Every day, in every state, city and county in America, women are doing the hard job of making government work.
They’re on the front lines, delivering crucial services to residents. They’re managing teams, departments and agencies, ensuring efficiency and efficacy in public sector operations. They’re leading city halls and state governments, envisioning and building a new future for communities across the country.
Some of these leaders are trailblazers, the first women ever to hold their jobs. Others are carrying forward the great work of their predecessors. In each case, they show the strength and dedication it takes to make government work for everyone.
Cherelle L. Parker
Cherelle Parker’s path to becoming Philadelphia’s first female mayor began when she won a public speaking contest in high school. The prize — a trip to Africa and an internship with City Councilwoman Marian Tasco — would shape her future in public service. She eventually went on to work for Tasco for 15 years. When Tasco retired, Parker won election to her mentor’s council seat.
While many challenges remain in America’s poorest big city, Parker is winning praise for bringing new energy and ambition to the mayor’s office. “I did not run to be mayor of the city of Philadelphia so I could simply be a footnote in somebody else’s history book,” Parker said in December during her State of the City address. “We wanted to use this opportunity to get things done.”
Shoshana M. Lew
While Shoshana Lew has held high-level federal positions, she says nothing beats the tangible results you can show at a state DOT. “One of the things I find motivating and refreshing about being in transportation is it’s never a leap of the imagination to see how you’re impacting people’s lives,” she says.
One impact Lew wants to see is making it easier for people to get around Colorado without a car. As CDOT widens Interstate 25 — a critical route through the state’s biggest population centers — the agency is building a series of bus stations into the roadway. At the same time, CDOT is scaling up its regional bus service. “It’s a more holistic vision,” Lew says, “to make sure everything — from our interstates to secondary highways to connection points to local roads — is built to carry people not just through vehicular traffic but also through public transit.”
When Lew took the helm at CDOT six years ago, she was surprised to learn that no woman had held the position before. She’s bringing more women into the agency, not only into the leadership ranks but also in frontline positions such as the snow plow operators who keep Colorado moving for much of the year. “You can’t wave a magic wand and have a discipline be more inclusive,” Lew says, “but you can, one step at a time, build teams that are reflective of the people you serve.”
Stephanie Dedmon
Among public technology executives, the jump from government to private consulting is a well-worn path. Stephanie Dedmon went the other way around, leaving a job with Accenture in 2005 to lead a major software rollout for the state of Tennessee. “I really enjoyed the people,” Dedmon says. “State employees were extremely dedicated, and this was a chance to help our state do some critical things.”
The software rollout went well, and Dedmon rose through the ranks to eventually become Tennessee’s top tech leader. Her biggest legacy may be a massive consolidation and centralization of tech teams among executive-branch agencies. That win enables a number of purchasing efficiencies and needed standardization around cybersecurity and project management. While Dedmon didn’t fit the technologist mold that had traditionally defined IT leadership, she excelled at all the skills now understood to be key to success: communication, collaborative problem-solving and relationship-building. “That sounds easy,” Dedmon says, “but it takes time and perseverance.”
Dedmon, who plans to retire this summer, says that when she joined the state she did not aspire to become chief information officer. Looking back, she believes she should have. “Women often sell ourselves short,” Dedmon says. “I’ve heard studies say that men will apply for a job if they meet 50% of the qualifications, but women will stay away unless they meet 80 or 90%. I would encourage women: Set your sights high, and surround yourself with people you think can help you get there.”
Lisa Flores
New York City spends more than $34 billion a year on goods and services. Lisa Flores has made it her mission to grow how much of that spend goes to women- and minority-owned businesses. That pursuit has Flores’ team out in the neighborhoods training thousands of small businesses on how to contract with the city. And it has Flores regularly out in the community, engaging with the public far more than you’ll typically find with government procurement officials.
“I will go to any event I’m invited to, no matter how small, because there’s value in showing up, listening, and hearing the stories of contractors and the challenges they’ve encountered,” Flores says. “When I get to talk to a small business owner, who maybe came here from another country with nothing and created and grew their own business, that’s the fire that keeps me burning.”
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York, Flores has worked across multiple agencies in her 20-year career with city hall. She was drawn to local government because she wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. And she’s intent on keeping that path clear for others. Thanks to hiring changes she’s led, Flores’ department now employs 30% more women than just a few years ago, including many in leadership roles.
“We are not accomplishing our goal as women and as Latino women if it’s one-and-done,” Flores says. “If I haven’t built pathways for other folks to have this type of role when I’m no longer here, then I haven’t really had an impact on my community.”
