A Call for Women’s Leadership in Vermont

By Angela M. Timpone

On town meeting day, 2011, Montpelier voters made history by electing a majority of women to the city council. That night, I was elected as its newest member. During my campaign, I’d often been shocked. Several nights a week, I would knock on doors in my district, or go to candidate house parties, stunned by the questions. Instead of talking about paving our roads, or fixing the housing crisis, most people wanted to chat about how old I was; if my husband approved of my candidacy; and who would take care of my children on the nights I had meetings.  

I spent the months before election, convincing constituents I was 36 years old, and my husband did brush the kids’ teeth before bed. At the time I wondered if similar questions were being asked of my opponent, a single, 20-something male. It was 2011, right? 

Going the Distance

Women might not be fighting for the right to vote, the right to own property, or access to education and a career, but we remain in a battle for pay equality, reproductive rights, and ending discrimination. Federal and state laws discourage discrimination; it still exists.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said it well in her 2007 dissent with three other justices in the Lilly Ledbetter case. She described the court’s ruling, which reversed a lower court’s financial award, as “parsimonious” and added: “In our view, the court does not comprehend, or is indifferent to, the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination.” The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2011 restored workers' rights to challenge illegal wage discrimination in the federal courts. But you still have to challenge your employer, which will discourage many women.

The recent national political stage has pulled back the curtain to reveal attacks on women about issues we assumed were won. We heard on the nightly news that Rick Santorum’s largest financial backer, Foster Friess chuckled, “Back in my day, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.” We heard Mitt Romney’s promises that if elected he would end funding to Planned Parenthood. We saw media images of only men at the table in Congress testifying on the topic of contraception. And finally, we heard Rush Limbaugh blast a Georgetown University Law School student, Sandra Fluke, calling her a slut for advocating for women’s affordable birth control.

It’s been a tough battle and many women have grown weary. We are either too tired or too busy to notice an organized and well-funded movement is eating away at the success of women’s progress. According to the Guttmacher Institute, more states than ever passed restrictions on abortion in 2011, 135 such laws, up from the 89 enacted in 2010, and 77 in 2009.

Here in Vt., H.750 was introduced without co-sponsors by Rep. Duncan Kilmartin, R-Orleans-2; it seeks to end payment for abortions for low-income women enrolled in Green Mountain Care; it’s not expected to go anywhere.

Vermont Way Ahead

Yet Senator Peg Flory, R-Rutland, says the recent national Republican rhetoric is “making women in Vermont nervous.” Currently Vermont women are holding their ground to maintain, or move into leadership roles. More women are participating in politics, and getting elected.

The Women’s Legislative Network ranks Vermont second behind Colorado for the percentage of women in the state legislature. We total 58 representatives and 11 senators who are female, or 69 of the 180 legislative seats, 38 percent.  

We are moving in the right direction, but imagine if only 38 percent of men were represented. Would they be worried?

Women hold key positions under the golden dome. In the House, women chair eight out of 14 standing committees; in the Senate women chair six of 12 committees. The most powerful committees are the four “money committees,” House Appropriations, House Ways and Means, Senate Appropriations and Senate Finance. All four are currently chaired by women.

“It’s an historical first,” said Senate Appropriations Chair Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, when discussing the appointment of Rep. Janet Ancel, D-Washington-6,  as the first woman chair of the House Ways and Means committee; Ancel’s appointment completed a shift of all the money committees to women’s leadership. Kitchel said women chair these committees “based on skill and knowledge.” Kitchel had earlier been the Secretary of the Agency of Human Services; Ancel was Vermont Tax Commissioner.

When asked the significance of women chairing all four money committees, Senate Finance Chair Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington, said that no one has ever asked her that question before. According to Cummings, women chairing the money committees are not a new thing; for as long as she has been elected, since 1997, women have held key positions in all four committees. House Appropriations Chair Rep. Martha Heath, D-Chittenden 6-3, said, “We have come a long way. It is exciting.”

Apparently women are doing a good job managing the finances. State Treasurer Elizabeth Pearce noted that even with the downturn in the economy, and Tropical Storm Irene, national rating services have kept Vermont at “the highest general obligation bond ratings of all the New England states.” Pearce explained the rating agencies “cited Vermont’s strong financial management, conservative debt management practices, prompt action to keep the budget in balance and maintenance of budgetary reserves.”

