Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Lael Brainard will lead President Biden's National Economic Council, Black women are joining corporate boards at higher rates, and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon resigns—with echoes of Jacinda Ardern's exit. Have a great Thursday.
- Two's company. One month after former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her plans to resign, another female world leader is following in her footsteps. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday that she plans to step down from her leadership role after eight years in the job.
The explanation Sturgeon gave in a speech is eerily similar to the kind of burnout Ardern described when she said she “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job of PM. Sturgeon described the “brutality” of serving in the top leadership role, which she said left no room for a private life or even to “meet friends for a coffee or go for a walk on your own.” The pressures of the 24/7 news cycle and the political media’s focus on lawmakers’ personalities rather than policies made the job no longer sustainable for her, she said.
