Gina Raimondo Quotes

For me, personally, it has been humbling since I became First Minister to speak to women and girls and have them tell me how much it means to them to have a woman in the top job in politics in Scotland.

For young girls, whom I meet a lot when I travel around the country, it will be a big thing. It will really show them that there's no post in Denmark that a girl can't aspire to.

I would say that one of the things that encouraged me so much when I became elected to the leadership was the letters I received from fathers of daughters, saying that, 'My daughter can now do many more things because of what you did.'

In Vermont, Governor Madeleine Kunin has given years of service to our state after becoming the state's first female governor in 1985. She is an inspiration to girls throughout Vermont and the country in allowing them to know that the opportunities they have are unlimited.

For me, it's important to be the representation that I wanted when I was a young girl.

I will not allow my experience to scare off other young women or girls from running for office. For the sake of all of us we cannot let that happen.

My job as the mother of daughters is to make sure my children see that every opportunity is available to them.

To have been the first woman premier of Victoria was not only a great opportunity but also a great chance to say to the young women of Victoria - Liberal or Labor - 'You can do it, too.'

Without a doubt, absolutely, a woman will be a president, and probably sooner rather than later. I am excited about that, and if what I did serves as a steppingstone for another woman down the course, I am very grateful to have had that chance.

Women ought to have representatives, instead of being arbitrarily governed without any direct share allowed them in the deliberations of government.

Women have to be able to look at themselves in the mirror as men do and say, “I see a presidential candidate!”

For me, one of my earliest memories of politics where I thought that I could do anything was when Walter Mondale of Minnesota picked Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. I literally remember what she wore - the red dress, the white pearls. And I saw that, and I thought, 'Anything is possible.'

The fact is that Sarah Palin positively emanates strength. She gives off the aura of being a strong woman who doesn't back down, and she does it sporting heels and wearing her family like a badge of honour. I am sure there are a million other women out there who are doing the same thing.

In everything I do, I like to set the idea for girls that they can do anything. I was really moved by Hillary Clinton's speech when she lost the election - she didn't want young girls to feel like it wasn't possible and wanted them to know a female president will eventually happen. That's important.

Building followership and inspiration around female leadership is quite difficult to do.

Even without the euphoria of 'yes we can,' Hillary Clinton is to white women what Barack Obama was to African-Americans. She represents the opportunity to see a like image in the Oval Office for the first time.

I always wanted to do a role that inspired girls.

If you can't see it, you can't be it. It's just having those brilliant women break out and do something - then other girls can say, 'I can do it, too!'

My boys will not only respect and admire women and see them as their equals, but they will also see them as sources of inspiration and knowledge.

My feminist icon is Michelle Obama. To me she represents the definition of a strong and intelligent woman who has used her platform for so much good.

If Hillary Clinton can be president, then one girl can be mayor. And someone else can be a police chief, and someone else can be a U.S. senator.

Simply stated, girls want role models and mentors.

It's so worth-while being a judge, because, if I make good, I can help prove that a woman's place is as much on the bench, in City Council, or in Congress, as in the home.

There is something to be said for the power of figureheads. After Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, a record number of countries posted female ambassadors to the U.S. - some of whom have dubbed this 'the Hillary effect.'

I think having Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House is going to send a very wonderful lesson to the American public that women can be strong, they can be tough, they can be effective, and they can lead this country as political leaders.