Hi ~

I invite you to join Step Forward Global Initiative (SFGI)’s Supporters' Circle! SFGI is a civic-tech organization focused on elevating women who step forward for political office and educating the public about them. The Supporters' Circle gives SFGI early momentum and credibility.

Allow me share our origin story . . . When I was a girl, upon my brother's bedroom wall were posters of the three prominent global leaders at the time: one was Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of the United Kingdom. I was awestruck by her image, a bit taken aback and intimidated, even. Though, my young mind had difficulty reconciling Margaret Thatcher’s indisputable, visible power with the lack of visibility of women elsewhere - at all levels of government in the U.K. and globally. The impact of her image, a woman in power, stays with me to this day. Her visibility - the visibility of a woman leader - influenced the course of my life.

Why are women 51% of the global population yet only 13% of global leaders? SFGI contends that women stepping forward for political office must be more visible. We are a nonpartisan, non-endorsing, civic-tech global platform advancing women candidates' visibility - and thus, their viability. SFGI is creating an infrastructure and catalyzing an ecosystem: connecting women who step forward to one another, to organizations that support them, and to the public. Our platform reflects the growing global momentum of women stepping forward for public office, and we maintain that scaling this network is the difference between symbolic inclusion and an upswell of elected women leaders.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Step Forward Global Initiative (SFGI)! I hope you will join our Supporters' Circle. When you join, your name is added to SFGI's website Gratitude page in recognition of your contribution. If you prefer to remain anonymous, kindly let me know at aoifemeehan@makethestep.org.

With kind regards,

Aoife Meehan, Founding Chief Executive Officer, https://www.makethestep.org/

Step Forward Global Initiative operates under the fiscal sponsorship of Social Good Fund (EIN 46‑1323531), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations are processed by Social Good Fund and are tax‑deductible as permitted by law.

Below, please see questions and answers about SFGI.

❓Before I contribute, can you share what the Supporters' Circle funds will specifically support?

Yes! Supporters' Circle gifts will finance the development of SFGI's global data hub (NOVEL): tracking an estimated 750,000+ women candidates, approximately 8,000 elections, as well as drawing data from 193 countries for analysis and visualizations. We will rely on NOVEL to generate candidate and country profiles, share election updates, profiles of women stepping forward, country analyses, and we bring to light the obstacles that discourage women from running for political office.

🙋Tell me more about SFGI's platform.

Our visibility platform tracks all global elections where women are stepping forward - at every level in every country - in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania. It is a platform that recognizes women candidates are part of a growing global momentum and shifts the global public’s perception.

❓How does this affect me, my family, society?

Women are 51% of the global population and only 13% of global leaders. Let that sink in. Leadership around the world does not reflect the population it governs. Decisions are made for girls, young women, and adult women without women: about healthcare, education, the economy, safety, climate, technology, foreign policy, and the list goes on. This disparity impacts the effectiveness of policies and systems - for everybody - locally to globally. SFGI provides you with a global, multi-partisan, non-endorsing platform that makes women candidates more visible, giving a clearer understanding of one's own political environment, as well as a connection to global ones.

💥SFGI's Bottom Line Shifts the Baseline

When we see women running - everywhere - it shifts our baseline:

We teach young women and girls to see leadership as theirs to claim.
We notice women in leadership more often.
We come to expect women to be present and recognize when they are missing.
We see leadership as a shared human domain.

Supporters' Circle, SFGI