesta, two consulting and lobbying firms downtown. When were talking about this panel, i said i want this to be the real talk panel. We have a lot of really big issues today, but a lot of people come up to us, a lot of women want advice about how do you make that step . The first question to you both is how did you get the guts and courage . Was there a moment when you decided im going to do this, im going to start my own firm . You know, my mom really raised me to believe i could do anything. And i didnt know i wasnt supposed to be in the room. I didnt know i wasnt supposed to sit at the table. So i just sort of blew through those, whats she doing . Why is she sitting at the table moment. And when i decided to start this, i was talking to a former business partner, and he literally said to me, how are you going to support yourself . And i thought, well, what you dont know is i mentioned it to my former mentor a few weeks before, and he had sent me a contract, a twoyear contract. And then my mom had recently passed away, and she had left me a small inheritance. That really staked me financially and gave me the courage to start the firm. And what i knew then was once my mentor had put his faith and belief in me, and my mom, you know, having passed away and saved this little bit of money to give to me, i knew i couldnt let them down. It was a real motivator, and im sure many of you have felt somebody put great faith in you, and you were not going to let them down. You were going to work really hard, you were going to make them proud. You were going to do the unthinkable because they believed in you. I think that was a real motivator for me, that other people really believed in me and thought i could do something. So its 2006. Nancy pelosi has just won back the house. And i see a huge market opportunity. Nobody knows house democrats. I had been a partner at a law firm. I had clients like gloria, financial concern was a real one, but had money saved away. I knew i had hustle. I knew i was hungry. But you need that event. Where youre like, im going for it. And for me, that event was a Holiday Party almost 11 years to the day where i see the chairman of the law firm where im working talking to a client that i brought in. And i, you know, stride over there feeling very pleased with myself. And the chairman says, isnt heather our most beautiful partner . And talented. You go into the laugh line, and you spend the rest of the evening smiling and seething. And for me, i gave notice ten days later. And i went for it. Wow. [ applause ] one of the big things i think probably all of us in this room have gone through is that moment where you have to enter into a room like this, you might not know anybody or last night, we were at a reception and you dont have your friends thats coming from the office with you. Youre on the scene a lot. Youre kind of a consummate networker. Whats your piece of advice for the women in the room who say, okay, how do you strategically take on the room . I think you really do need a strategy. You know, just walking into a room and blindly handing out Business Cards is not going to get you where you need to go. And a lot of people i see a lot of people do that. So i try to know whos going to be in the room ahead of time. I make sure i do a little bit of homework. I might get the guest list. I look and see who i need or want to connect with. If im taking a client, i want to make sure that theyre meeting the right sort of people. If i need to touch base with a reporter because were working on a story, you know, ill seek them out. But the key is to have a strategy. The second piece of that is really to have authentic connections with folks. And you know, what i try to do is find out from people whats keeping then up at night. What are they concerned about, how can i help them in some way. Is it with a contact, is it maybe i just read something that could be beneficial to them and i want to share that with them or maybe theyre trying to meet someone, and i know ive got a good connection and i can make that happen. So, you know, when i get a Business Card from somebody at an event, i follow up. If i dont follow up that night, i follow up the next day, and i follow up with something thats meaningful. Thats going to extend that relationship and not just say one time deal. So agree with everything that gloria just said. A couple of other things to think about, because its a mind set when you go into a room full of strangers. As gloria said, knowing whos in the room, recognizing their face, knowing something about them, you can start that conversation. But the mind set is, everyone should feel like theyre the hostess of the party. This is my party. Not paying for it, but all of you are my guests. And so its my job to make you feel as welcome as possible. Another part is, you know, dress to start the conversation. You know, i am always i love clothing. But i also know that if i go out there, some will say, i love your bows. I said that this afternoon. It gives people a way of approaching you. And you become approachable as well. Especially with glorias awesome tshirt. Embrace your ambitions. Right. I love it. Well, this kind of segues neatly into another question that we get a lot. And that some of my girlfriends who are in the audience wanted me to ask you both, is networking turns into business developments. Men seem to have the leg up on that. You know, theyre going out playing golf, a culture of drinking in washington. You both have done a lot to cultivate business. Whats a secret or a tool that they can take away from this conversation . Listening. Really understanding what a potential client might need, and then telling them how youre going to help solve their problem. And understand that it is the beginning of a conversation. Oftentimes, its almost like, hey, are you single . If youre single, lets date. Its like, whoa. Thats a big merger of interests, and just understanding that to bring in a client is a cultivation exercise, and it takes time. And i think that one of the mistakes i see people make is pushing for a quick answer. Are you going to hire me . As opposed to show value. Let them see how smart you are. Let them understand how youre different from other folks in the industry. Also, and i know gloria also believes in this, be a concierge. Were in the business of taking care of peoples problems. Oh, your kid needs an internship, lets work on that. So there are any number of ways to start the conversation, and you have to find ways to keep that conversation going. And part of it is just being a good person and remembering birthdays or, hey, i saw this article. Thought you would really be interested in it. And just always remember the old adage which is when you chase, they run. When you run, they chase. I like it. Yeah, i think and making sure that potential clients know that youre all in for them. And that you, you know, youre not just going to get them in the door and then go and look for the next client. So investing in people early without any intention of a return. So they know that you really are investing in them for all the right reasons, not that youre just investing in them because theyre going to hire you and as soon as they hire you, youre moving on to the next investment. I will say southern companies, my first client in 1989, they were my first client in 1993, and my first client in 2010. I have invested in them over the years. And they have invested back. So having those longterm relationships with people that people know that youre all in. That youve got their interests ahead of your own, and that youre always paying attention. And finding out things that they may not know and youre a conduit of information for them. I think when you put all of those things together and you outhustle everyone, you know, you put the numbers in the right column for your firm. And ill just say this, you know, heather, when she started her firm, we have a pure mutual client. He said early in, you know, the start of heathers firm, no one is outhustling her. And you know, i want that person on my team. And i know people have said that about us and the firms that i have had. So i think that that reputation and protecting that reputation, and you know, telegraphing that appropriately is very important. Were about to get to wrap, but i want to talk about something women dont like to talk about, which is money. Both of you fundraise, and the question i got the most from people when i talked about the panel was how do i ask for a raise . How something a lot of women struggle with, a lot of young women ask me all the time. I think those are kind of similar skill sets, how you ask people to give you some of their own money and how do you make the case to an employer, someone like yourselves, they do deserve a raise. My grandmother used to say, you dont ask, you dont get. You have to put your hand out. When i first started in this business, a lot of folks didnt ever ask. So my boss told me, you have to ask the questions. And you have to help people get to yes. So sit down with your boss. Make your case. Figure out where opposition to giving you a raise might come from. Go ahead and have good answers for that. If the answer is no, not now, then you need to find out how do you get to yes. What is it going to take for me to become a senior vp . What is it going to take for me to get your business . What is it going to take for me for you to buy a table at the fundraiser that im chairing . How do i get to yes . What do i need to do . And how can you help me get to yes. What you want to do is have that client, that boss, that prospect, you want them to buy into your success. You want them to buy in to eventually saying yes to you. Once they have bought in, its just a matter of time. So getting to the matter of the raise, which all of us have struggled with. Oftentimes, the emphasis is put on the day, the meeting, the ask. If youre focused in that way, you will not get your raise. This