Women Like You Take The Lead: Kshama Sawant

Take The Lead salutes women who are doing extraordinary things in their communities. We will be recognizing women as part of our Women Like You Take The Lead campaign in the weeks leading up to the Take The Lead Challenge Launch Event on February 19th. Do you know an extraordinary woman in your community? Contact us, and we might feature her!

Kshama Sawant

Kshama Sawant is a Seattle City Council member-elect and is the first socialist to be elected in Seattle for more than a century. An economics teacher at Seattle Central Community College, she stunned the Seattle progressive community by beating a longtime Democratic council member in the November election. In her campaign, Sawant focused on affordable housing and a $15 minimum wage for workers. Not even sworn into office yet, Sawant has a strong following poised to bring the $15/hour issue to a vote in 2014, three years before the newly-elected Democratic mayor wants it in place. She was an activist in the Occupy Wall Street movement, and is a fighter for workers, women, LGBTQ people, and immigrants. Sawant was quite active and integral in the Occupy Seattle movement and feels that the Occupy Movement was a tremendous beginning to politically engage a larger group of people that were not necessarily being heard in the political mainstream. Whatever your personal political beliefs, and wherever you lie on the political spectrum, it is undeniable that Sawant is a woman determined to have her voice be heard and has shown that she will continually work to challenge the status quo. 

Ready to do more in your career and life in 2014? Join us and 1 million other participants on February 19th for the Take The Lead Challenge Launch Event, designed to inspire you and show you how to embrace your power and fulfill your potential. Learn more about the event and sign up for the free livestream.