Women Shaping the Future of Local Government
- Hilary Daninhirsch
- 21 hours ago
- 7 min read
What prompts someone to get involved in local government? We spoke with three women who are leaders in various local governmental bodies about their journeys.
Cristen Fiffik, Mayor, Franklin Park Borough
A 29-year resident of Franklin Park, Cristen Fiffik, the newly elected mayor of Franklin Park Borough, worked in corporate law for more than 30 years, most recently for a large senior health care nonprofit, before deciding to get involved in local government.
“There were multiple corporations in this network, and so I dealt with the board of directors and policies and rules and became familiar with how governance worked in the nonprofit corporate world. I think a lot of that background was a good transition into the political world, especially problem solving, governance and relating to people: listening to both sides and getting things done,” said Fiffik, a native Missourian and graduate of both the University of Missouri and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
At the end of 2024, feeling a bit burned out career-wise, and with her youngest daughter about to leave the nest, she was ready to do something different. In the spring of 2025, she was invited to a newly established women’s empowerment group. By the end of the evening, she was approached to run for a council seat, but she did not live in the corresponding ward. Then someone suggested she run for mayor, even though it was two weeks until the primary.
Fast forward a bit, and Fiffik was elected mayor of Franklin Park Borough, the first woman in the borough’s history to occupy that position. “I’m certainly honored to be the first female, and my goal is to not be the last. I just see it as a step in the right direction. It shouldn’t be a big headline, though I am very proud to be the first female,” she said.
This reminded her of a story she heard recently. “The question asked of both men and women was ‘If the situation arose, do you think you could land a plane?’ Overwhelmingly, the men stated they had the confidence in themselves to do so, but very few women thought they could. However, when put in a plane simulator, women were more than equal to men in landing the plane safely. The moral of the story is that men have more confidence in themselves, but women can get the job done. So, my hope for women is to have confidence in themselves to be in leadership roles, and land that plane!” she said.
As mayor, one of her main duties is public safety and working with the police department, as well as establishing working relationships with other borough officials. And one of her primary goals is to see that Franklin Park lives up to its potential. “I want to position Franklin Park for the future and restore fiscal discipline, fund public safety, protect our green spaces, and fix our infrastructure,” said Fiffik.
Fiffik is a proponent of local government, noting that it has a direct impact on our daily lives. “It is where we live every day, every hour. It’s about where do we put sidewalks, how our tax dollars are being spent, are we safe, do we have a community where we want to attract people to live but not overdevelop,” she said.
To date, the most rewarding part of the job has been meeting people and learning what all goes into running a borough of Franklin Park’s size, adding that she has been impressed by the professionalism of everyone she works with and their dedication to doing right by the community. “I am very intrigued and excited about how I can give back to the community, to the residents, and how I can make a difference,” said Fiffik.
Sara Innamorato, Allegheny County Executive
Sara Innamorato describes herself as a native daughter of Allegheny County and a lifelong ‘yinzer.’ Hailing from Ross Township, she attended North Hills High School and studied business at the University of Pittsburgh. Though she started her working life in the corporate world, it was always in the back of her mind that she’d work in public service.
Innamorato explained that her father’s struggles with addiction led her family to fall on hard times.
“My father passed away when I was in my early 20s and around that time, I was thinking about what kind of person do I want to be and how do I want to give back to a community that lifted me up when I needed it most: how do I try to level the playing field for people experiencing injustices and inequities?” said Innamorato.
When volunteering with nonprofits centering on food justice, community development and sustainability, she thought she’d help women run for office, co-founding She Runs Southwestern PA in 2016. But life took a different turn when Innamorato herself was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2018. That experience sparked a love of public service, leading her to run for the highest office in the county, Allegheny County Executive, the first woman to hold the position.
Two years into her term, Innamorato is deeply committed to the people she serves and to the region she reveres.
