Happy Friday! Welcome to our Media Round Up. Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Here’s what caught our eye this week:

The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2021

Nicolette Jones and Erika Burho, Forbes

As 2021 comes to a close, Forbes has compiled their annual list of the 100 most powerful women throughout the world. This year’s list includes: 40 CEOs, 19 world leaders, an immunologist and, for only the third time in the 18 years since the list’s founding, a new number one. The women on this year’s list are united by their sense of duty, and they use their voice and/or public platform to raise awareness for issues close to their hearts.

Read the full story here.

Black women leaders are determined to be among the ranks of governors

Glynda C. Carr, The Hill

Research shows that while Black women continue to make strides in the political sphere by increased representation, the group still struggles with achieving statewide elected office positions. Black women make up about 7 percent of the U.S. population and only account for less than 2 percent of elected officials. In the country’s 245-year history, a Black woman has never held the position of governor. As the 2022 elections loom closer, at least six Black women hope to change these statistics with their gubernatorial runs. Some of the candidates for governor include: Stacey Abrams of Georgia, Deidre DeJear of Iowa, Mia McLeod of Iowa, and Danielle Allen of Massachusetts.

Read the full story here.

Malala Yousafzai meets with Blinken, calls on US to take action for Afghan women and girls

Jennifer Hansler, CNN

On Monday, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to talk about the United States taking action to assure the safety of Afghan women and girls returning to work and school with the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.

“They are prohibited from learning, and I have been working together with Afghan girls and women’s activists, and there is this one message from them: that they should be given the right to work. They should be able to go to school,” [Yousafzai] said.

Secretary Blinken expressed that Yousafzai is “an inspiration” and he expressed excitement about working with her on gender equity and education access for girls and women.

Read the full story here.

The first ‘Momnibus’ bill was signed into law. Other strides for Black maternal health could follow.

Anne Branigin, The Lily

In March 2020, Representative Lauren Underwood introduced Momnibus, a conglomerate of nine bills sponsored by the Black Maternal Health Caucus Members. Representative Underwood and her constituents introduced Momnibus due to the United States having one of the highest maternal mortality rates of a wealthy country throughout the world. Last week President Joe Biden signed into law the first bill from Momnibus: the Protecting Moms Who Served Act, putting $15 million into maternity care for veterans. If the Build Back Better Act passes, it will consist of provisions from Momnibus including: “setting up grant programs, establishing research and training programs, as well as expanding and diversifying the perinatal health workforce.”

Read the full story here.

The federal government is making a new investment in women-owned small businesses

Chabeli Carrazana, The 19^th*

Although faced with difficulty when seeking access to capital and support, women-owned small businesses have been growing faster than any other group. Due to the challenges women small business owners face, the Small Business Administration is putting a greater focus on ensuring support for women entrepreneurs. The new initiative will consist of the SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership moving into a new primary role, directly reporting to SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman. This initiative will give the SBA’s Office of Women’s Business a bigger platform, elevating the needs of women business owners.

Read the full story here.