Biden White House Unveils America’s First Ever National Gender Strategy

In March, the Biden administration created the Gender Policy Council, bringing issues of gender equity back into the White House after the Trump administration shuttered the Council on Women and Girls in 2017.

On Friday, the council launched the country’s first National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, a detailed 42-page strategy that touches on everything from abortion rights and immigration to the creation of a National Intelligence Officer for Gender Equality to analyze the relationship between gender and violent extremism. 

Foreign Policy spoke with Jennifer Klein, co-chair of the Gender Policy Council, about this new strategy, its implementation, and the impacts it could have domestically and worldwide. 

In March, the Biden administration created the Gender Policy Council, bringing issues of gender equity back into the White House after the Trump administration shuttered the Council on Women and Girls in 2017.

On Friday, the council launched the country’s first National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, a detailed 42-page strategy that touches on everything from abortion rights and immigration to the creation of a National Intelligence Officer for Gender Equality to analyze the relationship between gender and violent extremism. 

Foreign Policy spoke with Jennifer Klein, co-chair of the Gender Policy Council, about this new strategy, its implementation, and the impacts it could have domestically and worldwide. 

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length. 

Foreign Policy: This is obviously hugely ambitious in scope, covering everything from global health to investments in high schools in high poverty areas, with wide ranging ramifications for both domestic and foreign policy. Could you talk us through your next steps to make this strategy a reality? 

Jennifer Klein: I just also want to take a minute to note why I think this strategy is significant. I really think there’s several reasons. The first is that it’s the first. This marks the release of our country’s first ever national gender strategy. It builds on and really, I think, confirms the Biden-Harris administration’s leadership on gender equality. The second is that it is a whole-of-government effort, and we’ll talk more about that when we talk about implementation. But in both the creation and development of the strategy—and also really importantly in the implementation that will follow—we marshaled the capacity of really every department and agency across the federal government. … The third thing I would say is really significant about this strategy, which relates to that second piece, is that it addresses both domestic and foreign affairs. We know there are gender gaps both at home and abroad, and this strategy really aims, as you just pointed out, to take on both domestic and foreign policy and the interconnection between the two. 

FP: One thing that struck me in reading this strategy is there’s not a lot of mention of the needs of and problems faced by transgender people and nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people. Could you elaborate on what the plans are to address the specific needs of…