USA

Progressive groups unveiled a major initiative on Wednesday to draw attention to challenges that women still face and to promote public policies to address gender disparities.

Organizing for Action, dedicated to promoting President Barack Obama's agenda, is launching a "Stand with Women" effort on Wednesday night with more than 100 events in homes around the country.

The emergence of three female Democrats as competitive Senate candidates has party activists optimistic the 2014 election cycle will end with a record number of women in the upper chamber.

West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, who officially launched her Senate bid Tuesday, joins fellow Democrats Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky and Michelle Nunn in Georgia as high-profile recruits in states Democrats consider winnable next year.

Politician and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once said, “Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world.”

Fictional "Parks and Recreation" politician Leslie Knope once said, “Maybe it’s time for more women to be in charge.” And then probably said something about waffles.

While perhaps the real-world influence of these two women is disparate (one a fictional television character, the other a diplomat who has traveled to and managed relations in over 112 countries), the messages of both ring true.

There's something missing from our political offices, and the answer is in the hormones. We need more estrogen.

Despite having successful female examples at the national level such as Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, and Nancy Pelosi, the number of women in political office is staggeringly low. According to a 2013 study by the Center for American Women and Politics, women comprise only 18.3% of Congress; in other words, they hold only 98 of the 535 seats.

State Sen. LeAnna Washington, D-4, was a high school dropout, had her first child at age 17, was a single mother, grew up in a tumultuous household, was a victim of domestic violence and received government assistance well into her adult years. However, these hardships did not stifle Washington — they motivated her to be a leader in her community.

Behind the roiling conversation over whether President Obama might make Janet L. Yellen the first female leader of the Federal Reserve is an uncomfortable reality for the White House: the administration has named no more women to high-level executive branch posts than the Clinton administration did almost two decades ago.