Women make up 24% of the 116th Congress; the most diverse Congress since the first woman elected to Congress in 1917. Although women are historically underrepresented in the political sphere, they still continue to make gains in American politics, whether that be through formal representative systems in political institutions or participating in grassroots organizing and the formation of interest groups.
The Hawk spoke to St. Joe’s alumnae who are involved in politics during this year’s presidential election:
Carolina González Pérez ’20
Carolina González Pérez graduated from St. Joe’s with a degree in international
relations. González Pérez began working as a communications intern for the
Biden campaign after graduating, and is now working as a full time National
Communications Assistant for the campaign. González Pérez is editing and
managing official campaign statements and remarks, as well as managing the
campaign’s message to media outlets.
Why is it important to vote in this election?
I didn’t vote back in 2016 because I thought my vote didn’t matter. Then Hillary
[Clinton] lost Pennsylvania. What if I had gone out and voted? Every day, it
just weighs on me. If I had voted against [Trump], I would have been able to
say ‘That’s not my president, I didn’t vote for him.’ But since I didn’t vote, I had
no say. If you want a say in how this country evolves, and if you have hope that
things will turn out better, you have to go out and vote. Because you can’t say
‘I want a better country’ if you don’t go out and go and actually do something.
What do you think is important for the St. Joe’s and Philadelphia community to
know about the upcoming election?
On the topic of Walter Wallace Jr., I spent most of my morning reading about it because I had to prepare a brief of what was going on for Joe [Biden]. Philadelphia is in shambles right now. It’s all because of the hate that is perpetrated by Donald Trump every time he steps up to a podium and opens his mouth. He
creates so much division and chaos within America and amongst all of us. So,
instead of fighting each other, the best we can do is band together.
Katie McGinty ’85
Katie McGinty graduated from St. Joe’s with a degree in chemistry. McGinty
has since worked in both Pennsylvania state and federal politics. McGinty
served as the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality under former U.S. President Bill Clinton, as the Secretary of the PA Department of Environmental Protection, as Chief of Staff to PA Governor Tom Wolf and ran for the United States Senate in 2016. McGinty now works as the VP & Chief Sustainability, Government and Regulatory Affairs Officer
at Johnson Controls.
What do you hope your work accomplishes during this election?
I hope that people will be inspired in the experience that we all have had over
the most recent years; to know that if you take the system of government that
we have been blessed with for granted, it just may well be taken away. Freedom isn’t free; you’ve got to work for it. You have to understand and care when the integrity of our system and the integrity of the key institutions of self government [are] dragged down and not respected.
What would you like to emphasize to our community of voters at St. Joe’s and
in Philadelphia?
I want St. Joe’s students to be the ones that prove everybody wrong. Everybody
believes that students talk a lot about the issues, and then they don’t show up at the polls. I would like to see hawks and lady hawks out there proving the skep-
tics wrong and voting in historic numbers. The voice of young people today is more important than it’s ever been.
Scarlett McCahill ’06
Scarlett McCahill graduated from St. Joe’s with majors in political science and philosophy, and a minor in faith justice studies. McCahill has since held various roles in the Philadelphia education system, and has worked with ProjectHOME, a nonprofit that provides services to people experiencing homelessness. McCahill currently works full time as the director of human resources at the Barnes Foundation. During this election cycle, she is working as a late-help volunteer with the Pennsylvania Democratic Coordinated Campaign to get out the vote in North Philadelphia.
What do you hope to see for the city of Philadelphia in this election?
We are such a place that shows the impact and the reality of exponentially in-
creasing wealth inequality where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. That is very clear just walking down the street in Center City. That bifurcation is one that is a threat to our civic fabric, and it’s one that we
have an opportunity to interrupt by replacing the reckless deregulation and slashing of social safety net programs like [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] food stamps and federal block grant funding for anti-poverty measures that we really rely on here in Philadelphia. Philadelphians, writ large, would really benefit to see our day to day health, safety and prosperity improve by electing progressive, inclusive and compassionate leaders at the local, state
and national level.
Sara Kelly ’19
Sara Kelly graduated from St. Joe’s with a degree in international relations and
history. Kelly began working as the finance director for the Amanda Cappelletti
(PA-D) campaign in the 17th district of Pennsylvania, and now works as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Cappelletti. Kelly works primarily on fundraising for the campaign, and on public relations and media.
What inspired you to want to get into campaign work?
I actually figured it out during my internship [with Rittenhouse Political Partners]. I knew it’s something I really liked and that I was interested in being involved in American politics at this time. I don’t know if it’s something that I want to do forever, but I knew that this was a moment when I needed to be active and that this was the way I wanted to do it; by supporting female candidates up and down the ballot.
Why is it important to vote in this election?
If you’re paying attention at all, you know that things now are undoubtedly different than how they were before the 2016 election. It was a turning point. By being active and being involved, we take some accountability onto ourselves.
We need to be active in our democracy. It’s not something that we can take for
granted. It’s not something that will always be there if we don’t protect it.
