Laphonza Butler, U.S. Senator, California; Former President, EMILY'S List Interviewer: Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune


MPW Summit 2023: Building on A Legacy

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Hello, everyone again. Um, I hope you enjoyed your first two courses. It's time for another conversation and we are thrilled and very honored to have with us this evening. The newest member of the United States Senate, as you all know, Senator Alonza Butler was sworn in just last week to fill the seat left by Dianne Feinstein, the late Dianne Feinstein. Now, Senator Butler obviously has very big shoes to fill, but she comes with an incredibly impressive resume reflecting her experience serving the people of California to name a few of her achievements. She has a long history in working in the state's politics. She's a well known strategist in high stakes campaigns. She led California's largest labor union for over a decade. And recently she served as president of Emily's List, an organization that works to support pro choice democratic women candidates and with her appointment to the US Senate, she's making history because Senator Butler is the first openly lesbian black senator to serve in Congress and she is also the only black woman currently serving in the senate. Senator Butler joins us tonight for a conversation with Fortunes Emma Kinsler. Hello, Senator. Thank you. So much for being here with us. Good evening fortune. Well, the last time you were with us at an NPW event, which was not that long ago. You were the president of Emily's List working to elect Democratic women today. You're here as a US senator. Was this on your vision board? Not on my vision board, not on my bingo card. Um, not in the wildest dreams of my ancestors that I ever believe that I will be the third black woman to serve in the United States Senate. Oh, my gosh. Oh, ok. Here we go. We can do another round at the end too. But, oh my gosh. Well, thank you everybody. Um So Senator can, can you walk us through the past week? When did you get the call? Did you see it coming? Did you consider saying? No, I don't believe that anybody could imagine what the last six days of my life um have, have been like, I got the call on a, on a Saturday. I was doing my work for Emily's List at the home of one of our uh supporters and, and community members in, in Colorado. And the governor called on a Saturday on that Saturday. You all might recall at that time just last weekend. Um We were facing an imminent government shutdown. Uh And the governor did not have a whole lot of time for me to think through and call there. There were no phone of free in a and, um, but, but, um I was able to speak to my wife and, um, we were honored to be asked, um, to serve in the, in the seat that, that Dianne Feinstein held. Um, when you think about the, what she offered to this country for women in leadership, whether in public office or in business, raising her hand to lead in a time of crisis. Um It's not something that you say no to. So, as much as I have enjoyed um immensely my work at Emily's List. Um It was an opportunity for me to again raise my hand at a moment of crisis for our country. I do not liken myself to Senator Feinstein. Um But it was a moment that I was, that was put in front of me to, to lead and, and my family, we chose to raise our hands. You know, let's talk about Senator Feinstein's legacy. What parts of it are you, you know, most focused on what's on your mind as you step into this role. What do you want to bring forward with you? Look, if I try to measure my service to Senator Feinstein's, I fail. Um There is so much that she has brought uh to California into the country. People don't know that the Amber alert is Senator Dianne Feinstein, right? So the, the ways in which she has always thought about um the safety and security of our communities, the future for uh young people, whether it's through transportation or through um her commitment to water, the water crisis in our state and the environment, her creation and, and um constant fight for our um federal parks, Joshua Tree like all of that is Senator Dianne Feinstein. And so, uh I am um not so audacious as to believe that I um will um be able to contribute as, as much as the senator did in her decades of service. My life has always been an example for, for women and girls and their economic empowerment. And I want to continue that whether as a labor leader fighting for higher wages and, and raising them, helping to raise the minimum wage and get uh sick days and paid time off for caregivers in this, in this state who didn't have it as of 2016 or working uh at the work of doing the work of Emily's List or my time at, at air B NBI. Feel like I have, I had the opportunity to serve the economic empowerment of, of women, the, the political power uh of, of women. And this is another opportunity for me to do that and to do it in the spirit of Senator Feinstein. Amazing. Well, you know, as we heard, you are only the third black woman to ever serve in the Senate and the first openly gay black woman to serve in the Senate. What do those milestones mean to you personally? How do you feel about them? Um Here's the, I, I only know how to be a black woman, you know, I don't know how to be anything else. And so I don't know how to lead any other way. Um And so I think what those milestones really mean for me and hopefully serve as an example for other black women, other uh lesbians, others who just wanna live their life, their own way. Um What I hope it means um, and offers a little bit of semblance of is just, do you totally and relatedly, not just the first, you are also currently and only the only black woman in the US Senate right now. There's also the vice president, but you're the only senator. You know, what does that feel like for you as you step onto the Senate floor? I can't say the same thing I said before, can I? No, it is, it is not lost on me that there was Carol Moseley Braun, there was Kamala Harris and now there's La Fona Butler. You know, I was