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For the second time in eight years, Americans have rejected a female presidential candidate in favor of Donald Trump. The Associated Press projected his win just after 5:30am Wednesday morning, and Vice President Kamala Harris conceded the race in a call to the president-elect and in an afternoon address to the nation. In that speech, Harris said that while she accepts the results of the election, she does not “concede the fight that fueled [her] campaign.”
“I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, and aspirations,” Harris said. “Where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do.”
Harris did not overtly mention her gender or the historic nature of her candidacy in the speech, but this is consistent with how she campaigned over the prior three months: Despite the polling that had many calling it the “Battle of the Sexes” election, Harris largely leaned away from talking about how she could have been “the first” had she won. Ahead of Tuesday, I’d been talking to women in the 50 Over 50 and 30 Under 30 communities about this, and about what Harris’ candidacy meant to and for the women in their orbits. Mona Sinha, the global director of gender equity nonprofit Equality Now, told me, “There are millions of women and girls watching this election, and when a girl sees a woman lead, wherever she is in the world, she knows that she can lead as well.”
That Harris has lost—that America will go at least 252 years without electing a woman as its head—is a fact that has some people questioning what it will take to elect a woman to the highest office in the land. While women are not a monolith (45% voted for Trump, according to the Washington Post’s exit polling), I know that many are also questioning what a second Trump administration means for their rights and their reproductive healthcare access. My colleagues and I will be covering those questions—and their answers—in the days, weeks and months to come, and some early coverage is in the ICYMI section below.
We will also remain committed to covering the women who are founding and leading the world’s biggest and most innovative companies, because Sinha is right: when girls see women doing interesting work and becoming CEOs, they know they can do it, too. And while women remain underrepresented across the world’s c-suites, make no mistake: there are plenty of women founding and leading very powerful organizations. As pundits of all stripes debate the future of female political leadership this week, may it be a salve to remember that women are already helming massive companies and exerting their influence across all sectors of work. And no presidential election can stop that.
Take care of yourselves,
Maggie McGrath
Exclusive Forbes List: Asia’s Most Powerful Businesswomen In 2024
Businesswomen in Asia-Pacific are stepping up and taking the helm in industries with no shortage of challenges. As economic uncertainties continue to loom over businesses everywhere, these 20 women have been entrusted to lead enterprises, investment firms and family businesses to continuous growth and stability. Among the women on this year’s list: Bonnie Chan, the first female CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX); Mitsuko Tottori, the first woman to run Japan Airlines (JAL) and who started her career as a flight attendant; and, Shania Manoj Punjabi, the cofounder and head of MD Entertainment, Indonesia’s largest film studio company by market cap.
ICYMI: News Of The Week
Voters in ten states considered abortion-specific ballot measures Tuesday night, with several states—including Arizona and Colorado—electing to enshrine abortion access in their state constitutions. We have a tracker of the results here, and ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath spoke with healthcare attorney Harry Nelson on Tuesday night about how, practically and legally, these measures become law.
Fears over what a second Trump administration means for reproductive health has some women buying morning after pills—also known as emergency contraception—in bulk, according to Winx Health cofounder Cynthia Plotch. Plotch joined Forbes’ Maggie McGrath for a Forbes Newsroom segment about what the first 12 hours after the election has looked like for her startup, and how she and her company are planning for increased consumer demand.
Presidential election results in the U.S. triggered contrasting reactions in two small villages in southern India, as the residents of Vadluru—the ancestral home of Vice President-elect JD Vance’s wife Usha—celebrated President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, while those living in Kamala Harris’ ancestral village of Thulasendrapuram were dismayed by her defeat.
Did you partake in any stress baking or election-related bake sales this week? It turns out that baking for elections has roots in America’s Colonial era. “Election Cakes” were baked to serve a lot of people, explains food scholar KC Hysmith, back in a time when folks had to travel far distances to their polling places. And while modern media coverage of election cakes can paint the baking process as a “cute” way that women—who at the time, did not have the right to vote themselves—occupied themselves on Election Day, Hysmith points out that it was a “really radical act of doing something when you can do very little else.”
The Checklist
1. Understand what parts of your business are table stakes and where you can innovate. Striking this delicate balance, Citizens Financial Chief Experience Officer Beth Johnson says, is the key to growing a big (and sustainable) business.
2. Focus on what you can control. This is good life advice but it’s especially true for managing a team or organization in the midst of tremendous political anxiety and uncertainty.
3. Build your personal brand. Developing a personal brand isn’t just a priority for celebrities and influencers anymore. More than 90% of professionals surveyed said that developing a personal brand would have a significant impact on a manager’s success and make them more competitive in the job market. Here’s how to do that.
The Quiz
The number of Black women who have ever been elected to the Senate doubled Tuesday night—from two, to four—and they’ll also serve at the same time for the first time in U.S. history. Angela Alsobrooks defeated Maryland’s former Governor Larry Hogan, who is the other senator-elect?
- Laphonza Butler of California
- Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware
- Lauren Underwood of Illinois
- Jasmine Crockett of Texas
Check your answer.