is about developing a strategy, like anything in washington, its a lobbying campaign. So right now, were in the middle of the soon to be tax conference. As a tax lobbyist, would i go to brady at this point and say, hey, i want this at this last moment and please Pay Attention to me . No. You would have developed a strategy months earlier and created your storyline. You know, why should you be given a raise . What have you been doing . And documenting that, but also educating those above you and other folks in the organization. Its really important to have validators who are like, gloria is doing amazing work. Did you know she did x, y, and z . And to create this sort of thoughtful approach to establishing your own storyline, telling your storyline, because one of the biggest things i see as an employer is i see people doing really good work. But if they dont tell me that theyre doing it, i dont know that theyre doing it. I am not a mind reader. I am actively engaged, so i can see whats going on. But, you know, my folks have learned that they have to manage up to me. They have to tell me what theyre working on, and theyre in that way creating their own brand, their own storyline, so when we have that meeting, i know exactly what they have done, and you know, in that meeting you should be straightforward. You should be fact based. And nothing should come as a surprise to the person sitting across the table from you. Things not to do dont be needy. Dont be entitled. And dont negotiate against yourself. Dont equivocate. Well, there is so much more to unpack there. Unfortunately, we are wrapping up this panel, but youll be around. Feel free to introduce yourself to gloria and heather. For that, were going to leave for lunch. Thank you so much. [ applause ] we encourage you to use this time to network with your table. As a reminder, the marketplace is open. So a brief break in the womens rule summit. Well be returning to live coverage at about 1 00. The summit is bringing together women from politics and the private sector, theyre discussing expanding leadership opportunities for women. Again, more coming up live here on cspan3. Right now, well go back to one of the earlier panels from this conference. Welcome to rana burke, the founder of me too campaign. [ applause ] oh, wow. Oh, wow. Thank you. First off, thank you for being here and for sharing your story with us today. Thank you for having me. So i have been covering Sexual Harassment from my capitol hill standpoint ever since the Harvey Weinstein news broke. I was absolutely stunned to learn in this video that you founded me too way back in 2006 on a myspace page. Okay. So tell me, why do you think it took more than a decade for this to catch on . And take us inside that day when that hashtag went totally viral. I think it took more than a decade because the reality is people dont want to talk about this issue. People dont want to amplify these discussions, and those of us who worked in Sexual Violence, we talk to each other, and we go out and work hard, and we are in our communities trying to amplify the voices of surviv survivors, but its not a pop culture issue. For me in particular, i saw this working with black and brown girls in the south, and so you cannot get more marginalized than that, really. And so, it had to have pop culture, the light of pop culture to shine on it before people would really Pay Attention. So in some ways im really grateful for that. Because now we have a National Conversation we never had before. But i definitely did not see this, foresee this in 2006 when we started doing this work. It was like no such thing as viral. No such thing as, like, i dont think twitter had started yet. So that wasnt the vision, but it was a vision. We did have a vision to have something that people could connect to, that a survivor could connect to that was simple, but it showed an exchange of empathy so people really connected with each other. Its really easy for somebody to say when you tell your story, any kind of trauma, somebody says oh, my god. Im so sorry that happened to you. There was a person is well meaning and wants to make you feel comfortable, theres still a distance there between you and them. Right . Its this thing that happened to you but not me. The difference is when you tell somebody, somebody shares something thats the most traumatic thing that happened to them and at the end of that, you can say, yeah, me too. Theres an instant connection that happens, that at least for the two of you, frees you. Its a liberation that you cant trade for anything in the world. Theres no money that can help you have that feeling of having a connection with somebody that says, oh, my god, im not alone. Im not crazy. Im not an anomaly, not some weirdo. These feelings i have are real and genuine. Thats really what me too is about. Take us back inside that day. What happened . So sunday morning, picture it. Sunday morning, i started having the notifications on my phone. Not a lot, just a few going off. I checked one, and a friend sent me a message. She said, what are you doing . Did something happen on twitter . What are you doing . I said, sleeping . Nothing in particular. And she said, you need to go online. Theres people talking about me too. Like, okay. I mean, i had like videos out, and you know, i had been doing the work for a long time. But when i went to look on twitter, it wasnt viral yet, but there were an awful lot of pokes. At first i panicked. Like this is weird. I do the work in a very specific way. And honestly, in a very specific audience. And that wasnt the audience i was seeing. And i also hadnt really tackled Sexual Harassment in the workplace and that kind of thing. Sexual street harassment, yes, and in schools, yes. So i went through a wave of emotions. I think by the Late Afternoon, i was more panicked about the idea that there was massive disclosure happening in such a popular way. Why me too is about people disclosing and telling their stories, i was worried about people not having a container to process. Its a very big deal. We lose the idea that social media is the world, right . Once you put it out there, its in the world. Right. And there was, i was like, what are these people going to do . Theres a wave of emotions that happens after you disclose something thats so personal. Then i was like, okay, i need to figure out how to insert myself in this conversation, to give context to this. Its not just two words. Its a declaration, and its a disclosure that has some impact. Right . And when we use it, theres a theory of empowerment and empathy. I wanted to introduce that in the conversation. I was fortunate enough that these women who are, you know, im a writer as well, and do a bunch of, you know, have created a network of people who do social justice work. Over the last 20, 25 years, and they immediately, and they know my work. They immediately came and said, we need to amplify your voice on this. People need to understand what this is about. Speaking of disclosure, i can tell you from my standpoint on the hill, talking to a lot of these victims, theres a fear even now of coming forward, that they will be blackballed, wont be able to get a job, and theres a sense that this watershed moment has not reached washington politics. Why do you think that me too has not quite hit the political arena the way it is spreading across the country right now . I think it hasnt hit a lot of arenas. I think thats a really real fear that we need to be clear about. The attention is great and the media and the glitz and glam. I can go on television and talk about a lot of things, but my going on television and talking and speaking in front of you does not protect a woman right now who is at her job fearful that she could get fired from her boss, whether its capitol hill or mcdonalds. And i think that we have to be like people keep asking what happens after this moment. Im like, this is a movement. Movements are bimeuilt over tim and theyre strategic and methodical. For me, this moment is a triumph in the overall movement. I think we should celebrate it as a triumph but not forget theres a whole body of work that has to happen. There are laws that have to change, policies that need to be implemented, on the ground work that has to happen. That is sort of my commitment to the work. Like, i love being here. I love talking to people, and getting the message out, but i have a lot of work to do. And part of that is because it hasnt reached everywhere. And now that we have this sort of spotlight, i think the very next thing we have to do is amplify this conversation and represent those people wherever they are. What would you say that me too has taught you about mobilizing full networks of women . Women. Lets talk about women. I mean, i love being a woman. I love being a black woman. I love that we are so we are always at the forefront, regardless of if theres a camera there or not, if theres attention to be paid, other people paying attention, were on the ground doing the work. And this moment would not happen without women. No question. Right . The bravery and courage of the women who came forward. And even the courage of the women who havent come forward. Like, i think we should always acknowledge the fact that when you are when you are a survivor of Sexual Violence, the thing that happens is your choice is taken away. Your right to choose, your autonomy is taken away. A choice is a choice. Even if you choose not to disclose, thats a choice and a powerful choice that people should hold on to. I hate for people to get caught up in this, i get messages all the time of people saying i really want to say me too, i want to disclose, but im scared. I say dont. You hold and own that choice. And i think that what this moment has done is given choice to women in ways that we havent seen in a long time. Right . Given that power back to choose whether you disclose, whether you dont, whether you stand up, whether you dont. Whether you