Washington, DC– A bipartisan group of women leaders gathered in Washington, DC to discuss the issues facing women who are in decision making roles at a roundtable hosted by the Women’s Democracy Network (WDN).  The July 13 roundtable featured Member of European Parliament (EP) Corien Wortmann-Kool (Netherlands) and Deputy Director of the Department of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues Anita Botti and was led by the Executive Vice President of the International Republican Institute Judy Van Rest.

Wortman-Kool gave a brief overview of her work in the European Union (EU), the role of women in Europe and touched on gender specific EU policies – both in politics and the corporate world.  Botti then spoke about her work advocating for women’s issues at the U.S. State Department, and the attempts of the Office of Global Women’s Affairs to include the issue of gender equality into many aspects of U.S. foreign and domestic policies.

The discussion highlighted the personal experiences of the participants who spoke of their own experience as female decisions makers and what their current organizations are doing to promote the promotion of gender equality.  Discussions also turned to creating specific areas of cooperation between the United Sates and the EU in raising awareness and advocating with regards to the issues of global gender equality.

WDN will focus on these identified avenues for collaboration and cultivate its partnerships with women and organizations which share its goal of advancing women’s empowerment.

Wortmann-Kool’s portfolio in the European Parliament includes roles as Vice-President of the European People’s Party-Group (the largest political bloc in the EU) and Member of the EU’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.  Wortman-Kool has been a strong supporter of WDN programming, participating annually in WDN’s Brussels European Parliament Study Tour for its international members.  

Botti is the Deputy Director of the Department of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, having served previously on the President’s Interagency Council on Women and as Chair of the U.S. Interagency Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings.  Botti also served as Co-Chair of the Community of Democracies’ Working Group on Gender Equality (WGGE) during the 10^th anniversary event in Warsaw, Poland, which WDN attended in its role as a member of the WGGE.