BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
The number of Alabama women participating in politics is growing, and one Birmingham-based group is working to make sure that keeps happening.
Leading Edge Institute is trying to equip college women to make a difference in their home state.
Many women, especially Southern ones, are reluctant to speak up and don’t emerge as leaders like their male counterparts, executive director Benga Harrison told The Birmingham News.
“A lot of women are very bright, very motivated and don’t want to stay in Alabama — they feel like they are shut down here,” she said.
Women’s Policy Research, a nonprofit group in Washington that tracks women’s participation in politics, ranked Alabama 41st in 2000. By 2002, the state was up to 37th, and it moved to 24th in 2004.
Alabama ranked first for women in statewide elected executive offices with five females, and it ranked fifth for having 75 percent of females registered to vote.
