Women’s News: Now, more than ever

For the second time in less than a decade, a female Democratic candidate lost the presidential race, leaving the nation’s highest glass ceiling unbroken.

Instead, the president-elect is a man who was found liable for sexual abuse, who has a well-documented history of violent racist and misogynistic rhetoric, who received votes from a minority of American women, and whose most recent attempt at promises to women included the phrase, “whether they like it or not.”

It’s a somber and frightening time.

But despite what millions of votes and the actions of a soon-to-be president would indicate, women matter. Women’s stories matter — fundamentally, irrevocably, and perhaps now more than ever. May we keep reading and sharing them together, for the next four years and beyond. Thank you for being here.

Here’s what’s on the rise:

World

• Maia Sandu won a second term as Moldova’s president, defeating a pro-Russia candidate in a runoff election overshadowed by claims of voter fraud and Russian interference.

• Kemi Badenoch was named leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, becoming the first Black woman to head a major British political group.

Business and Tech

• Forbes announced its annual list of the top companies for women employees, with Hilton taking the number one spot. Other organizations featured include Netflix, Microsoft, H&M, and Deloitte.

• Startup founder Asha Shivaji is using AI to make advertising more inclusive. Her company, SeeMe Index, analyzes ads across six identity factors, like gender expression and body size, to help brands boost diversity.

• Despite progress over the last two decades, women still make up a minority of business school students (42%), lagging behind law schools (56%) and medical schools (55%).

Finance and Investing

• Research suggests private equity's gender imbalance impacts both firms’ structures and the companies they invest in—a recent study found a 20% decline in women in leadership roles during PE ownership.

• Olivia Wilde is the latest Hollywood star to enter the venture capital world. The actor-turned-director quietly co-founded an investment firm called Proximity Ventures late last year.

• Bonus: Meet Kay Koplovitz, the first woman to run a U.S. television network who founded venture capital firm Springboard to fund and support women entrepreneurs.

Politics

• Abortion rights advocates saw strong (but not perfect) results on Tuesday. Voters in seven states — Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Montana, Missouri, Nevada, and New York — approved measures to protect abortion rights, while three states, Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota, kept their bans in place.

• For the first time, two Black women will serve in the Senate simultaneously. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks won their races in Delaware and Maryland, respectively.

• Other election-night wins for women include:

  • Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.

  • Yassamin Ansari, Arizona’s first Iranian-American representative in Congress.

  • Julie Fedorchak, the first woman elected to North Dakota’s House.

  • Julie Johnson, Texas’s first openly LGBTQ+ House representative.

Healthcare

• Cofertility is a startup allowing women to freeze their eggs for free, as long as they agree to donate half of what’s retrieved. The model aims to expand donor supply and make freezing more affordable for younger women.

• A new AI-powered diagnostic test can determine whether breast cancer is high risk or low risk, providing crucial information for treatment decisions. Ataraxis, the company behind the test, said it could be 30% more accurate than current methods.

• “Reclaim October” is a movement of breast cancer survivors taking a stand against “pinkwashing,” or superficial awareness initiatives meant to capitalize on pink products, aiming instead to promote honest and meaningful advocacy.

Sports

• Women are coming to a baseball diamond near you. The Women’s Pro Baseball League is set to launch with six teams in 2026. 

• Cheerleading is the country’s most dangerous and least regulated women’s sport, a New York Times investigation found. Roughly a million girls cheer each year, but just one company monopolizes the market, opening doors for widespread mistreatment and abuse of athletes.

• The National Women’s Soccer League playoffs will kick off this weekend, with quarterfinal matches on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Culture

• Fans of John Wick have Eva Longoria to thank for “saving” the franchise, its directors recently revealed. The actress was an early investor in the original film, which was “less than 24 hours” away from running out of money when Longoria stepped in.

• Pop star Chappell Roan debuted a new lesbian country song called “The Giver” on Saturday Night Live.

Further Reading