The keynote speaker (online) was Cathy Allen - co-founder of the Center for Women and Democracy and lecturer at the University of Washington, founder of the Connections Group and a campaign strategist.

During the meeting, the speaker addressed the following issues, among others:

- how many countries have more than 40% women in their parliaments?

- how many women are currently running countries?

- from pandemics to social protests, the war in Ukraine and climate changes - what has changed and in which direction?

- do women live better today than ten years ago?

Cathy Allen presented the following findings in her presentation: although the number of women in the public sphere is increasing, it is still noted that women are a minority. Gender parity is not being maintained, although the number of women elected has increased by 26% in 10 years and this is evident among the heads of government and cabinet members who hold those positions.

The speaker pointed out that it is young people who are behind women's leadership, because the more of them vote, the more women win elections across the world. This is facilitated by the fact that young leaders are more open-minded and tolerant in their views, and value decisions based on science and facts rather than emotions. In addition, according to the speaker, young people are more familiar with technology and use it in the leadership process.

Cathy Allen presented – to the gathering at MISO headquarters - global statistics on women's participation in national parliaments. The countries with the highest female participation are Rwanda (61%), Cuba (53%), Nicaragua (51%), Mexico (50%), United Arab Emirates (50%) and New Zealand (50%). The countries with the lowest female parliamentary participation are Poland (26%), the USA (29.4%), China (24%) and Russia (16.4%).

At the end of the meeting, Cathy Allen answered numerous questions and comments and gave practical tips on leadership and women's participation in public life. The event was an opportunity for the gathered women leaders of Polish public life and business to exchange experiences and establish relationships.

"Polish-U.S. Civil Society Roundtables" is a project implemented by the International Institute of Civil Society and the U.S. Embassy in Poland. These are cyclical meetings with the participation of American experts, in a roundtable format, on the development of civil society in selected thematic areas. The aim of the project is to exchange Polish and American experiences in raising civic competences and the development of civil society, with a focus on human rights, disinformation, media freedom, fundraising and diversity and tolerance - depending on the topic of a given meeting. The format of each meeting includes an online presentation by an American expert who provides the American perspective to the Polish audience gathered at MISO headquarters. Following his or her presentation, the moderator opens a discussion focused on sharing experiences and best practices (with the US expert in attendance). The project is aimed at NGO and civil society leaders, lawyers, representatives of public administration, business and academia.