support somebody, whether you dont. Its your choice. Right. [ applause ] were almost out of time, but i wanted to ask you about the young girl that you talked about in the video who inspired all of this. You said that you write letters to her in your head. And i want to know, have you ever found her . Has she reached out . Do you think you will . What would you say to her . So this child who i have to really im 44. Shout out to over40 women who go viral. I have not found her. The odd thing is i ran that camp for almost ten years, and our children, the young come over and over. She only came that one summer. And a couple of things i realized in this moment. One is that i was 22. And i think when i think about it, i think of myself as an adult with a child who didnt help that child. But i was 22, which is awfully young. I have a 20yearold daughter, who you know, is a baby to me. Hi, baby. And so what i would say to her, i would apologize for not being who and what she needed me to be in that moment. But shes probably about 34 now, 33 or 34. I would imagine that life has probably given her some lessons too that let you know there are times in your life when you cant show up the way you want to, but i would also want her to know that that moment helped me spend the rest of my life trying to show up every time i get an opportunity to do so. Right. Now, tarana spoke in the video about how Sexual Harassment requires systemic change and shes going to be on the next panel talking about that. Everybody give her a round of applause. [ applause ] thank you. Please welcome to race car project founder director michelle norris. Hello, hello. Good afternoon, everyone. Im michelle norris. Im the founding director of the race card project, and for a whole lot of years, i hosted a show on public radio called all things considered. Today, i get to do what i love best, which is talk to people about abinteresting topic. Were here to talk about Sexual Harassment, and theres very few topics more important than that right now. Im thrilled to be participating in todays summit. Im sorry that we actually have to have this discussion, but we do have to have this discussion from hollywood to capitol hill, media, high profile cases of Sexual Assault have started a debate surrounding Sexual Harassment in the workplace, today well discuss what it will take to put an end to harassment in the workplace, what role executives and boards play in Holding Perpetrators Accountable for their actions and what is the role and responsibility of the media and all of us in covering allegations and reacting to allegations before they have been proven in court. So i want to introduce our panel. At the far end, congressman Jackie Speier from california. Thank you so much for being with us. And thank you for elevating this issue by using your voice. Chris is the managing director of icbm partners, with us all the way from california. The west coast is in the house. Rachel is also with us, a ceo and creative director of we first. And you just heard tarana burke, the founder of the me too movement. Long before we were familiar with hashtags, you were introducing us to this. So congresswoman, i want to begin with you. We just heard in the previous, actually the previous conversation, the previous conversation, we heard a secretary say women are coming forward in part because they have much more confidence in the system. But on capitol hill, we had not seen as many women come forward. Its a different kind of conversation. There seems to be different impediments to gaining that frust for a woman or gaining some kind of comfort where they can raise their hand and say me too. Help us understand whats different about capitol hill. In congress, it is a system that has basically been there to protect the harasser. And the victims have been without resource. For example, the office of compliance to which a victim would report would have to first go through 30 days of legal counseling, then 30 days of mandatory mediation, and then signing a nondisclosure agreement. And then 30 days of a cooling off period. All the while, still working in that harassing environment. I mean, that is what i am trying to change with the me too congress act, inspired by tarana, and we have over 100 cosponsors, republicans and democrats, right now in the house. [ applause ] how long has that system been in place . This is a very protractive system, and what was it created in response to . It was created in 1995. Called the congressional accountability act. And it was on the heels of the scandal in the senate with senator packwood, and this was going to be a new system that was going to create accountability. And as we have seen, it doesnt create accountability. Theres a secret fund, the members never identified. And the result is habitual harassers are allowed to continue to operate, and were seeing it right now. How many women were involved in creating that process . I have a guess, but i really dont know. And since it was predominantly a male congress at the time, i would suggest probably very few. And on the other side, not just women coming forward, but members of congress and staff coming forward to talk about this also. You know, do the tribal realities on the hill make this difficult . Democrats are sometimes reluctant to talk about the improprieties of a previous president. Republicans are reluctant to talk about the Sexual Harassment charges against our current president. Do the tribal tendencies on the hill make it harder to actually put this issue on the table, exam it, interrogate it, and figure out how to solve it . I think it does. Thats why as were compensating a new system, i think we need to look at creating a third party function that will be outside of congress, not populated by members of congress. So this issue of comfort this uncomfortableness that is associated with calling out a member of your same party is not there. But you know, the institution is special. But members of congress arent special. We need to be treated like everybody else. [ applause ] in many cases, when allegations have been made, people have stepped aside. Voluntarily or not. They have been asked to step down. In that sense, it does seem members of congress are at least moving on a different and maybe parallel track in the adjudication of these issues. What should happen with senator franken, with congressman conyers. Others now, new allegations have surfaced. Should these members step aside . Should they be asked or consoled to step aside while the allegations are examined . I liken this to a corporation. We like to talk about ourselves as were the ceos of our office. In a corporation, the ceo is identified as being a sexual harasser, they dont wait until the next annual meeting so that the shareholders can vote on it. The board of directors determines and typically what happens is that the ceo is out. No matter who they are. No matter how great they are, no matter what kind of an icon they are. And i think members of Congress Need to realize that we have a board of directors, whether were going to call it the Ethics Committee or the actual congress, and we need to act. We cannot allow this to fester while two years go by until the next election takes place. So weve got a lot of work to do. And im just optimistic because i do think we have seen an age of new enlightenment. And we cant let this moment go. I mean, we cant let this just be a blip. It has to be a concerted effort that is its got to be sustained. For my part, i have suggested that congressman conyers should resign. That senator franken should resign. And that congressman fahrenthold should resign. Thats what its going to take. [ applause ] chris, the congresswoman talked about a wave of enlightenment. Does it feel that way in hollywood right now . And you personally run a company. You have a lot of contracts that run across your desk, a lot of projects youre involved in. What has changed in hollywood, and is it a reaction to the moment or do you think that this time its the kind of meaningful lasting change that will have a real impact long into the future . You know, i think that so first of all, were a private company. So we have the ability when this happens, we can deal with it quickly. And we can just get rid of the problem. Were not going to have somebody if theyre creating an uncomfortable environment for people, theyre just not going to be around. They gotta go. Kwee can do that very quickly and easily. So a lot of the stuff that has happened in hollywood and thats come out, clearly, theres Harvey Weinstein, thats criminal behavior. He should be in jail. Theres things like that. And i think that that stuff has been really put out so quickly, its been obviously kept down for too long. And its going to be this title wave, what should have happened a long time ago and really good its happening now. I think then what we need to do as companies is look at this and listen a lot and figure out, what are the real things that we can do to create lasting change here . Because that does have to happen. I think companies should reflect more the world around them. We represent tens of thousands of clients from all walks of life. I think the people were representing, we should represent our clientele. Its on us to listen a lot. And i think the thing i personally identified for us to do or the culture of silence, which i find incredibly troubling, that people are really frightened for thelselves to come out, and i think i love the fact that people can come out and talk about this, and that to be empowered by this because of you, but theyre being empowered by this and being recognized and its a good thing. And dwlii think thats great. And then i think mentorship is the other thing i would focus on. I dont think things can change overnight. We cant just snap our fingers and say half the Department Heads at our company are going to be women. Its going to take time, but that required mentorship. I benefitted, personally, i