Questions and Doubts

Yet even with elected women in important leadership roles in Vermont, why does it feel as though women’s equality is slipping backward?  No doubt, reproductive rights are crucial, yet we have other battles we need to engage. Cuts in social programs like food stamps, housing vouchers, and Medicaid affect low-income women; unaffordable educations put a halt on women’s careers, and women’s lifestyle choices continue to be challenged. 

A good friend, fellow mother, and pastor of Montpelier’s Trinity United Methodist Church, the Rev. Rebecca Clark, said it perfectly on Facebook:  “I know I've reached a low point emotionally and rhetorically when I utter the phrase, ‘Maybe Rick Santorum is right.’”

Former Burlington College President Jane Sanders says she is worried about Santorum’s message to women of returning back to a simpler time, back to the 1950s when stay-at-home moms were the standard and “the bread-winner’s” paycheck could support a family. But the 1950s were a time when a wife could not open a bank account without her husband’s permission; she could not borrow money to start a business without him. Sanders explained, “We need women to rise to the top, not just in politics, but in business and education, also.”

Discrimination, especially against women with children, is still evident. Professional, qualified women with children get passed over every day, either for childless women or men. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urges employers to “not ask questions about the applicant’s or employee’s children, plans to start a family, pregnancy, or other caregiving-related issues during interviews or performance reviews.”

Recently, I was encouraged to apply for a professional position with a non-profit organization. During the three interviews, I was asked, how I would juggle my home responsibilities with my job, and how I would accommodate working some evenings and weekends. I wondered if these questions were being asked of the male applicants. At the time, I knew I was being discriminated against, but I wanted the job. Naively, I thought if I answered the questions, I would get the position. Wrong. I was overlooked, and a young male was hired.

In Burlington, Main Street Landing CEO, Melinda Moulton, bluntly said, “Women have been held down more in business.” She made the case that women tend to get overlooked, adding, “The single guy gets the job.” Women with children get passed over for leadership positions, which in turn makes it more difficult for more women to move up the ranks.

Learn as You Go

Over the years, I have felt I must choose my career, or choose my children. Both together?  Impossible. So like many women, I looked to part-time work to invest my energy and make a difference, in my case with politics. Even our first woman governor Madeleine Kunin got her start in politics with what she calls “being a worried mother.” The lack of sidewalks and traffic lights in her neighborhood were her issues. Through early experiences, she gained confidence to stand up and advocate.

In 1972, Kunin began her political career with a defeat, running for the Burlington Board of Aldermen. Kunin urges women to learn from failure and not be afraid. Many women turn down opportunities to avoid failure. From a young age, girls figure out that failure is unacceptable, while boys can shrug off a C-minus on a math test. As women, we expect a high degree of perfection, which sometimes gets in the way of learning from our mistakes.

The realization I could lose my run for City Council came as I watched the votes being verified. Just before Mayor Mary Hooper, D-Montpelier, read the election results, my stomach sank. I had stood outside City Hall for 12 hours; I was cold and tired, and a defeat would have been emotionally charged. I began thinking of quick exit strategies out of City Hall for me and my three kids. A quick escape was not needed, as I won my first election—but where was I to go from here? There was no training or mentoring, and that night I became a city councilor.

After the election I began asking other elected women about networking groups for women officials. I wanted to get connected, and to my surprise there was nothing. Men have established institutional networking organizations like the Elks Clubs, forced to accept women members in 2005, thanks to the ACLU, and the Rotary Club, which voted nationally to accept women only in 1989.  But women don’t have anything similar, organized for and by women.

Settle or Reinvent?

In order for women to continue to climb the business or political ladder, as women we need to create regular opportunities for networking and mentoring. Often I wonder if women are trying to fit into a man’s world— business and politics— instead of shaping our work environment to better fit our lives.

Fifty-nine percent of women participate in the workplace today, a reason to celebrate. But frankly, we deserve more. If we are to cultivate more women leaders in Vermont, we will have to insist on better working conditions to support the balance of career, family, and life. Often women still take care of the children and domestic responsibilities. We sometimes choose low-wage jobs to accommodate the children’s school schedules, or a spouse’s work schedule.

