Who run the world in New Orleans? Girls.
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Axios Visuals
New Orleans is a rare woman-run city, according to a new benchmark statistical review commissioned by the Junior League of New Orleans, with 44% of the city's elected seats held by women.
Why it matters: That's still disproportionate to the city's population, which is about 53% women, the report says, and so far has not been enough to help New Orleans bridge other gender gaps in health care, wages and other disparities.
The big picture: The Junior League's report, which was produced with Tulane University's Newcomb Institute, examines publicly available data to tell a story about what's changed since its first survey examining New Orleans women post-Katrina in 2016.
- But the data reflects community-wide issues too, says Newcomb Institute executive director Anita Raj, because "we are all affected by the gender inequities that exist."
Between the lines: In a presentation sharing the report, Raj also framed the New Orleans metro's status as the nation's population loss leader and the city's higher proportion of aging Black and white residents as a way to rethink how the city welcomes new communities.
- "The ones most likely to be coming at this time are our Hispanic residents," Raj said. "This is when we grow our community. … There are ways we have to adapt, grow and support a recognition that the culture will constantly evolve, and that doesn't mean that the core elements of what has always been New Orleans will be lost in that process."
Go deeper: See the full report.