When the inaugural Women’s March took place in January 2017, it became one of the largest single-day protests in United States history. In Washington DC and cities across the country, millions of marchers took to the streets to make their voices heard on topics ranging from gender equality and civil rights to healthcare reform and education.
As various news outlets have reported, the mass action that accompanied Donald Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025—rebranded from the Women’s March to the People’s March—saw a different scale and tenor. Compared to the first Women’s March in 2017, this year’s march was smaller and more focused. With in-person attendance in Washington totalling closer to 50,000, many chose to sit out the nationwide protest in favor of local actions.
As Jennifer Gerson and Candice Norwood write for the 19th News, this change is emblematic of a broader shift in how women’s organizations are responding to the early stages of the second Trump administration, moving away from national marches and instead toward “listening and legislating.” In states and counties across the country, organizers are turning their attention toward hosting in-person neighborhood gatherings, brainstorming policies, and pooling resources, doubling down on grassroots actions. Across these settings, people continuously expressed a renewed sense of commitment to engaging and investing in their local communities.
How might this shift continue to develop for women and other groups, in practice? For instance, advocacy organizations that support first-time candidates running for office have seen surges in interest and recruitment since November. This April, a profile of the election campaigns of several Gen-Z women covered the mindset change in how younger women are approaching political office, forgoing the typical ladder of local politics in favor of grassroots community building as well as mutual aid and solidarity. These events recall the wave of first-time candidates, including many women, who ran for office in 2018; they represent one way, of many, in which individuals have attempted to take back control and enact meaningful political change.
In this moment, networks and platforms that support local grassroots engagement are more crucial than ever. This begins with understanding the longstanding work that has and continues to be done in counties, cities, and states across the country. For instance, in Philadelphia, the Women’s Opportunity Resource Center (established in 1993) provides microloans and empowers women in pursuing careers in entrepreneurship. In Bucks County, A Woman’s Place (established in 1976) has supported women facing domestic violence through resources such as medical advocacy and legal services for almost five decades. This year, in March 2025, women’s organizations from across Pennsylvania continued their advocacy for state legislation to close the gender earning gap, illustrating yet another avenue for promoting women’s economic empowerment.
Through the further activation of such grassroots networks, organizations can better equip themselves to meet this call to action. The longstanding power of convening and coming together to share knowledge, experiences, and resources cannot be understated.
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Sally Haslanger, Co-Lead
Libby McDonald, Co-Lead