[Brussels 12 October 2016] From November 30 – December 2, 2016 the European Women’s Lobby, and the Reflective Democracy Campaign together with the German Marshall Fund is hosting ExCHANGE to incubate and accelerate innovative best practices for promoting women in political leadership in the European Union and the United States. ExCHANGE will bring together leading activists and representatives from circa 40 organizations working on women in political (participation by invitation only).
The United States and the European Union are two of the most powerful democracies in the world, yet they both suffer from a pervasive problem that seriously undermines their fundamental commitment to equality and justice for all: lack of women in political decision-making positions. The EU and US have taken different approaches to achieving gender equality in politics. While each has realized moderate successes with distinct methods in recent years, both have fallen short of achieving a gender equal political system. Activists for women’s advancement in politics and elected office on both sides of the Atlantic have much to learn from each other, yet until now, there has not been an opportunity to come together, sharing best practices and devising new, globally informed strategies.
The first transatlantic convention of its kind, ExCHANGE will fill a major gap in an increasingly globalizing movement to bring about societal change and achieve gender equality by promoting equal representation of women in political decision-making. The goal of ExCHANGE is to facilitate knowledge sharing, best practices and innovation between key US and EU actors working on the promotion of women in politics, in order to stimulate the creation of a robust transatlantic learning community. The purpose of the convention is to facilitate the sharing of current challenges and existing best practices with regards to increasing the number of women in positions of political leadership through series of interactive workshops, working groups, and presentation sessions.
The convention participants will form the basis of a transatlantic community dedicated to the issue or promoting women’s political leadership. Furthermore, after the convention we will compile the innovations developed by participants into a Digital Toolkit, which will be widely disseminated throughout the EU and the US as a part of the convention report.
For questions please contact Matilda Flemming at the European Women’s Lobby (flemming@womenlobby.org) or +32 2 210 04 41.
Funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme of the European Union, by the Barbara Lee Foundation, the Reflective Democracy Campaign and the US Mission to the EU.
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womenlobby.org
22 April 2025
Compliance status
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Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
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Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
