What happens between elections and International Women’s Day matters most
Opinion | By Heba Akrouch and Ziyana Kotadia | March 12, 2026
Every International Women’s Day comes with speeches, panels and thought leadership celebrating the accomplishments of women leaders. This year was no exception.
Public recognition plays an important role in advancing gender equality and acknowledging the contributions women make across politics, civil society and public life. These moments matter.
But recognition alone does not change a persistent reality: our political institutions still fall short of gender parity.
Now that International Women’s Day has passed, a more difficult question lingers: how do we ensure the next generation of women leaders is ready to step forward?
Despite decades of progress, gender representation in political leadership remains uneven, including in municipal politics. Across Canada, women hold just 31 per cent of municipal elected positions, well short of parity. And 16 per cent of municipal councils across the country don’t have a single woman at the table.
The picture in Calgary is similarly unequal. In the most recent municipal election, only 28 per cent of candidates were women. Of the 15 members elected to Calgary city council, just two are women.
These gender gaps are not the result of a lack of talent, expertise or commitment among women. Rather, they reflect a deeper issue: the pathways into public leadership remain shaped by long-standing structural barriers.
It is easy to assume representation is determined on election day. In reality, the foundations of political leadership are laid much earlier. By the time a name appears on a ballot, many of the factors shaping who enters public life have already taken root. Barriers emerge long before a campaign launch — in opportunities to build confidence, in access to mentorship and networks, and in whether women see leaders who reflect their own experiences.
Importantly, these barriers are not experienced equally. Those who are racialized, Indigenous, newcomers or from low-income backgrounds face additional obstacles in entering positions of political leadership — a reality that International Women’s Day, for all its visibility, struggles to capture.
That is why efforts to strengthen leadership pipelines matter.
On March 13, Equal Voice Calgary is co-hosting the 7th Annual She Governs Program with the City of Calgary, offering early, accessible exposure to municipal government. Participants spend the day at Calgary City Hall meeting elected officials, learning how municipal government works and engaging directly with the processes that shape our city.
For many girls and gender-diverse youth, it is their first meaningful look at civic leadership and their first opportunity to imagine themselves as part of it.
When young people see how decisions are made and interact directly with their representatives, politics becomes less abstract and more accessible.
Calgary has no shortage of talented young women who care deeply about their communities and the future of this city. What we lack are pathways to translate that passion into leadership capacity.
The stakes extend beyond representation alone. Research shows that when leadership reflects a wider range of experiences and perspectives, decision-making improves and public trust in institutions grows stronger.
International Women’s Day was a powerful reminder of how far we have come. But hard-won access to opportunities cannot be taken for granted, and meaningful progress depends on what happens after the spotlight fades. This is where Equal Voice shows up: in the quieter, often invisible places, where gender representation is truly won or lost.
If we want a more representative and resilient democracy, we must do more than celebrate women’s leadership once a year. We must invest in the work that happens between elections — mentorship, civics and leadership skills that help women step forward.
The future leaders of Calgary are already here. The question is whether we will build the pathways that allow them to rise.
Heba Akrouch is the program lead for She Governs 2026 with Equal Voice Calgary, and holds a master’s of public policy from the University of Calgary.
Ziyana Kotadia is a violence-prevention advocate and holds a master’s in gender studies from the University of Cambridge. She is the chair of Equal Voice Calgary.
Read the full article in the Calgary Herald here.
