Partnership for Working Families
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Dear John,

This International Women’s Day, I’m reflecting on the power of feminist leadership.

During the Partnership’s learning trip to Barcelona last year, I was deeply inspired by what we learned from feminist, progressive leaders who are advancing a bold and inspiring vision for their city. From Gala Pin, former Barcelona City Councilperson, to city councilor Elena Tarifa, leaders of the Barcelona en Comú to the leaders of the citywide tenants’ union, the women we met are advancing justice through a feminist lens.

We traveled to Southern Spain to learn from Barcelona en Comú, first a platform and now a party that arose out of the Indignados movement in Spain in 2015. One of the party’s prominent leaders is feminist housing activist Ada Colau, now serving her second term as mayor of Barcelona.

Barcelona’s feminist leaders are winning victories across a wide array of issues, and proving that another world is possible. While there’s still more work to be done, Barcelona en Comú has implemented major changes in affordable housing policy including taking property from bank speculators, created a public energy company, and transformed the city’s infrastructure. Learn more in our new video about feminist leadership and community organizing in Barcelona:

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I’d also like to pass on a note from Elena Tarifa, Coordinator of the International Committee of Barcelona en Comú, and a district councilor who has been teaching international delegations about Barcelona's approach to municipal feminist governance. Elena wrote this message to you in honor of International Women’s Day:

[[link removed]] Barcelona is a feminist city, applying a gender perspective in all municipal policies and taking a collective stand against gender violence. We’re a city that takes into account and combats the everyday difficulties faced by women in terms of care, job insecurity and labor discrimination, safety at home and in the streets. We’re a feminist city, which protects and stands up for sexual and gender diversity, which has created a pioneering LGBTI center and fights LGBTI-phobia. We’re a city based on equality and diversity, reinventing ourselves every day to achieve a space that is free and safe for everybody.

As a feminist organization, Barcelona en Comu also works to feminize politics, by placing care, listening, dialogue and empathy at the center of our approach above the traditional, top-down norms of competition and macho grandstanding. We are continuously trying to become a more women-friendly organization by encouraging women in their diversity to join our participation spaces and our representative positions. It is not an easy task, as politics still is a male-dominated environment, but we believe we're advancing in the right direction - also by learning and sharing good practices with our other municipalist and social movements partners.

International Women’s Day is a good occasion to deepen our common struggle with the global feminist movement and advance together towards a truly equal and democratic society. Feminism is a transformational trigger, from local to global action.


Thank you to each of you for being a part of this movement, and Happy International Women’s Day!

Onwards,
Lauren Jacobs
Executive Director
Partnership for Working Families



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Partnership for Working Families
1305 Franklin St.
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Oakland, CA 94612
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