November 20, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2023 LCWINS Tracker

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The Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS) released the 2023 LCWINS Tracker to evaluate gender representation at the highest levels of American national security policymaking.

Since its 2019 founding, LCWINS has advanced gender parity in U.S. national security and foreign policy leadership.  Eighteen presidential candidates in 2020 signed the LCWINS Pledge, committing their potential administrations to gender parity in national security leadership appointments.  LCWINS then worked with the Biden-Harris and Trump-Pence campaigns and later the Biden Administration to develop gender-balanced lists of prospective nominees in these critical roles.

The newly released 2023 LCWINS Tracker data shows progress toward this commitment.  LCWINS identified 500 positions across the executive branch of significant seniority and influence on U.S. national security and foreign policy where women’s leadership can shape the country’s security and place in the world.  

As of September 30, 2023, national security and foreign policy leadership is approaching gender parity:

• Women represent 46% of leadership positions compared to 49% men while 5% remain vacant.
• Across the 200 positions that require Senate confirmation, men and women are even at 46%.
• More women (49%) than men (41%) serve in senior State Department positions.

The updated analysis also calls for continued advancement in women’s inclusion at the leadership levels:

• Men (50%) outnumber women (33%) on the National Security Council staff.
• More men (67%) than women (17%) serve as Chief of Staff in key departments/agencies.
• There are still notably more men (52%) than women (35%) in critical Pentagon roles.

“The 2023 LCWINS Tracker shows meaningful progress toward gender parity,” said LCWINS Executive Director Emily Perkins.  “LCWINS is proud of the many women whose exemplary public service has strengthened our national security and will continue supporting the leadership aspirations of these and other women.”  While the LCWINS Tracker is focused on women’s inclusion, the organization plans to collaborate with peers to explore racial diversity and inclusion across senior leadership in this sector.

LCWINS is a bipartisan network of women and men who have served in senior defense and diplomacy roles, LCWINS offers resources that enable women to support each other’s career advancement to roles at the Deputy Assistant Secretary level and higher regardless of political affiliation.    

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The Leadership Council for Women in National Security improves national security by ensuring that women, in all their diversity, have equal space at the policy-making table. LCWINS is an organization of women and allies from across the political spectrum working to advance gender inclusion at the highest levels of the U.S. national security and foreign policy workforce.

For more information, contact: Press@lcwins.org.