Women make up more than half of the American population and workforce. Yet, the United States only ranks 97th out of 190 countries when it comes to the number of women in elected office. According to research conducted by Jennifer Lawless, director of the Women & Politics Institute, and Richard Fox, political science department chair at Loyola Marymount University, women are less likely than men to run for office, and often consider themselves under-qualified to serve, despite their success in business and education. In the documentary RAISING MS. PRESIDENT, filmmaker Kiley Lane explores why more women don't run for office. Through interviews with elected officials, scholars, high school students and leaders of two non-profits dedicated to raising the next generation of female leaders, the program investigates where political ambition begins and why society should encourage more women to lead. Interviewees include Anne Moses, founder of IGNITE; Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska; Tiffany Dufu, former president of the White House Project; Melissa Deckman, professor of public affairs at Washington College; Susannah W. Shakow, founder of Running Start; Emiliana Simon-Thomas, cognitive, affective and behavioral neuroscientist at UC Berkeley; and Amanda Adkins, GOP state chair, Kansas; among others.
