Council of Women World Leaders

The Council of Women World Leaders is a network of current and former women prime ministers and presidents with a mission to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women.

Established in 1996 by Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, president of Iceland (1980-96) and the first woman to be democratically elected president, and Laura Liswood, former managing director and current senior adviser to Goldman Sachs, the council aims to promote good governance and gender equality and to enhance the experience of democracy globally by increasing the number, effectiveness, and visibility of women who lead their countries.

The council's secretariat moved from Harvard University to be housed at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C., in 2004. In May 2008, the council became a ...