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Acknowledgments This volume would not have been possible without the support I have received over the years from colleagues and friends. When I embarked on my career as a women and politics scholar, I found a community of won- derful strong women who believe that, as women, we must raise each other up. Many people I met along the way—especially Sarah Childs, Louise Davidson-Schmich, Fiona Mackay, Susan Franceschet, Amy Atchison, Jennifer Piscopo, Christina Xydias, Shauna Shames, Anna Sampaio, Farida Jalalzai, and Karen Beckwith—provided me with encouragement, advice, and a shoulder to cry on. I can never thank them enough. Marie Wilson’s book Closing the Leadership Gap was fundamental in making me realize the work we still have ahead of us to achieve political parity, setting me on a rewarding career path I could never have foreseen as an undergraduate. I hope that the book you are holding in your hands right now will play a little part in lighting the fire for a new generation to con- tinue to fight toward women’s political equality.