What empowers women to focus all their energy on creating a long lasting platform in an environment that is primarily male dominated? Is it the lack of representation? The yearn to create change? Passion, perhaps?
Let me introduce to you a truly inspiring woman who has created her own platform in politics—Carol Moon Goldberg. Carol Goldberg has been a member of the League of Women Voters of California for 25 years and is currently the President of the organization. She has served the League at both the local and state levels.
Carol comes from a family that has always been involved in advocating for their own community. She vividly remembers the United States presidential election in 1968, Nixon vs. Humphrey, and counts it as her first political memory. Even though she was only in the third grade at the time, that memory stands out because it helped her realize she had a significant interest in the public sector, just like her family.
Once Carol went off to college at Tennessee Technology University, she knew she wanted to be a political science major. Becoming a political science major would be a good stepping stone to law school, but she was also genuinely interested in the political process. However, she decided early on that she did not necessarily want to work in politics. Instead, she preferred standing back and watching the process play out. Eventually, she ended up at Washington University law school, in a classroom where women were very much in the minority.
Carol’s first job was at a litigation practice, which was primarily a male dominated environment. During this time, she was often the youngest woman in the room, and sometimes even the only woman. The only other time she encountered another woman in this job was when she would give a deposition to the female court reporter.
Carol describes herself as a “project person,” or an individual who is driven by their goals for whatever they are currently working on. This translates into fierce determination that allowed Carol to ultimately succeed in her male-dominated field. Going back to the initial question: what empowers women to focus all their energy on creating a long lasting platform in an environment that is primarily male dominated? The answer is simple: women can empower themselves through the passion and determination they have for their work, and no one can take that away from them.
Queen Bee Project 