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

  • Tasha (she/her) supports the organization's business and organizational management, seeking to optimize both financial performance and organizational effectiveness. She partners with leaders to reimagine and redesign programs, practices, and processes to achieve mission-critical results while improving access, experience, and outcomes for marginalized communities. It took a village to raise her; she comes from love, laughs, blessings, hard work, and perseverance.

  • Hadiya (she/her) is a Chicago-born and raised strategist with a background in community organizing, coalition building, and electoral work. With 8+ years of diverse program experience at the state and national level, she believes in creating intentional spaces to build intersectional solidarity for a better world. Outside of work, she is either petting her cats or reading another book.

    As Senior Program Manager, Hadiya designs and supervises WDL’s core programming, partner collaborations, and membership engagement.

    As the Program Associate, Gabrielle plans and coordinates WDL’s pillar programs and pilot programs.

  • Gabrielle (she/her) comes from a patchwork background of fine arts, design, and retail business management. She was born in South Korea and has lived in the US since arriving as an adoptee at age four. Gabrielle lives on the West Coast with her husband, their wild child, and two spunky tuxedo cats. She will never say no to a pull-up contest or a vegan donut.

    As the Program Associate, Gabrielle plans and coordinates WDL’s pillar programs and pilot programs.

  • Charminique (she/her) is a senior-level executive assistant and coordinator with 15+ years of experience in non-profit event management and communications, political organizing, and campaign management. She also created and leads an executive assistant training program that seeks to empower, strengthen, build, and support teams/individuals as they pursue organizational success. Charminique and her partner reside in Fairfax, VA.

  • Anathea is a national political strategist, fundraiser, network weaver, and Co-founder and Executive Director of Advance Native Political Leadership. She is from Acoma Pueblo and a queer, Indigenous feminist.

  • Sayu is a democracy futurist, ambition amplifier and dream doula. She is the founder and former president of New American Leaders, author of “People Like Us: The New Wave of Candidates Knocking at Democracy’s Door”, and the first Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs for New York City.  She is the child of refugees and a daughter of India and Belize.n