BONUS: The women behind the women on Capitol Hill

Women Rule

With a potential new wave of women legislators coming to Capitol Hill after this election, Women Rule asked the question: What about their staffers? They’re the backbone of Congressional offices – the legislative assistants, the communications directors, the chiefs of staff. And women’s representation in these offices matters too. Just before the midterms, we’re bringing you this bonus episode on the minority women staffing Capitol Hill offices.

In this live Women Rule podcast taping, which we recorded at The Wing’s D.C. offices, we talked to two minority women who serve as chiefs of staff: Natalie Armijo, chief of staff for Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Caren Street, chief of staff for Rep. Karen Bass, who’s also part of the Congressional Black Caucus. We asked them about their paths to Capitol Hill, what it took to get them there, and the challenges they’ve faced since.

To tee up that interview, we had Rhonda Foxx, chief of staff to Rep. Alma Adams, set the stage, while Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand gave opening remarks.