A historic election in a historic year. I look forward to working with President-elect Joe Biden , Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to help end the pandemic and lead an inclusive recovery. It’s true that our government still has a long way to go to reflect the diversity of our country. But now that we have elected Kamala Harris as the first woman and person of color to serve as Vice President, we are closer than ever before. What’s more, a record number of women ran for office and won this year.

As COVID-19 puts progress toward gender equality at risk around the world, simple tools like digital payment and ID systems can help women remain economically empowered.

A clear path to increasing women’s power and influence in the United States is to elect more women to public office. A record number of women are running this year. But barriers still need to be broken for women to run and win at equal rates to men.