A Bolder Way Forward for Utah

A Bolder Way Forward for Utah
September 20, 2023

Moderator & Panelists: Dr. Susan R. Madsen, Nubia Peña, & Jennifer Smith
National and statewide studies continue to show that women and girls in Utah are not thriving in critical areas. Year after year, Utah continues to have high levels of domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, and gender-based discrimination, while also ranking as the worst state for women’s equality and having low levels of women’s leadership representation in nearly all domains, including politics and business. Although the needle has moved slightly in a few areas, with its current trajectory it will take two, three, or even four decades to make notable progress. It is time for Utah to embrace A Bolder Way Forward (BWF). When we lift Utah girls and women, we lift all Utahns!

The BWF is framed around systems thinking, which is that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” In Utah, we have been working on related efforts for too long using the “parts” strategy; we need to shift and move together as a system. If we are serious about ensuring that Utah women and girls thrive, we need to create change by 2030, with a check point in 2026. Dr. Susan Madsen gives an overview of the BWF and then is joined by Nubia Peña and Jennifer Smith for further discussion about the BWF.