Pledge for Gender Parity in National Security
Keeping our nation safe and furthering American interests abroad are sacred duties of national security professionals. To advance these goals, America needs the best possible team of professionals.
Research shows that diverse teams are stronger and more effective: they are more creative and innovative and more likely to avoid dangerous “groupthink.” Yet women, especially women of color, are woefully underrepresented in senior positions in national security and foreign policy.
This lack of gender parity is due not to a lack of exceptional female candidates but to a lack of intentional, committed leadership.
Gender diversity is both an issue of fundamental fairness and, critically, necessary to strengthen the performance of our national security institutions. We need bold leadership to address this imbalance.
For these reasons, we call upon all national security professionals to make a public commitment that, as national security leaders, they will strive for gender parity: as potential hiring managers and through the fostering of an inclusive and equitable work environment.
We also encourage the President to nominate women to senior positions in national security that have never been filled by women before, and to ensure that women of color are well represented in senior ranks. The goal should be senior leadership teams that are as diverse as America itself.
This means:
— Rigorous standards will be employed to ensure a diverse candidate pool for all senior positions; No senior positions will be filled until a genuinely diverse slate of candidates has been developed and considered;
— Hiring recommendations will be evaluated in part based on whether they will contribute to the creation of diverse leadership teams;
— Candidates will not be viewed less favorably as a result of breaks in employment or past periods of part-time work related to family responsibilities.
The Leadership Council for Women in National Security stands ready to work with anyone who is interested to develop effective recruiting, screening and hiring processes and identify highly qualified candidates for every national security position.
America is strongest when it draws on the talent of all its citizens.
