Leader. Activist. Mother. Marie C. Wilson is an inspiration to us all. In advocating the need for more women leaders, she serves as President of The White House Project, co-creator of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work® Day and author of Closing the Leadership Gap: Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. Read her take on women, politics and election night.

This election has inspired countless debate about women and our ability to lead. What lessons do you think we have learned, or need to learn? 

First, we need to understand once and for all that if there are not enough women in positions of power, it will never be normal for women to be leaders and the issues surrounding them will never be about agenda, but gender. Hillary Clinton’s campaign was hard for her in every way, but her refusal to give up and go under taught us how important it is for women to be persistent. Through her campaign, we learned that we can do things we never thought we could.

What will it take for a woman to reach the presidential suite?

In order for this country to elect a woman leader, we need to build a pipeline to power by getting more women into the governorships and Congress. We also need more businesswomen moving in and out of the political arena, so they have relevance to political life. But, please understand that we don’t have the luxury of putting just any woman into office — we have to get women in from the top to the bottom who want to make progress for other women. Without certain policies in place, such as economic security, safety and full health options, women absolutely cannot actually lead because they will always be subject to these restraints. So, we can’t put women in power who don’t bring other women along by supporting those policies and actually being for women. Electing a woman president is a matter of pipeline, visibility and the political will to raise women up.

Female candidates encounter a double standard, such as the emphasis on Clinton’s looks or Palin’s family obligations. How can our first female president overcome this obstacle? 

Again, the double standard is a direct result of not having enough women visible in politics and public life. However, one double standard that will never fade unless it fades from American life is the image of women’s role in the family. Until families are provided with more support and society views child rearing as a community affair, women will always be judged differently.

How can women, who aren’t in political office, ensure their voices are heard? 

For starters, women need to take the time to make their opinions heard. There are so many outlets now to speak out — it’s just a matter of deciding you have something to say and saying it. The other thing is that we need to ensure that each other’s voices are heard. It took me a while to really understand how important that was — for those of us who have the opportunity to say something and be heard to bring other people into the conversation. That’s the way to make our voices mean something — by saying something together.

Where will you spend election night? 

At our staff party at my home. I want to be with the women whom I’ve been working with all year to see that we have a really good political outcome for women.

(October 2008)