have had great female mentors in my life. Very strong women who have affected me and mentored me. And that, i think, you know, its also on all of us to mentor people in a much better way and really focus on mentoring women as well. What about men . Because you probably are a real role model for a lot of men also. And im sure that you have mentes. Can you share with us the kind of conversations that perhaps youre having with people right now about how to order their steps, about how to raise their hand if they have been foolish or if they have tiptoed in an area that is heading towards Sexual Harassment. What kind of advice are you giving people to make sure that they understand the rules of engagement . What we did is put a lot put more women into leadership positions in the company, because there might be times when theyre not comfortable as much as a Good Relationship as we might have, the stuff is tough. I understand that. What i know women do need to be put in more positions of leadership. I think everyone in the room would agree on that. But what do men need to hear to understand this issue . What do men im sorry, im not really for instance, if in dealing with race in america, there is an expectation that people of color often take a leadership position in that, in trying to interrogate or dismantle a system that was not necessarily of their making that was put together, a white power structure. In Sexual Harassment, there is an expectation that women will raise their voices and will lead on this issue. Even though this is not a problem of their own making. Right. What is the role of men in taking on this issue and using their voice . As someone who is a leader in your industry, what kind of advice are you giving men . I think its being listening more and being open minded, and being protective in a way that people should be able to speak freely and where a man might feel the power to speak freely about something and a woman might not feel that power, you have to be sensitive to that and understand that. And create open lines of communication so that people can talk freely in protected environments. When people do talk freely, theyre not punished for it, but contrary, theyre rewarded for it, thats probably the wrong way of saying it, but you know what i mean, theyre empowered. I think thats cultural. Thats a cultural shift in the company, cultural in terms of how people look at the world, how people interact with each other. And its something that everybody has to make a commitment to together. Its something that we talk about a lot. I think its a conversation, its a culture shift, it takes time. But it takes real commitment to do that. Now, as someone who has been in the News Business for a long time, i love to say this just in. If you have your phones on and youre following the twitter, or as my mother calls it, just in. You have your phones and you are following it on twitter, and on facebook, you nknow mr. Conyers announced he is retiring, he made that announcement ten minutes. You are shake your head. Your body lachlkt you are not saying anything, but your body language is saying something. We will return to the rest of the panel but congressman spehr, your reaction. He was anticipating he was going to be resigning. Now he is going to force the house to go through the process of investigating his skpukt the house is going to have to take action. Et cetera a not good enough to say in a year and a half or in a year im going to retire. He is a serial harasser. Do you have a comment. I just wanted to ask, is it Effective Immediately or yes, it is. He is speak upping down. Today is his last day. No, hes not resigning. Hes going to retire at the end 6 his term; is that right. No. Hes stepping down. ; is that right . Full retirement. What is he doing . Full retirement. Effective today. It said its effective today. He stepped down today. Well clarify that. Rachel . We have the hill, we have hollywood, i also want to take on silicone value because the powerballance is fls quite a imbalance in Silicon Valley n part based on numbers, access to capital in part base on women who are tip towing into this industry. Its difficult to do this unless you have angel investors, unless you get access to vc funding. Does that create its own power dynamic and system of inequalities help us understand what is going on in Silicon Valley and in tech as well as Silicon Valley. A couple of issues. The power dynamic between investors and founders, first time founders, female founders, it creates sort of a susceptible environment for you to be vulnerable and to be taken advantage of. And i think fundamentally it sort of comes down to this idea that we dont take women seriously. And the fact that in my experience i had quit my job, i was eating ramen, pick up side jobs to pay the rent and working night and day to put together materials to pitch Somebody Just to walk into a meeting and get hit on. And you are sitting there and you feel like a fool because you have spent all this time and energy doing . And then you walk into a room just to not be taken seriously about something that you have a vision for, that you need money for. And i think, you know we have talked a lot about vcs, there is definitely a power dynamic there. There is somewhat of a systematic structure around vcs and how we handle this situation and we can actually get rid of them and do something about it. I think whats not talked about as much as much and what we experienced is angel investors. The experience there is these are high net individuals that can do whatever they want with their money and say what they want. If they want to meet new a hotel lobby at 8 p. M. And you are desperate to get your business off the ground, every woman knows that feeling when well im going to go to this meeting see how it goes. You have this sort of dynamic between power, emotional manipulation, and then on top of it just the object fix of who you are just walking into a room. I am a guy woman, im an openly guy woman. You would think that would deter some things. But no, no, no. The life of a lesbian is sshs women are already sexualized. You put two women together and you are hyper sexualized. You are running up against all these barriers and you are trying to on top of just simply trying to figure out how to start a company. Which is hard enough in and of itself. We talk about Silicon Valley, think about investor dynamic and the other thing to touch on is the dynamic within the Actual Company and the policies and this sort of call to action right now of we need new policies, we need to do some things. We need to enforce the policies we have. Right. And the only way to do that is show people there are consequences and the only way to create an open environment for women, to chriss point. Is to let men know there are consequences to these actions. Women will only step up and come forward when they know something is going to be done. Why would i do it if not. And on top of it you have to get ten women together just to take down one predator. I think the investor situation is one thing itself. But i think we need to hold up Silicon Valley and tech needs to hold a mirror up to itself and think about what are the policies they have, are they enforcing the policies and are they creating environments for women that are safe. And are the policies adequate . Because sometimes you can create policies that are difficult, so protracted. Its the same dynamic, it protects the company not the victim. You used our voice to talk about this. There are some things you cant safe. There are disparagement clauses, gag rules if there is some sort of problem. Is that a problem in and of itself, that people are not allowed to talk wiabout this issue, there is confident on the part of the companies knowing they dont have to talk about it either if we can settle this quietly. I think there is sort of a difference between dont talk about this issue. Most people know this is wrong. Most people know Sexual Harassment is wrong. But you know, they will say to you, oh, wow, like that sucks. And then you are kind of looking for, what do i do about it . And nobody is going to tell to you do anything about it. And i think that silence comes from almost every note, comes from women who dont know anything but silence, and it comes from pen who are saying, probably dont ruffle any feathers. And you know, for me, most predators are not stupid. He did everything in person. I have no written evidence of any of that. I just have my experiences in my head. And so that sort of idea that i cant name names, i cant really even remove him from the environment because of the way that it was set up and the way that was approached. And you know, all women have, i think, right now, which is what is really powerful is a Whisper Network. And that has like equivocally taken a lot of people out of positions of power because you were able to coordinate and just warn people. Hey im going to this meeting, what does anybody know about this guy . Like we talk. We know. Theres a Whisper Network. And that has been easily the post powerful tool that weve used to do a lot of this. Its good to know the women have the Whisper Network and are able to use their power but its its also kind of sad that women have to whisper about this while men who are snobl are sitting in their positions still operating. What can women do who find themselves in this situation. Who should they talk to . Should they keep a record of things. You say rachel, there was no paper trail. How do you create a trail so if you do raise your hand and say me too that you have some sort of dossier that you can move forward with. I was talking about this in another function, in brass tacks ways, people have been like spies, keep track of everything, write everything down, email yourself, tell your friends. You have to create your own body of evidence. Email yourself so you have date stamps. Date and time stamps. Same thing for any issue you have at