Ralph Northam

When I served alongside the brave women of our armed forces, who contribute so much to our country despite often facing discrimination on the job, it only strengthened my commitment to fairness and equal pay in the workplace.

America is a melting pot. Our diversity is our strength.

In medical school, students are immersed in the realm of medical ethics. It's where new doctors study, learn right and wrong, ask tough questions, and discuss things like end of life care, genetic testing, and patients' rights. In lots of ways, it's the most important part of being a compassionate and competent doctor.

For 25 years, I was an assistant professor teaching pediatrics, neurology, pathophysiology, and ethics at my alma mater, Eastern Virginia Medical School. It's been great training for my legislative work - we get in some debates in the classroom that would rival the General Assembly!

After high school, I attended the Virginia Military Institute and then Eastern Virginia Medical School - both great public schools that prepared me well for my career as a physician and didn't saddle me with a load of debt.

I personally served on active duty with many women service members who consistently demonstrated tremendous skill, leadership, and unquestioned commitment.

Virginia is my home, and I know what it takes to ensure our prosperity - that's why I'll approach economic growth by utilizing the success of our agricultural sector.

Every year, I volunteer with Remote Area Medical mobile clinics to provide care to folks in rural Virginia. They do incredible work. But I'm the first to admit that treating people once a year at an annual clinic isn't the ideal way to provide healthcare. We should be investing in long-term, permanent solutions to rural health.

I saw firsthand the impact of women's efforts inside and outside the home from watching my wonderful mother, Nancy. A nurse who trained at Hopkins, she balanced the demands of raising our family with her work at our rural hospital on the Eastern Shore.

We've lost leaders from Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King, Jr. and countless others who have worked to bend the arc of the universe towards justice and equality. Yet, we remain undaunted, dedicated to striving for a fairer, more equal society.

During Women's History Month, we celebrate milestones in gender equality, and we uplift the stories of women who have impacted our world with their creativity, advocacy, service, invention, and discovery.

Over the years, Americans have worked hard to expand the values our nation was founded on - justice, freedom, equality - to every person, regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic status.

As a small business owner myself, I understand what it is like to scale up a business in the early years.