August 5, 2025

CAWP, in partnership with Higher Heights Leadership Fund, released Black Women in American Politics 2025, the most recent report in the Status of Black Women in American Politics series, examining the progress, setbacks, and opportunities for Black women’s political representation across the United States.

For the past decade, this report has served as the most comprehensive resource on Black women in elected office, documenting a steady rise in representation while underscoring persistent gaps at every level of government.

This includes:

• Record state legislative representation: Black women hit a record high in 2025, signaling progress in down-ballot representation.
• Historic Senate representation: For the first time, two Black women, Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), are serving simultaneously in the U.S. Senate.
• Mayoral gains in major cities: Black women were elected or appointed as mayors in Philadelphia (Cherelle Parker), Fort Wayne (Sharon Tucker), and Oakland (Barbara Lee).

“Our data makes it clear: while the last decade has seen historic progress for Black women in politics, the work is far from done,” said Chelsea Hill, report author and director of data at CAWP. “Representation matters, not just for breaking barriers, but for shaping policy and ensuring that government reflects the people it serves. Black women belong at every table where decisions are made.”

“This is about building pipelines, dismantling barriers, and investing in the next generation of Black women leaders,” said Glynda C. Carr, president and CEO of the Higher Heights Leadership Fund. “We will continue to harness our collective power to ensure that Black women are not just leading movements, they’re winning elections and governing at every level.”

How do race, gender, and appearance shape evaluations of social movement leaders? In The Face of a Movement: Colorism and Racism in the Evaluation of Black Women Leaders, newly-released research supported by a CAWP Research Grant, political scientists Michelle A. Bueno Vásquez and Andrene Z. Wright-Johnson investigate the characteristics most valued in social movement leaders and, more particularly, the influence of phenotypical differences on evaluations of Black women social movement leaders. They find that Black women with darker skin and natural hair face less negative evaluation than Black women with lighter skin and straight hair when evaluated as racial justice movements leaders. In gender-focused movements like #MeToo, Black women leaders overall received more lukewarm and negative ratings than they did strong support, regardless of their physical appearance. Together, they demonstrate that the same physical features (skin tone, hair type) can help or hurt a Black woman leader's evaluation depending on whether she's leading a racial or gender justice movement. Get more details in the full brief. 

A Scholar’s Impact: The Susan J. Carroll Legacy Fund

How can legacy giving impact our work and the future of women and politics? One powerful example is the Susan J. Carroll Legacy Fund, established by CAWP senior scholar and professor emerita of political science and women’s and gender studies at Rutgers University Dr. Susan J. Carroll.

Throughout her four decades at Rutgers, Dr. Carroll helped establish the nation’s first graduate program in women and politics, mentored generations of students, and produced foundational research on women candidates, elected officials, and political institutions.

The Susan J. Carroll Legacy Fund supports Ph.D. students in Rutgers’ Department of Political Science who major or minor in women and politics, helping them contribute to and benefit from CAWP’s research and programming.

“This field means so much to me. Being at the heart of women and politics scholarship during my career felt like building something new, something larger than myself,” said Dr. Carroll. “Establishing a Legacy Fund at CAWP allows me to continue to support the students that will shape the future of women and politics inquiry; it is seeds sown for future harvest.”

Read more about Dr. Carroll’s career journey and the fund here and explore legacy giving to CAWP here.