While women remain significantly underrepresented in government, there is at least one adjacent field in which they have achieved gender parity in leadership: the universe of democracy reform and bridge-building organizations.
In its 2021 Diversity Report, the Bridge Alliance found that half of the executives leading its 100 member organizations are women. (Disclosure: The Fulcrum is a program within the Bridge Alliance, which brings together organizations working toward a healthy democracy.)
To mark Women’s History Month, The Fulcrum is spotlighting just some of the women leading these organizations.
Wendy Willis
Lorraine Marquez Eiler’s photo of her great-great grandparents and her great-grandparents, who would walk about 50 miles through the Sonoran Desert to the springs.
Construction equipment is seen near the U.S.-Mexico border just west of the Lukeville port of entry on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. Credit: Stephanie Casanova
Rep. Adelita Grijalva, left, and Tohono O’odham Chairman Verlon Jose listen as Lorraine Marquez Eiler, a Hia-C’ed O’odham elder, shares how her ancestors would hold ceremonies at Quitobaquito Springs. Grijalva visited the springs with tribal leaders on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. Credit: Stephanie Casanova
Sara Mae Williams, Justice of the Peace in Ajo and a Tohono O’odham citizen, shares their concerns regarding border wall construction on Tohono O’odham land at a town hall at the Ajo Plaza Rec Hall on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. Credit: Stephanie Casanova