Logo Proyecto 85
A non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes equity in Puerto Rico’s main elective office positions, founded to catalyze the participation of women as political candidates and future elected officials through training and research.

EQUAL REPRESENTATION

If women occupied 85 of the main public elective positions in Puerto Rico, we would achieve equal representation to influence public policies and achieve the quality of life that we desire for ourselves, our families, and our communities.

MISSION & VISION

We believe in our capacity and experience as leaders to generate positive change in our government and in our country. We aspire to achieve an inclusive and diverse Puerto Rico that values the participation and rights of each and every one of its residents equally.

In order to increase the number of women in elective office, we focus on the generation of data and analysis to close the information gap on women’s political participation in elective office and facilitate training that contributes to successful political campaigns and candidacies in Puerto Rico.

Our vision is to realize gender parity in government within the principal elected office positions through the election of 85 women committed to promoting an inclusive, diverse, efficient, and transparent government.

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Women represent over half of Puerto Rico’s population.

Out of the principal 158 elective office positions in our government, only 34 are led by women.

Only 24 of the 78 legislative seats are occupied by women.

In Puerto Rico only 9 of the 78 municipalities are led by women.

Electoral Impact

In the 2020 electoral contest, 165 women filed a candidacy for the main elective positions, 150 of them were certified as candidates. Of these, 65 faced a primary process, where 37 of them won primary. The total number of official candidates totaled 122. Of these, 34 women were elected in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Since our beginnings in 2018, 465 women have participated in our workshops. Of the 33 women elected during the 2020 election cycle, 30% are Project 85 students.

ELECCIONES 2020

Reasons to support
equal representation
in our government

According to the study Men Rule: The Continued Under-Representation of Women in U.S. Politics, women’s political participation contributes positively in the following ways:

Diversity

Gender diversity in government increases the probability that public policy debates and deliberations are inclusive.

Community

Female municipal legislators spend more time providing services to their constituents than do male legislators.

Cooperation

It’s been proven that female mayors take citizens’ opinions into account in their decision-making and emphasize cooperation, whereas male mayors tend to emphasize hierarchy in their decision-making.

Leadership

There is a positive correlation between women’s political and electoral participation and their contributions and the political participation of female adolescents.

READY FOR
2024

Training

Our research and free training program is possible thanks to the support of the Open Society Foundations, the Segarra Foundation, the Miranda Foundation, the CNE, and Piloto 151.

DONATIONS

Individual donations help us provide training in multiple municipalities and share our message of equity to all of Puerto Rico.

To make donations using ATH Móvil, access the donations section in the application. Proyecto 85 is a 501 (c)(3) organization exempt from state and federal taxes. Check with your tax advisor about the tax exemption of this donation. Our employer’s social security number is 66-0911184.

CONTRIBUTE