Expanding Women’s Access to Politics Through Academic and Policy Partnerships

The 2026 Empirical Gender Network (EGEN) Conference at the Stanford King Center on Global Development brought together students and faculty with leaders and policymakers from around the world who are invested in expanding women’s access to politics, particularly in the Global South. 

EGEN is a scholarly collective that works to build women’s power in academia and to improve society’s understanding of gender inequality ​through our ​teaching, research, policy work, and advocacy. The 2026 Conference was organized by Stanford University's Soledad Prillaman, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Faculty Director of the Inclusive Democracy and Development (ID2) Lab, along with Somer Bryant, Senior Research Program Manager for the ID2 Lab.