work, the first thing people tell you is document. Keep track of it. You may not have something official but you may write it in a journal. I think its helpful to tell other people, even if you cant go to the higher up, but to tell other people. There is power in numbers so that when the opportunity strikes you are ready to have something to say like to add your voice to this to either the chorus or even if you are the first one. So you created the me too movement before it was the hashtag. I think everyone has seen the hashtag in their social media feeds. Are hashtags in and of themselves helpful. Would it be beneficial if men had a hashtag, too, hashtag, ask your strks, hashtag, ask your mo, hashtag, ask your mother. Or is that . We have seen a lot of hashtags work. We have seen things that started with a hashtag and moved into the streets and a lot of thing. It brings awareness. We have enough Empirical Data from the me too hashtag to show the world nobody can say no, ive never heard of that. Thats just if you engage on social media, if you are awake and on a computer, you have heard of it. So you know it could help men have a hashtag. Also, the thing that bothers me so much sometimes when we talk about ask your mother, ask your sister thing its like, oh, i almost said a bad word. Like you are a human being. I want , be a human. It bothers me that men dont have to train other men not to touch a mans penis when he goes into a meeting. You know . You dont have to say they are in the whispering hey look out for that guy, he might hit you on the butt. You dont have to be trained to do that. Im a human being. Dont touch me. Dont talk to me inappropriately. Like, i dont know how we legislate that or shift that culture. Thats why the conversation has to be about power and privilege. This is about privilege over more privilege and purr over, and how people use their privilege. Privilege is not going to go anywhere any time soon but its how you use your privilege. You have to use it in service of other people if you have more privilege than them. And i think people understand those concepts andist shifts the way they behave when they interact with other people. Be a fricking human being. You were careful with your language there. I was very careful. Do we really understand before all of these allegations surfaced and with the me too Movement Really blossomed, did we understand where we were . We watched as a society seven seasons of madmen thinking that we were watching something that took place in the past when maybe that was a mirror, you know, to what was actually happening. Do we underestimate how much progress we have made as society on this issue . And do we need to stop doing that . I think the problem is that culturally there is still that tension that allows for people to say, i dont believe her. That she is not telling the truth. We have to flip that, where the presumption is that she is telling the truth. Because we do know that anyone who comes forward is going to be badgered is going to be put under a microscope. And more often than not is going to be blackballed. Its interesting because that runs integral to our judicial system in which someone is innocent until proven guilty. But this is not a judicial undertaking. This is a Workplace Environment where someone is violating the civil rights act, title seven, that says you have the opportunity to work in a hostilefree Work Environment and that you should not be subject to severe or pervasive Sexual Harassment. I also think weve talked about this, but theres a spectrum skpk only at a certain point does it become criminal. And so because, again, there have been no consequences for anything on that spectrum, weve lumped everything together. And so its to your point from improper touching to allegations of rape. Yeah, anything from like the little, death by a thousand paper cuts sort of little bit of sexism here and there thats underlying to full on sexism to then harassment, whether that be verbal or other, to assault, which is criminal. And to your point theres a certain point where you reach the judicial part of it. But theres all these other things in between that need to be handled and there need to be consequences for those actions. Most of the time the consequences yet again fall on the woman. We are going to move you off of that team or shuffle thing around. Or as we heard, no meetings with women. Dont get me started with that. But you know, so the thing is, i think we are at a point where we are at a Tipping Point where we are angry. I think we need to give ourselves the space to be angry and then we can have a more nuanced conversation about how to approach every one of these things on a case by case scare know. Every woman is going to be different and we have to make sure women are driving the conversation. Chris, how important it to deal with the things on the bottom of that spectrum, things that are considered boorish behavior . I think its all important. And i think it really just goes to leadership. I mean if you see the senior people acting like assholes then the lower powered people are going to act like that, too. So it needs to come from the top. People know how to be good normal people. I believe that. And i think that it just needs to be reinforced and needs to be needs to be just stated as a core value of your company. And i think that it needs to be said that its important. And its important to be conscious how you are affecting someone else and understand in a and talk about it. I mean, we you know, we represent a lot of powerful people in the world, whether they are men or women. And i think that the and im really proud of that. And i think that the companies have an obligation, like us, to make sure that internally we reflect that as well. Its not that i mean, i know i agree with you about that anger and that people need to get this out. Because i have a seen it. And ive seen it for years. And you know, its really important to me in the position im in now to make sure that we deal with that and that we create an environment where that does chain because its something i want everyone to be proud. We want to be proud of the agency and we want people that work there to be proud of it. Its important. I think its important that it comes out now and people show leadership andmentorship not only the women, but also the men about just be cool. Really. I know that sounds simple and i know it is a bigger issue than that but people know howing to good to each other, i really believe that. I think the culture is important because when we think about the Sexual Violence, it starts with the bottom end. It bothers me that people talk about Harvey Weinstein being a Sexual Harassment case. He raped women. He assaulted someone. Thats not chasing someone around the desk. He created crimes, multiple crime. And the system is in place for him to did that because they were invested who he was as an individual. The culture in the company was you protect the king. Because if he falls down we all fall down. They are invested in the company and the power and not in the integrity of the women who suffered at his hands for 30 jeers. Its all important. Boorish behavior is important because it opens the door for allowing people to touch folks and it gets further and further on the spectrum. It has to be dealt with and cultures have to shift very early on. Those have to be stomped out in the workplace n the streets, in cultural organizations in Congress Wherever they exist because they open the door to allow all this other stuff to happen. How do you stop it. You have to go through the Sexual Harassment training, it has to be done by tuesday. You sit in front of your computer, go to a class. That hasnt been effective. How do you make it effective . Leadership. People have to model what the culture in the company is. Thats not just taken on the computer not just reiterating it every couple of years. People in leadership have to have zero tolerance. You cant laugh at rape jokes. You cant tolerate just a little oh, hes just like that, this guy. You cant tolerate those things. There has to be zero tolerance around how we respect each other and work together. Leadership has to start the culture and set an example of how we will deal with what happens in our company. And put more women in charge. Can we talk for just a minute about the industries that are not represented on this panel, women who work in retail, women who work in manufacturing, women who clean the hotels in this hotel clean the rooms in this hotel. Did they have adequate support or understanding for the challenges they face . And as we talk about this movement and this problem overall, are we spending enough time looking at their challenges . Go ahead. Okay. So i mean for me, my work is really always centered around the most marginalized. I feel like we have to start with those women. You have to start with the most marginalized and work your way out. Because if you dont do that, those women will be left out. So when i talk about power and privilege im not just talking about men who have privilege. If you are a woman in the workplace and there are policies in place that protect you and there are no policies in place for women who clean the office then you are not doing your job. We have to use again our privilege in service of. If im in a place where im not going to have myself protected and not make sure that everybody who is vulnerable is protected of i think thats one of the ways that we do that. We have heard a lot of im sorry congresswoman. I think its also important for us to appreciate that the module that you see on the computer is woefully incombat. And we have got to change the requirements so its interactive. It relates to the industry. And that it is something that comes from the top. I think weve all said that. If the message is very clear from the top, then you are going to see behavior change. Weve heard a lot of lament about the number of men who have left