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Dignity Index co-creator Tami Pyfer discusses her experiences as a former city councillor and her work to create productive dialogue during the Women Elected Municipal Officials Leadership Luncheon on Jan. 23 in Boston. She was interviewed by Amherst Town Councillor and WEMO Chair Lynn Griesemer.
During the MMA’s Connect 351 conference in Boston, Tami Pyfer, the chief external affairs officer for UNITE, spoke about her years of public service at the local and state levels, how women have a responsibility to raise others up alongside themselves, and how the Dignity Index she co-created can improve communications at all levels of government.
Pyfer sat for an interview with Amherst Councillor Lynn Griesemer for the Women Elected Municipal Officials Leadership Luncheon on Jan. 23. She began by reflecting on gender-related challenges she has encountered, and the impact that political rhetoric has had for her.
Pyfer served for eight years as a city councillor in Logan, Utah, for four years on the Utah State Board of Education, and for seven years as education policy advisor to former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert before joining UNITE in 2020.
Pyfer said her five children all have differing political views, and she is proud of her kids’ reasons for aligning with the different political groups. But she said there was a period during the past five years when they were struggling to get along.
“How has it impacted women?” Pyfer asked, referring to the political divisions of today. “Well, it has affected our families. And, therefore, it has impacted me, and has really increased the urgency that I feel to work on these issues.”
When asked about women uplifting others into public office, Pfyer said sometimes, instead of helping each other and creating space for others to do well, women compete against each other in their drive to do well and to make a difference in their communities.
“We should be there opening the door and … encouraging and leading the way for others,” Pyfer said.
She said competitiveness can contribute to contempt-based rhetoric in politics, for women on the left and the right. Women can do a better job of supporting each other if they look beyond labels and focus on the work.
“When you start to pull the labels away and see all the good work that they’re doing, that has also helped me reach out and say … I just want to know who you are, and I know as a woman, you represent me,” Pyfer said. “So when I see two people on a ballot that, for all intents and purposes, their experiences are the same … I’m going to [select] a woman every time. I just am, because I need someone that thinks more like I do.”
On national and international issues becoming more present in local politics, and local issues gaining national attention, Pfyer acknowledged the challenge for municipal officials being held accountable at public meetings for issues they have no control over and being confronted with contempt-based rhetoric seeping down from the national stage.
“It’s hurting us,” she said.
Pyfer explained UNITE’s Dignity Index, a tool that measures political speech along an eight-point continuum from contempt to dignity. She said UNITE is pursuing a two-part strategy — “grass tops” and “grass roots” — by working with governors (“grass tops”) to adopt the index, and with local officials and, through them, their constituents (“grass roots”).
Pyfer gave examples of the index being adopted by city councils in different parts of the country with positive results, sharing stories from local leaders who paused during a meeting to adjust their language, and of constituents who recognized harmful language from previous comments and apologized.
Pyfer said UNITE is working toward “a groundswell of people who are starting to understand the language of contempt and dignity, recognize it, and take a public stand, saying, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to do that anymore.’”
She urged local leaders “to model that different behavior,” so constituents say, “I went to the town council meeting and … the town moderator got up and said, ‘We’ve adopted this Dignity Index. We just want you all to know that this is how we’re going to treat you. We’re going to stay on the dignity side of the scale. If you hear us dipping down below, I want you to let us know.’”
Pfyer noted data from the book “Invisible Women” showing that peace agreements are not only more likely to be reached when women are at the negotiating table, but they’re also more likely to last. Women have often been excluded from the table, even when decisions are being made that affect them, but women can help solve divisions in our country in no small part because of their empathy.
“Empathy is a quality generally that women are born with,” she said. “That’s like the best thing you can bring to your work … being able to understand someone else’s point of view and position.”
“I want to make sure you understand how powerful you are as women,” Pyfer said. “And … how desperately we need [your voices]. … You’re going to help make your communities better.”
Also at the luncheon, WEMO inducted its committee for 2026.