Happy Friday! Welcome to our Media Round Up. Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Here’s what caught our eye this week:

From Kamala Harris to Jacinda Arden: The World’s Most Powerful Women in Politics in 2020

Nicolette Jones, Forbes 

Women’s political power around the world is steadily growing, and the woman leaders on the 2020 Forbes World’s Most Powerful Women list have an enormous impact as they deal with the most critical social and health issues of our time. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris lands the #3 spot on the list as the highest-ranking woman ever elected in the U.S., as well as the first woman of color. Fair Fight founder Stacey Abrams earns the #100 spot on the list as she turned her 2018 gubernatorial race loss into a grassroots action movement that resulted in flipping the state of Georgia from red to blue in the Presidential election for the first time since 1992.

You can read the full article here.

Biden to Tap Marcia Fudge to Lead Housing Agency

Katy O’Donnell, Tyler Pager and Megan Cassella, Politico

President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Representative Marcia L. Fudge to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Fudge, a Democrat from Ohio, was heavily endorsed by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). This department will play an important role in the Administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of Americans call for rent and mortgage assistance due to the crisis.

You can read the full article here.

Women Make Record-Breaking Gains Across State Legislatures

Julia Manchester, The Hill

Last month, a record number of Republican and Democrat women won their state legislature races with no less than 1,684 women serving as state representatives and 552 women serving as state senators in 2021. The Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University reported that women are set to occupy over 30 percent of seats in state legislatures for the very first time in American history. “Electing more qualified women at the state level is one of the first steps to seeing more women represented at the federal level,” said Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokeswoman for Winning for Women Action Fund

You can read the full article here.

Biden Expected To Tap Katherine Tai As U.S. Trade Representative

Kelsey Snell & Alana Wise, NPR

On Thursday, President-elect Joe Biden named Katherine Tai, chief trade counsel for the Committee on Ways and Means, as his nominee for U.S. Trade Representative. If confirmed by the Senate, Tai would be the first woman of color to serve as the top trade representative. In her role, Tai will be responsible for managing American trade rules and terms with foreign countries.

You can read the full article here.

Biden Names Health Secretary, COVID Czar, Other Key Members to Health Team

Tamara Keith, NPR

On Monday, President-elect Joe Biden announced his newly formed COVID-19 response team. Biden is tapping in Xavier Becerra to lead the Health and Human Services Department. He will be the first Latino to serve in the post. Biden also selected Dr. Rochelle Walensky as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walensky, a Harvard Medical School professor and Chief of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, has been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic response in Massachusetts. Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith will be the COVID-19 Equity Task Force Chair, a task force created to reduce COVID-19 treatment disparities, including racial and ethnic disparities.

You can read the full article here.

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