And when the pressure of the balancing act becomes too great, women who can, opt out. Without good quality affordable childcare and a flexible work week, women leave careers. Childcare is noted by many women as a barrier. My monthly day care bill for our five-year-old runs us about $600 a month for three days a week. Yes, his preschool has highly trained professionals, and he will be well prepared to enter kindergarten next year. But it costs us more than our mortgage. 

Another problem mothers struggle with is re-entering the workforce. The gaps in their careers, the time taken to raise their babies and toddlers, are still looked upon as a scarlet letter in the workplace. Often educated women, and some men, are relegated to low-paying jobs as a result of taking off time to parent their children.

The conversation needs to shift to see the value of raising children without penalty in the workplace. Sanders, Moulton, and Kunin all called for better support systems to encourage women to work. “We need policies like paid family leave and sick leave to retain good employees,” Kunin pointed out. Growing the next generation into productive, responsible, and happy citizens is a job, which should be valued and done well—by both sexes.

What would a supportive work place look like? Susannah Noel of Montpelier, a former director of communication for a professional company, said it would be a “place that allows me to have kids.”  In her last job Noel had no sick time and limited vacation. “If the kids got sick, it came out of my pay,” she stated.  The juggle of a career, while being a single mother, became too stressful for Noel. She decided to scale back her fulltime position, and work as a freelance writer and copy editor, so she could be more available to her children. Noel said her quality of life and earning potential have been greatly impacted as a result.

Cultivating Leaders

Green Mountain Power CEO and President, Mary Powell, encourages businesses to think differently to help women become future leaders. Powell advised, “We should focus on the outcomes, not if someone was working from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.” More flexible schedules allow employees to participate in school activities, or tend to a sick child. When employers value the outcomes of the work, instead of the clocked hours, women are supported, not just at work, but also with their families.

Sen. Flory suggested that these issues need to be framed as family issues, not women’s issues. And in some ways I agree. Childcare, sick pay, parental leave, health care, and flexible workplaces are gender neutral. However, since women tend to shoulder the burden of many of these issues, women need to be in places of power to deliver the message and create the change.

In addition, we have an internal problem among women, what Powell calls, the “pick-a-part game,” where women undermine the success of other women. Powell suggests women surround themselves with supportive friends and colleagues. She also says to embrace yourself, know your passions, and be available for new opportunities. Follow what she calls, “your north star.”

Likewise, lobbyist Heidi Tringe of MacLean Meehan & Rice offers practical advice for women aspiring to be leaders: “Seek out mentors to connect with, and get advice.” Yet aspiring, and following your own passion, and being available to new opportunities can be a challenge for overloaded women.

Women need regular opportunities to find their voice, and know where it’s safe to ask questions. Individual mentoring and encouraging women to seek out leadership roles are all critical to growing the ranks of women in power. But the lack of organized structures for women, in the business community and the political community, could hurt the potential growth of fresh women leaders.

Deb Markowitz, who ran for governor in the 2010 Democratic primary and who now heads the Agency of Natural Resources, was the first woman elected Secretary of State in 1998. In that position she organized and hosted the Women’s Leadership Initiative. This was a retreat for potential women leaders to connect with mentors. Markowitz’s retreats were geared toward readying women for elected office. The last retreat was in 2008, and since then, there has been no state-level organized effort to train and mentor women.

Women need many tangible and regular opportunities, such as clubs, or networking events to gain confidence, connect with other women, and practice becoming leaders. We should revive the Women’s Leadership Initiative or develop replacements to grow new women leaders, and provide occasions for support and connection.

We need to reorganize a strong women’s movement in Vermont. We can move ahead, capture more leadership positions in business, education, and government, and fight for our rights, to implement reform. We can redefine the workplace to allow mothers and fathers the flexibility they need to raise their children. In many other countries, including Canada, Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom, parents are treated much differently. They receive paid family leave, a stipend for child care, reduced work weeks, family-friendly taxation, and a marketing campaign to recognize the need for a strong next generation.

            Like Mary Powell, we can follow our north star and gain the confidence to lead. One of my mentors, Rep. Mary Hooper, D-Montpelier, says it well: “Just do it! Don’t wait to contribute to your community.”