their various sfris and the talent drain of powerful men. Your body language is speaking also, even before i ask the question. But you know, i want to hear, in tech, in hollywood, on capitol hill, about the talent drain of women who cut their sales, who exited and just said i cant deal with this, who were less ambitious than they would have been or who have been the walking wounded for years and sometimes decades carrying this around. What dont we will we ever be able to measure the talent drain of women whose jobs were whose lives and their work space were cut short because they faced this kind of harassment . Im haunted today by a story that appeared in one of the papers about the woman who was working for congressman farenthold. She received an 84,000 settlement that came out of the secret fund in the u. S. Treasury. But she was absolutely blackballed. She was told before she filed the complaint that she would be blackballed and she hasnt been able to get a job. Now, no wonder that 70 of women who are sexually harassed dont come forward. Because they need the job. And thats the dynamic that has to change. We have got to make it very clear that someone who comes forward is going to have support, counsel, and whistle blower protection so that they can in fact feel free to come forward and not be blackballed from an industry in which they want to work. Now you have been a whistle blower yourself yourself to some degree. A couple of questions. You have chosen not the name names even though you said you know there are other people on capitol hill. Explain to the audience why you have decided not do that. And tell bus the reaction that you have received on capitol hill because i imagine that you are saying things that people wish that you would wish they would rather not have to talk about. You are dragging this issue into the spotlight forcing people to talk about. Two things. Whenever you are going to air the dirty laundry, you are making people uncomfortable. I would say that in terms of the people that i know that have sexually harassed, i have said that i am protecting the victim. I am here to protect the victim. If the incredible women. And im going to show it to you now. Can we roll that videotape . Im ambitious. I will not hide it. We will not hide it. We embrace ambition. Women are made to be ambitious. I will dream big. Big. Without hesitation. We will take risks. Not live in fear. We will rise together. Rise above the negativity. No longer will ambitious in a woman be seen as a negative. Be persistent. Never apologize. Never give up on your goals and dreams. I will help women around the world. The whole world. To succeed. You have to persevere. Women are tough. Strong. Powerful. We have got to be part of this conversation. Ambitious is ambitious is empowering. I can think of a lot of dirty words. Ambitious is not one of them. Ambitious is sexy. Ambitious is very sexy. Help women financially. Help Women Entrepreneurs. Create powerful images. Fight jenner the stereotypes. Quault equality for all. Take the stigma out of the word ambition. Own your power. Own your drive. Own your dreams. No judgments. We own it. Take the pledge. Take the pledge. Take the pledge. Embrace ambitious. Embrace ambition. Will you . [ applause ] eight months later i still get the chills. Own your power. Own your drive. Own your dreams. At the tory Birch Foundation we have made embrace ambition our rallying cry. Why . Because we have seen and learned that the greatest impediment to equality are acquired behaviors, mindsets, and stereotypes. Yes, we need better laws and systems to achieve womens equality. But if weve learned anything in the last two months, its how our culture has created toxic workplaces for women. And its not limited to Sexual Harassment. When i was a young girl, id curl up with my dog eared copy of sisterhood is powerful, light a candle, and read. Never did i imagine that nearly 50 years later i would be buying a necklace for my adult daughter that depicted the fists from that cover and the word resist qug. 50 years later and we still dont have the equality that i thought was within my grass of as a young girl. Yet right now in many ways the legislative outlook for women is at its worst and were moving backward. But im feeling true hope for the first time. From the womens march to the avalanche of women and men coming forward to say me too, a door has been opened. A line has been drawn in the sand. And to really push the metaphor, this moment in time is our crossing to the rubicon, and were not going back. [ applause ] to successfully change cultures, there has to be expose and discussion. It takes work. Thats why women rule is is he important. And if you havent read their two long investigative pieces i really encourage you to do so. Its some of the best reporting that ive seen this year. We need to have tough conversations about gender, race, and class. We need to go deep and question our own behaviors. And we need to do it with men. Men, too, are learning how destructive a locker room culture can be. They can and should be our partners in creating new cultural paradigms. Sometimes im asked why the for audio Birch Foundation is a partner in women rule. After all our mission is pretty specific. We exist to support and empower Women Entrepreneurs. But heres the thing. Silos are also on their way out. Women entrepreneurs will be better off when there are more Women Holding office, when there is decent child care policies, when equal pay is a reality for women of all races, and when were safe in our homes, offices, and on the streets. Now, heres why im particularly passionate about empowering Women Entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurism isnt in womens dna. I think if you look under a microscope you will actually see a gene labelled multitasker, ability to juggle, wears many hats. At the tory Birch Foundation, weve focused on many of our programs on growing businesses. Why . Because despite starting businesses at almost twice the rate of men, womens businesses are three and a half times less likely to make it past the critical Million Dollar mark. We need to make sure they have the capital, resources and Community Support they need to succeed. But we also need to help them voice their ambition, not shy away from calculated risk, and think big. The women are own next panel have done just that, and its my pleasure to join them now. All right. Im back for the afternoon. Im anna palmer. For those of you who may be just joining us im coauthor of the politico playbook our morning newsletter. Im thrilled to be back on stage this afternoon. More than 9 million u. S. Firms are owned by women but women continue the launch businesses with significantly less capital as laura was just mentioning. And Face Many Obstacles in terms of reaching and getting the contacts in Venture Capital funds to raise necessary funds. In this conversation im looking forward to hearing from the panel about their personal experiences as well as how the public and the private sector can help foster a community where there is more women ownedist businesses in the panel. Thank you so much for joining us. [ applause ] because it is politico, i was picking audreys brain a little bit about the way for those of you who are unfamiliar with it it is a womens Coworking Club from new york and its coming to washington. She has news shes going to share with news i dont know if its really. Its news. We are opening a georgetown a few blocks from here, in two months. Very excited. A lot of women in this audience will apply to be members. Congratulations on that. Lets get started with this access to capital question that just seemed to be the biggest thing when we talked before this pam that everyone was coming back. To how do you raise money, one in 23 in Business Loans goes to women. There is a lot of pushback, a lot of rejection. Id love to hear from ka kneel and audrey. What is that like. You were just on the west coast, you are going into these rooms, you dont know these people and you are trying to ask them for a lot of money. Its definitely difficult. I believe fundraising is difficult no matter what you are, where you are from, what you are raise. The challenge is raised by women, women of color and people of color in general are unique when we go into rooms where we dont look like the people we are speaking with. We dont have backgrounds that are slampl i think the biggest thing in Venture Capital is the networks. Having a personal connection to the people in the room is important. And that can make or break a deal. Audrey and i spoke a bit on that before. I think there are unique challenges. The best advice i can give is just to tell your story and be unique and authentically yourself because at the ends of the day people are trusting you and your vision, and one of the things i remember from raising my seed round was in the end you know, it was a process. I talked to many many people, got many many rejections but in the end i ended up with a group of investors im really tremendously proud of and i would not want a Different Group of investors. The right people found me and i found the right people for my business and who believed in me. Really it was just a process of you are weeding them out in that process just as much as they are weeding you out. How do you psych yourself up for that meeting. As reporter im not used to it. You are dialing and dialing. 