Sen. Tammy Duckworth Is a Model for How You Can Make Change In the Workplace Don't just go along with the status quo.

By Nina Zipkin •

Bill Clark | Getty Images

Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth has regularly made history throughout her political career. The Iraq War veteran was the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress in Illinois, the first disabled woman to be elected to the United States Congress, the first member of U.S. Congress born in Thailand and as of this month, became the first sitting senator to give birth while in office.

Ahead of her first vote since her daughter Maile Pearl was born, Duckworth put forth the first bill of its kind that would allow babies on the Senate floor, which, despite questions from older members of the governing body -- notably Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch asking, "What if there were 10 babies on the Senate floor? -- was passed unanimously, with support from both sides of the aisle.


Related: She Was Told 'No' 100 Times. Now This 30-Year-Old Female Founder Runs a $1 Billion Business.

There are currently only 22 women serving in the Senate. And it was only in recent years that female senators were allowed into the Senate pool because a couple of their male colleagues preferred to swim in the nude. There is also an ongoing push from the female senators to update 20-year-old legislation regarding the handling of sexual harassment complaints on Capitol Hill.

Clearly, the hallowed halls of Congress is not the most forward thinking of workplaces, but anyone can make change in their workplace like Duckworth did by simply refusing to do something because that is the way things have always been done.
Nina Zipkin

Entrepreneur Staff

Staff Writer. Covers leadership, media, technology and culture.

Nina Zipkin is a staff writer at Entrepreneur.com. She frequently covers leadership, media, tech, startups, culture and workplace trends.

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