Vice President Kamala Harris is the first of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year. 

Vice President Harris recently sat down with USA TODAY editor-in-chief Nicole Carroll and national columnist Suzette Hackney to discuss how American women have been overcoming obstacles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Women, and especially women of color, have been disproportionately affected by the economic recession. Layoffs have disproportionately impacted women and hundreds of thousands of women have left the workforce in the past year in order to take care of children and family amid a shortage of childcare options exacerbated by pandemic lockdowns.

In their in-depth interview, Vice President Harris, Nicole Carroll, and Suzette Hackney talked about everything from paid leave, to access to childcare, to the minimum wage, and the pay gap between men and women — because supporting women means supporting all the work they do.

Later this year, Suzette Hackney will profile 10 more Women of the Year for USA TODAY. You can nominate a woman in you life here: https://womenoftheyear.usatoday.com/

Sign up for Nicole Carroll’s weekly column, The Backstory, here: https://profile.usatoday.com/newsletters/the-backstory/

Additional reading:

USA TODAY’s Women of the Century project

‘You are strong.’ Vice President Kamala Harris has a message for American women

USA TODAY’s Women of the Year project honors strong, inspirational women

The Backstory: When women are pushed out of the workforce, it impacts everyone

Episode transcript at https://art19.com/shows/5-things.