My life's work is to advance women and girls … and I'm eager to show our nation the progressive change that can happen when The White House Project arms millions of women with the tools to create new outcomes that benefit us all." -Tiffany Dufu
- Learn more about Tifany Dufu, President of The White House Project here
- Read the press release announcing Tiffany's appointment here
- View the accomplishments and milestones of The White House Project's twelve-year history here
NEW LEADERSHIP FOR A NEW GENERATION
My vision for The White House Project is that it will achieve dramatic social impact, reignite civil society, and innovate solutions to our toughest problems by training millions of women to advance their leadership— whether they are in schools or playgrounds, churches or boardrooms, elected or appointed office. To be successful requires that we offer relatable, new leadership for a new generation; dramatically accelerate results; and move beyond simply pursuing parity for women when our end goal is solutions that create progress for everyone.
FILLING THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE
Executing this vision means meeting people where they are. A huge culprit of the erosion of civil society is the widening gap we all feel between the people in power and the lives of everyday Americans. This gap is particularly palpable among young people who—through tubes, texts and tweets—have more access to information about their leaders than ever before. The White House Project will bridge this gap by continuing to fill the leadership pipeline with the most diverse individuals who are working for progressive change, and who inspire us to believe we can create that change too.
FROM #72 TO #1 IN OUR LIFETIME
Executing this vision means being bold. We will quicken the pace of social progress by using social media to galvanize millions of individuals in a new movement for women's leadership. We will catapult the United States from 72nd in women's political leadership to #1—in our lifetime. This is an audacious endeavor, but no less so than the commitment to win women's right to vote, which was declared in 1848—80 years before actualizing it in 1920. And we have so many more tools at our disposal than our foremothers did, including technology and the options and privileges won by the women who came before us.
HARNESSING THE CREATIVITY AND INGENUITY OF ALL CITIZENS
Executing this vision means being clear about our goal. We must remember that our efforts to equip women to be agents of change, and to challenge the systematic barriers we confront, is not the end in itself. Rather, it is the means by which we can do what our nation has never done: harness the creativity and ingenuity of all its citizens to create a more perfect union. The White House Project's founder, Marie Wilson, put it best: "When we think of putting more women in leadership, supporters and detractors alike too often think we're in the gender business. But propelling women into positions of leadership has less to do with adding women for women's sake, and much more to do with the business of transformation." Transformation is what this country needs, now more than ever. We are well-positioned to realize our vision for the future.
AT THE FOREFRONT
For the past decade, The White House Project has been at the forefront of preparing women leaders, leveraging popular culture to influence it, and drawing attention to the state of women's leadership for the American public. We are the only women's leadership organization to have trained over 11,000 diverse women across the country; 53% are women of color, 67% are under 35, and 43% come from lower-income households. Our alumnae are women like Lea Webb who leveraged her platform as the youngest City Councilperson in Binghamton, NY to open the first grocery store in her community in 15 years. They are women like Raolat Abdulai, a medical student who launched a free holistic medical clinic run by her student peers at Howard Medical School. They are the kinds of leaders we need engaged in solving our nation's problems and inspiring a new generation.