sworn in, I was sworn in just last Tuesday. And um my mother celebrated her 70th birthday this year and uh that in August and I thought I was doing a big deal, like taking her on our first mother, daughter, only. I have two older brothers. Um, our first mother daughter trip, just the two of us. We're gonna like knock this 70 thing out mom and um, and then I got to see her um, in the state cap in the US Capitol for the first time in her entire life. Um, I, I got to see her with Senator Cory Booker. Um I got to see her with Congresswoman Lauren Underwood. I like to call it. I tease her. Now, I was like, you live your best MS NBC life girl. Um, and we all look, I grew up in a small town in Mississippi. I went to a historically black college. Um I uh never thought that the day that I would recognize and see pride in my mother's eyes would be when she was walking up to shake the hands of the vice president who was swearing her daughter, her youngest child in as the third black woman to serve in this historic chamber. And so it means a lot to me. It means a lot to my family, I think. Um II, I think it might mean a little bit to my daughter who's only nine and chose to, chose to not come to, to the swearing in because she wanted to go camping. Did she have fun? She, it was her first time being able to go camping without her parents having to go and all experiencing first. I know. Right. And I was like I said, so Nyla Mama's got this thing going on and I was like, but you can, you know, do you want to do this or do you want to go camping? And she said, oh, no, I'm, I'm gonna go camping. I said, well, the vice president is going to be there. She said, well, tell her, I said hi. That's, that's incredible. So, I hope it means something to, to young girls who maybe are not my daughter. But, but, but, but I, I hope it is a demonstration of, of what is possible. Um, and, and, uh, when we can imagine uh together and even when we can't, um there is, there's, there's more possible for us. So that's what I hope. Well, thank you so much, Senator. Um So Dianne Feinstein was 90 years old, you are much younger than that, you know, are you worried about, you know, the aging leadership in politics? And do you think this is the direction that we should be going in which direction a younger direction? Well, as was mentioned in the earlier um talk, I don't think that we have a choice but to go in a younger direction. Um But I will say, look, we, we are at a time. I think where the gift for me is to have been able to learn from Senator Feinstein. The gift for me has been able to um see uh speaker Pelosi's magnificent leadership. Um I think the opportunity for leaders of my generation is to see how leadership is um uh on display uh and to learn all of the tools uh and sort of tricks of the trade and be able to listen very clearly um to what is being communicated from generations. Um that, that come after me, I've always sort of thought about my on the cusp of gen X millennial sort of nature and real responsibility is to be a transmission bill. And so is every uh at every turn and every um evolution of leadership, there is always going to be a passing of the baton at Emily's List. I was able to receive that baton from Ellen Malcolm um who passed it to Stephanie streak, who, who passed it to me where I was also the first black woman to serve in the leadership of, of Emily's List. And so is this a direction that we should be going in? Absolutely, we can't be for representation and inclusion without representation and inclusion. Um And we should take the opportunity to learn from those who have led before us um So that we can do better the next time around. Yeah. You know, so you are joining the US Senate at what could be called a tumultuous time from the threat of shutdowns to now outbreak of conflict in Israel. You know, what do you feel like you can bring to this moment as you step into this role, experience working across the aisle, getting things done with just so much happening in our country and in the world? Yeah, I think it's a great, great question. I've thought about this a lot when um the governor reached out to me. And I think that my, both the story of California and my experience in it um is an offering that I can bring to, to leadership in this moment. The story of California being one of such great innovation um and hope. Um and we understand very much the economic inequality that exists in our state. Um We um have some incredible innovations in policy regarding the environment um and electric vehicles, water transportation, fascinating um pathways to the future and as the a symbol of hope in spaces of policy and people and, and connection, what California has taught me and my work in it has been about how do you, you know, take what is the one of the greatest melting pots uh in the world and find com common ground and, and build coalition. Um And I think what, what um young people and, you know, everybody in between senior saints um would have us to, to believe is that, you know, things are, the government is broken that nobody is talking to each other. The only way that we were able to pass a $15 minimum wage in California was through coalition. It was not just the labor movement, but it was small businesses, it was not just small businesses, but it was nonprofits and everybody, they play a role in figuring out what might work for California. And so having the had the experiences of trying of working to build those coalitions to make significant change in one of the most dynamic places. Um and, you know, economies in the country and, and dare I say in the world is, and I think an asset that I can bring and, and will bring um to my service in the US Senate. So, is this a temporary job for you? It is a early job for me. Uh It is day six. II I literally went through orientation which is usually three days and like four hours. Um And so I would say it's a early job for me. Um But my life has been one that has been dedicated to service and that is my commitment. Well, thank you so much, Senator. Incredible to have you here.