“I love county government. Allegheny County is awesome, and it’s a great place to raise a family. We’re facing some big challenges, but if we are clear-eyed and bring the right people together, we can do incredible things,” said Innamorato.
She is especially gratified by the county’s 500 in 500 initiative that helped people out of homelessness, placing 500 unhoused people in stable housing in 500 days.
She is also proud of recruiting and growing new businesses, highlighting a clean tech battery storage company, EOS Energy Enterprises, that moved its national headquarters here and will generate 700 new jobs. “We have a history of making things here, and there is no reason we shouldn’t make the new innovations that will move our economy forward. We do it in such a way that is not just about the number of jobs and private investment but the quality of jobs and whether prosperity will be shared.”
Innamorato is a strong advocate for the impact of local government. “It’s really easy to get overwhelmed by the news. If you want to feel a sense of optimism and hope and feel that you can enable change, local and county government is really where it’s at. There is so much autonomy and power that still exists in the County Executive office. We are still able to deliver for our unhoused neighbors, we can spur economic development and growth and job creation, and we can invest in innovative public safety interventions.”
For young women thinking about getting involved in local government, Innamorato said that she advises them to think about what is their driving force. “You don’t do government to be self-important; you do it because there is an injustice to right or an issue you want to change. I tell young women: own your story. You don’t have to be a cookie-cutter version of what you think of when you think of a politician. Just be your authentic self. Our government is designed to be representative, and we need all different types of backgrounds and identities and lived experiences when policy decisions are being made. Don’t try to fit into someone else’s mold or outcome.”
Carolynn Johnson, President, Hampton Township Council
Having engaged in a lifetime of volunteerism, from being a student representative with her Girl Scout Council’s board of directors to serving as a crisis intervention hotline operator in college and volunteering with her daughter’s Girl Scout troop, getting involved in local government seemed like the next logical step for Hampton Township resident Carolynn Johnson. It was, in part, due to her frustration with overly restrictive township ordinances when trying to build a deck that led Johnson, who has served on the Hampton Township Council since 2018, and as president since 2022, to consider running for office.
“I was getting disillusioned and frustrated with some of the township processes and knew there had to be a better way. When this opportunity arose, I started attending council meetings to see what it was all about. It was intriguing, and I thought it would be a good way to contribute to the community given my background,” said Johnson.
Johnson has a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Purdue University and has spent 25 years working in user experience research and design, ensuring that products and processes meet the needs of the people who use them.
Although the goings-on at the federal government level are in the news constantly, Johnson believes that people also should care about local government. “It’s important because all of those ordinances decided at the local level will impact your life as much, if not more, than the things decided at the state and federal levels,” she said, giving examples of putting on a home addition or if you have a problem with your sewer lines.
To date, her tenure has been rewarding at many levels. “Honestly, I value continuous learning. I have learned so much about the history of the township and its inner workings that I might not have known otherwise. But probably the best thing about this process is getting to know the people who provide the services for the residents; they are wonderful, skilled, and truly care about our local community,” she said.
Johnson said that one of her proudest accomplishments to date is that Hampton Township was the first municipality in the North Hills to embed social service workers within the police department, which provide resources that would not otherwise be available. “If the police are called out to a domestic incident, for example, social service workers will respond with the police, and if warranted, our social service workers can get help for the victim or refer the family to additional resources,” she explained.
Johnson, who was also the former president of the North Hills Council of Governments’ Executive Board, has a lot of goals for her beloved Hampton Township, including improvements to the parks and green spaces and working with the county and commonwealth to fix a dangerous intersection. “My personal focus has always been on advocating for a citizen-centered approach to local government and making it more accessible.” Her fundamental goal is not one that is codified in an ordinance but is less tangible: building a stronger sense of community.
To those considering running for local government, she’d advise them to find a way to get involved first. “We’re always looking for volunteers for organizations like the zoning hearing board, the planning commission and various others, so if you want to get involved in the township, look at those opportunities to get a better sense of what’s needed.”
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