30th phone call, i dont know if i can do this again. You described it accurately. All those thoughts go through your head of one of the main qualities that are required as an entrepreneur is grit, grit, resilience and you have to keep going. And you have to find it within yourself to persevere. Thats what you do. You have those moments where you are, you know, tired, you dont want to hear no again. You are feeling less confident than you were 12 times ago and you pick yourself up you go in the room with a smile on your face, remember what you are trying to accomplish, why you are there and you go for it again. Talk about your experience. You just had a very successful series b round one of the largest raised by a woman, 32 million for the wing. Obviously some success there, yeah, lets seriously, amazing. I had a very, very similar experience. I had a lot of doors shut on me at the very beginning when i had this idea. You know, the vast majority of the sort of Investor Base thats out there are men. And when you are creating a product thats exclusively for women like we have you are told by dozens of people that you know your idea is going to fail that no one is going to want it. That theres no you know, theres no sort of Customer Base out there for you. And that was difficult. That was difficultly there was like a day that i broke down and cried in a target. And my mom said like you dont have to do this. You know, and i was like, but im going to. And i you know, i definitely had to sort of tap into that part of me that was resilient each if i didnt believe i could. Even then, once you prove yourself and you have proof of concept and you are able to sort of laugh in those peoples faces like ha, ha, you were wrong, i was right. That does feel good. To get to that moment, like yes. Im still pinching myself. 32 million is an unfathomable amount of money. I feel humbled by it. There is this new moment where women are all of a sudden faced with those opportunities in those rooms. It is a all very new and fresh and uncharted territory for us. I will say even a lot of women i have spoken to who have Growth Stage Companies and are looking for 100 million or are ready to sell their businesses say those deals are me after hours, having cocktails and with a cigar. Those are rooms that we around in. And we are not comfortable being in these rooms. I think women face these challenges at every stage of their company and trying to grow their companies. Loughery, you have been involved in entrepreneurship and startups for a long time. What have you seen . Is it getting easier . Obviously theres still a long way to go. No, its not getting easier. I wish it was. A lot of women that we deal with are not even at the stage of ka kneel and audrey. I mean weve done 33 million in affordable loans to Women Entrepreneurs. Its all to mainly women who cant get a bank loan. A lot of it is cultural. A lot of it is systematic impediments. In this space weve got a lot to change. These are the unicorns and they are really amazing and wonderful. I cant tell you the fact that they have raised the kind of money that they have is extraordinary. Its not the norm. In fact, for camille, whats the stat . You are one in ten . Yeah. So theres a study a few years ago project diane where they cataloged black women who raised over 1 million for their startup and im the 12th. Thats pathetic. I mean its fantastic for camille. It is simultaneously amazing and horrifying. Amazing and horrifying at the same time. What can be done, though . I think we often, in these conversations in particular, try to find ways that either the audience can do things or that you could have government do something different. Is there something that can be done that can help change that, these terrible stats . I think its going to change as the financial industry changes. Theres all these disrupters in the financial industry now, amazon, square, they are giving out loans to people who sell on their platforms. Right. And thats going to change things a great deal. But i also think a lot of it is attitude, too, and culture, which is what i was getting at with my remarks. You know, women go into a bank, and its like, i think i can do this and im going to try and do this. And men are like, this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. And it is a lot of it is the bravado that is brought to the table im not saying we have to turn into them. But you know, we do have to, as people said earlier in the day, listen to your voice, own your voice. I think one of the other things thats happening is slowly over time women are getting into higher and higher positions of power. One of my great friends from college actually just became the first female partner at sequoia. Great friend of mine. And she recently started female Founder Office hours with high powered top tier bcs on Silicon Valley doing the work of actually helping women craft their pitch, craft their stories. Ellen powell, an investor of mine of kleiner perkins, that whole story but any way she started project include which is working with Tech Companies to improve their culture. A lot of companies talk about pipeline issue but dont talk about the culture and tension and keeping the people that they hire around. She is doing important work with that organization. I do think as we grow as we graduate from what we are doing now to whatever we do in the future we will be well positioned to help upandcoming Women Entrepreneurs. Audrey was talking about how hard it was crying in a tarpgt ive definitely done that. Not a target, it was a bathroom somewhere. But one of the things i remind myself of, we are changing the worlder hao. It doesnt feel like that day the day but we are. Me walking into a room changes all the perceptions in there. No one said changing the world was going to be easy. By remembering that it helps give me encouragement to keep going. Even if i fail, hopefully i made it easier for someone in this room to have the next meeting after me. Yeah, i mean [ applause ] i think there is a lot of people in this audience are women who are upwardly mobile. One of the conversation i have a lot is about women having that self doubt. I remember i took this job for playbook a year ago and i did it with my coauthor jake sherman, efz amazing, great, he was like we can do this. I was taking two weeks, i dont know, mom, what do you think, calling all my friends. What are techniques or what is the help you can give to this audience, how do you get the self doubt out of your mind. Its hard. Even back stage we were saying we are forcing ourselves to do more but public speaking opportunities are so intimidating. But its important to use your voice. I think at every level the self doubt is still in your head. For us, the general idea was really Gloria Steinem said women dent want a slice of the pie. They want a whole pie. For us, we sort of thought why fight to break the Glass Ceiling when you can just build a whole new house. And what we have is anniko system where women are supporting each other deny an ecosystem where women are supporting each other. They are doing battle, with men. But in that ecosystem they were raising their seed rounds just from women they met at the wing. They are generating support around the anxiety and self doubt. A lot of things that founders and people in High Pressure situations that they dont want the talk about all the time. I think having a Community Around you are gives you the confidence to make more professional risks. And so thats part of what we are trying to build. Thats great. Yeah, i would say the same thing. One of the things that helped the most is surrounding myself with people who are encouraging and who believe in me and can remind me in those moments where maybe im less confident and accepted me that text message, you can do it. Thats been most effective. I think what audrey is building is the real world version of that. What do you think lorie, in terms of the tory Birch Foundation, what are the advice or the key things that somebody can take into the meeting to get to that next step. So, a couple things. But the first thing is support other women. You know, if you are in a meeting with other women and you see them come into the room and sit at the chairs that arent at the table, motion them to the table. No matter what level they are at. If somebody says something its not getting heard as somebody said this morning, amplify it say e oh, desiree just said this. You know, i think thats a great idea. We have to help each other be heard. And we really have to champion what are our colleagues are doing, what these women are doing. What everybody is doing. It is a very big part of things. And the other thing is just talk about it. If something feels unfair in the workplace, you need to talk about it. Dont sit on it. Just say why is this the way it is . Question everything. It is a new time. And weve been living with paradigms that were established hundreds of years ago. In the workplace its time to really question everything. Why are things the way they are right now . Kind of building off that topic and also awed degree, i think you mentioned it earlier, kind of the concept of this is a mans world and we are all living in it, right . Washington in particular is a place where a lot of business gets done on the golf course or drinks at night or at places you dont want to be going into anyway. How do you change the conversation or how do you say no, we are going meet for coffee . Is there tools or tips that you have found for yourself that have that pivot moment . You know ive been at this a long time. There were times when i knew that people that i was working with were going on the golf course, and i said, i dont play golf, i need to be there, lets go for drinks. You know, speak up. Youve got to say its unfair to leave me out of the equation. We have to speak up. How about you audrey . Any kind of advice . Again, my life is sort of i never see men anymore. Which is sort of a privilege. [ laughter ] but i have i have a couple of great men in my life that i do get to see from time to time. But you know, again, i think there is its tough. I mean, i had a couple in particular experiences with raising money especially where it was like, lets have that meeting to discuss this at 9 30 p. M. And you are like, okay, how do respond to this email. Im going to bed at 9 30 p. M. Same. I think its so important to make sure that you are doing thing on your terms and to just remember that and sort of stop and yourself that, is