About Us
VISION
Women’s Democracy Lab envisions an American democracy where diverse women hold equal representation at every level of public service and are driving governance that is just, accessible, and responsive to all communities.
MISSION
Women’s Democracy Lab empowers elected women at every stage of their journey, co-creating solutions to transform institutions.
Our Values
Women’s Leadership Is
Democratic Infrastructure
The safety, sustainability, and retention of women in public office is core democratic infrastructure. WDL moves beyond partisanship to center shared democratic principles: equity, dignity, inclusion, trust, and accountable governance.
Inclusive of All Women
Our work affirms and supports cisgender and transgender women, as well as gender-expansive leaders who experience public leadership through the lens of gender-based harm. We recognize that transgender women and gender-expansive leaders, particularly of color, face disproportionate threats and harassment, and we are committed to ensuring they are included in safety solutions and leadership pathways.
Multiracial Leadership Is Democratic Infrastructure
We are rooted in a vision of multiracial leadership powering our democracy. WDL supports and elevates leaders who break barriers across race, gender, class, geography, and identity to advance legal and cultural shifts that center our shared democratic principles: equity, dignity, inclusion, trust, and accountable governance.
Co-Creation and Shared Leadership
We build with elected leaders, not for them. Our programs, safety protocols, and strategies are co-designed alongside the women most impacted, fostering trust, innovation, and durable solutions.
Safety Is Infrastructure
Political violence and harassment are structural threats to democratic participation. We treat safety as a systemic challenge requiring coordinated policy, narrative, and ecosystem solutions.
Experimentation, Bridge Building, and Systems Transformation
We begin by confronting the structural barriers facing elected and appointed women, because those barriers reveal where democracy is weakest.
But transformation does not rest on women alone. Institutional change demands shared responsibility. We pilot bold models, test new approaches, and build bridges to and with men and cross-sector partners to redesign the systems where women serve. Women cannot fix our broken institutions alone.
Our Co-Founder &
Executive Director
Muthoni Wambu Kraal is an impact connector, veteran political strategist, team builder, organizer, trainer, and advisor to political parties and leaders in the U.S. and internationally. She is a former senior staffer at the Democratic National Committee and EMILY’s List, where she helped shape opportunities for women leaders at every level of the ballot. She is African American and a first-generation Kenyan American.
Our Story
After more than two decades of helping recruit and train community members to run for office, the founders of Women’s Democracy Lab came together to re-imagine a democracy where solutions are created, tested, and implemented by the people most directly affected by structural barriers and systems of oppression. Through this thought experiment, Women’s Democracy Lab was born.
As of 2025, Women’s Democracy Lab has grown into a vibrant community of 200+ elected women and counting, nearly evenly split between state and local officeholders. Our community represents over 30 states, spanning urban, rural, and suburban districts, and brings the racial, cultural, and lived diversity that enriches our outcomes. We’re not just growing in size—we’re deepening a network of leadership and trust among the women reshaping democracy from the inside out.
What makes WDL unique is not only our commitment to safety, wellness, and sustainable leadership, but also our collaborative approach. We don’t aim to be the only organization in this work—rather, we aim to be a trusted partner, thought leader, and destination resource for elected women across the country. We work alongside organizations we respect and admire to amplify what's working, fill the gaps, and co-create solutions with the elected leaders who are building power in real time.
As a lab, we’re continuously innovating. We’re building tools, programs, and spaces that meet elected women where they are and walk with them through every stage of their service—from the early days of navigating spaces like school boards, town or city councils, or a statehouse, to the long haul of their sustained leadership. Our mission is to help WDL women not only stay in office, but thrive there, and in doing so, to transform the systems and practices in the spaces where they lead.
Our Team
MUTHONI
Co-Founder & Executive Director
HADIYA
Senior Program Manager
GABRIELLE
Program Associate
CHARMINIQUE
Special Assistant
