We need to anticipate the backlash — and there will be one when we finally elect a woman as president, just as there was when Obama was elected. Not all his opposition is racist, of course — but it’s no coincidence that “birther” became a code word, a dog whistle, in the past two campaigns.

Before we can get to the second, though, we have to get to the first. And what we need to get there, to the first woman elected president, is a critical mass of women in leadership positions at as many levels and in as many fields as possible.

When more women become leaders and innovators not just in politics, but in the arts, the media, the sciences or academia, new channels are opened, new opportunities arise. I’ve seen the result firsthand, in my travels around the country.

Women in leadership positions help improve the social and economic condition of women and girls in our society. And ultimately, everyone benefits. As Betty Spence, president of the National Association for Female Executives, said, “If Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Brothers and Sisters, we probably wouldn’t have had our financial meltdown.”