this just as much on my terms as it is on this other persons term. One thing i was going to say about the self doubt, there was a big part of me i didnt go to Business School. So i dont have any business starting a company, being a ceo. And my background was in like poll politics in new york. And what i found is that actually entrepreneur is so much like a campaign. You have to have a message. You have to fund raise. You have to mobilize and basically have a street team, like a field team. There are very, very similar aspects to it. What i would say to some people in the room who maybe dont have a background in the private sector or business oregon to Business School you can be more educated than you realize. I would also caution folks that entrepreneurism is really tough and a lot of people go into it and they are just not cut out for it. And thats okay. But you are going to work harder than anybody else. You are going to work longer. You are going to give up a lot in your life to be an entrepreneur, and you have to know that going in and be willing to follow that through. So true. Its very, very hard. I mean, if you had do you have any tips or things that you have done to try to make sure that you can get into those rooms . I have been fortunate just in i worked in tech for ten years before becoming an entrepreneur. My personal situation is one where i feel that i had the connections, i went to stanford. Undergrad in graduate school worked in Tech Companies. A lot of people i worked with in my early days are now in great positions. I think thats one of the challenges for entrepreneurs wanting to break in and get investment in Silicon Valley. You just dont have the overlapping networks. Again, since my perspective and my position is a bit unique i dont have a ton of advice there. But what has worked for me is introductions, and i know a lot of people who are in those spaces. To the extent that you can meet people to connect you, get jobs at larger Tech Companies or put yourself in those circles. Even making friends. Socializing, here is a great place to connect with, the people who you are next to, you never know how those connections will pay off in the future. Leveraging that network. We are in plitto, there is a businessman this the white house. Ivanka trump has done a lot for Women Entrepreneurship. What about the private sector, or more foundations or is there anything more the government can do to help the entrepreneur environment for women . Theres a lot government can do, but its not going to. One of the key things is women arent a protected class. So for example, we have a Fellows Program where one of the fellows gets 100,000 for their business. When we first went into it, we wanted all ten of them to get that. We found out that didnt qualify for a charity to be giving that money because women arent a protected class. So there is not much foundations can do besides the kind of thing that we are doing which is the Capital Program and education and digital resource. Its not like you can give seed money or grant money or anything. It all has to stay. Because the government is not going to create, you know, a protected class for women. Banks. Again, i think the banks are going to be disrupted soon enough. But if there was any way for banks to change how they do Credit Ratings when it comes to women, that would change things enormously. In fact, there is a couple young women who have done amazing jobs around the world figuring out ways to establish credit for women who have no credit by cell phone usage and other methods that make sense. And the pay back rates are like at 100 . So we know that this model of establishing a Credit Rating is flawed. And thats something that can be dealt with, whether it can be dealt with before the whole industry is disrupted, i dont know. Do you have any thoughts on you were in local politics. Have you gotten much encouragement from politicians at all yourself . Yeah i mean weve actually the Governors Office and me work is very proactive in ways of supporting like, you know, especially you no i think its more established but at the very beginning it was sort of silicone alley, the community in new york was very active in supporting entrepreneurs. And you know, especially minority owned businesses. And so thats been really terrific for us just to get some help from people in elected office in just navigating a lot of the red tape that you have to get to know. I mean, i think that a big thing that government can do is not have the president endorse a pedophile for u. S. Senate. [ applause ] any thoughts in terms of im going to skip over that part. One of the things thats been most helpful is just in the private sector. Weve had a number of investors who specifically support women and women of color founders. And so to the extent that you know wealthy individuals, that you are interested in angel investing, whether you are in the position now or will be so in the future, there are organizations like pipeline, angels, punt alley that specifically train women to be angel investors. And the hardest part is getting off the ground in that initial round of funding and finding people who believe in you when its just you and an idea. At least on the private sector side thats been incredibly helpful in a lot of businesses not just mine, getting off the ground. Thats go. We are about to run out of time but i want to leave the women in this room with something tangible. We have had a great conversation about grit and the determination, the how hard it is going into rooms, how you try to kind of break the cultural barriers with being women in kind of a mans world. Is there one thing for the aspiring entrepreneurs in this room that you would give them as their piece of eight advice, as their takeaway, what they can take away from this . I think its all about a network of women who have your back behind you. I think its just identifying women that you know who are strong in ways to or just have skills that you dont. Whether its communications or finance or fundraising themselves, or you know, again, design, like whatever it is that your business is going to need. Just identifying who those women are in your life. You may not have the idea yet. You may not know what it is. But knowing that you have in your mind a mini rolodex of women you can go to is sort the first step again to have the confidence to be able to take the leap. Thats great. My advice is tactical. Because at the end of the day we are building businesses here and we want them to be incredibly successful. Numbers do talk. The more successful we are the more barriers we will break down. The number one piece of advice i found in helping me build a successful business is figure out what you are on the myselfing for and optimize for that. It really has to do with focusing on one thing at a time and nailing i. You do that one thing, do it right, do it well, if its hire, if its growing, its fundraising whatever it is, pick that one thing and do the hello health out of it. Thats great. Lorie, well end with you. Realize that you are going in deep. If you are thinking about a business and wondering what your exit plan is going to be, you are not a good entrepreneur. I can tell you 50 of the women who call our office are like, but im thinking about my exit plan. Im like, no. No. Its a ton of hard work. And if you are passionate, and i think passion is everything for entrepreneurism, you will succeed if you rely on other women and the good people in your lives and get that support you need. Thank you ladies so much. I really appreciate you guys taking the time. [ applause ] you can watch all of this later in our Program Schedule on the cspan networks. We will break away here and let you know that coming up in about 15 minutes or so, 2 00 p. M. Eastern, the House Rules Committee will be meeting taking up a bill that would make concealed weapons permits effective across state lines. Under the bill gun owners with conceal carry permits from one state could carry their firearms into another state. The bill also makes changes to the criminal background check system for gun buyers. That part of the bill requires federal agency to submit certain information to the gun background check system. The bill would also require the Justice Department to do a study on the use of bump stocks. Those are attachments that enable a semiautomatic rifle to fire faster. The man who shot hundreds of people and killed 58 in las vegaslier this year used a bump stock in that crime. So we have that coming up at 2 00 eastern. Consideration of that measure by the rules committee. We will show that to you live here on cspan3 when it gets underway. Until then well show you some of the politico conference you have been watching onwomen in leadership looking at the 2018 elections. Okay. Hi, everybody. Thank you so much for being here. Im Eliana Johnson, i cover the white house for politico. Were so excited to have you all here this morning. And i have with me an amazing panel and we are going to kick it off starting with a talk about the 2018 midterm elections. In 2016, there was a lot of discussion about having the first female candidate atop the president ial ticket to lead a Major Party Ticket. And in the wake of that election a lot of talk about how gender impacted the results of the election. But there was less discussion, i think, about what happened at lower levels for women. And in reality, there has been sag nation stag nation in the number of women serving in congress and at the state and local levels. Today women make up 20 of congress and 25 of state and local offices nationwide. And that number hasnt increased for several years. This conversation and those numbers came out of a politico women rule investigation that was published in june. And were going to folk us a little bit more on that and in particular what its going the take to start increasing those numbers. For those of you who havent gotten a chance to read the women rule