-I got to be transparent about something
and I think a lot of women feel
that it's scary to run for office.
You take your whole family with you.
It's scary.
But I decided that it was going to be worth it to try.
-Less than 2% of all statewide executive officials
are Black women.
But in Prince George's County, outside of Washington,
DC, nearly the entire county is run by
Black women, at least 22 in total.
-I think we all recognize that,
no matter how accomplished we are,
no matter how hard we work,
no matter how many great decisions we make,
we will still be undervalued often, underestimated always.
As Black women, that's still what we face,
and so when we're in positions to affirm each other,
we're going to do that.
-The county has transformed from a White,
working-class suburb that, in the 1970s,
had to be forced to integrate its public schools
into a mecca for Black professionals.
But, for decades, there has been a visible wealth gap,
with sprawling subdivisions,
many of them built on former slave plantations,
just miles from the county's poorest neighborhoods.
At the head seat is County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
She was a single mom in her thirties the first time
she decided to run for county state's attorney,
an elected office that no woman had held before.
-As I campaigned for state's attorney
the first time, the second time,
and even when I campaigned for county executive,
I thought people would want to know that I was qualified,
they would want to hear about my record.
And, as it turns out, running for state's attorney,
I was the only person in the race
who had actually run an agency before.
-She won that race. Then the next.
And, in less than a decade,
she was the first woman to ever run the Washington suburb,
which has a population of nearly one million.
-You know what? I have to tell you something
I don't get to talk about a lot.
Alex was born, I was a single mother.
I was not sure how the world was going to regard me.
Her father and I have a really good relationship
and do a great job with Alex, but I wasn't married
and I wasn't sure how the voters would feel about this.
I would take her on the campaign trail,
and let me tell you, she sprung into action.
She took my campaign literature.
She ran up to a person and said, "Please vote for my mother.
She's running for a state ajourney".
And now it gives me great pleasure to introduce
to you the permanent chief executive officer
of the Prince George's County public school system,
Dr Monica Goldson.
-Since taking office in December 2018,
Alsobrooks has elevated a fleet of Black women
into positions of leadership,
which include the superintendent of schools,
head of community relations,
the head of economic development,
and the fire chief.
-The experience that stands out to me
is the first Cabinet meeting I was able to go to.
And I remember showing up to the normal conference room,
and there were a lot of people around.
There was a lot of women and, you know, and I'm thinking,
"They're just here with me," but, at that time,
I did not know that they were the directors and the leaders.
They had the name tags in place,
and we sat down, and I can remember looking.
I looked at my name tag and saw my name.
And then began to look around and realize
that the other women sitting at the table
were also directors, they were also managers.
It was a great feeling because, for me,
in this particular profession, the fire department,
it's a male-dominated profession.
I am often, 90% of the time,
the only woman and the only African-American at the table,
hands down, all the time.
-Like so many women in power today,
they spent much of their careers
navigating through mostly male-dominated spaces.
Now, with Alsobrooks at the helm,
they have found, in county government,
an unexpected sisterhood.
But they know they're sometimes underestimated
by those outside of it.
-In a district that is predominantly children of color,
right now, we're 91%.
20-something years ago, we might've been at 70%.
It wasn't uncommon for me
to see other African-American female teachers,
but as I began to move up in positions,
those numbers of females and African-Americans
started to dwindle.
When I became a principal, my first time being a principal,
and I went to the high school principals' meeting
was when it hit me.
I was the youngest, one of three females
in that room of high school principals.
I moved up.
The chief of operations role, I can tell you,
there are very few African-American females
in the operations role across the state of Maryland.
And so, for me, I always felt like
I had to be overprepared when I went into meetings.
-So, throughout my career, I've always been in fields
and areas where I was, you know, maybe one of just a few
Black women or the only Black woman.
It has been a challenge, not necessarily for me.
I think it's been a challenge for other people to have to deal
with the fact that I'm in a role where I do have the authority
and that my decisions often are the final say.
And that is uncomfortable for some folks
because people like me
aren't historically in these types of roles,
but I think that's one of the good things
about diversifying leadership,
is that you find different perspectives
that can be brought to the table,
or who are setting the table,
that are really looking at issues in a different way.
-The women affirm each other.
They spoke about how lonely and isolating it can be at the top,
but having women who look like them to turn to
has been meaningful.
-It is so reassuring to know that you can call anyone
at this level who are experiencing
some of the same things you are, who understand it,
who understand it from a parent's perspective,
from a mom's perspective, a woman's perspective,
an African-American woman,
and then sometimes just being the only person.
I feel like I gained a sisterhood
without even realizing that that would, ultimately,
be what would happen while serving in this role.
-Chief Green, congratulations, and we thank you so much
for your service and for your sacrifice.
We're not absent of really talented,
amazing men who work with us, who are alongside us.
It's just the women who are leading in each of those areas
are there, but we have men, plenty of men, you know?
In fact, if you think about my deputies, all of my deputies,
well, except one now, are men.
So, you know, there are plenty of good men here.
It's just that the women are just in charge.
-Picture. -Wait a minute.