Running Start: Bringing Young Women to Politics

This article is about the political organisation. For the educational program in Washington state, see Running Start.

Running Start: Bringing Young Women to Politics is non profit c(3) organization whose mission is to inspire young women and girls to run for political office. This non-partisan organization's mission is to increase the number of women who serve in elective office in the United States by educating women and girls that they are needed in politics. Their training programs emphasize that political office is an attainable and exciting goal for young women to pursue. Running Start was started by Susannah Shakow, Esq., former president of the Women Under Forty Political Action Campaign.

Overview

Running Start focuses on research, education, and outreach. Running Start intends to be the nation's premiere resource on young women and politics with nonpartisan, accurate data about young women candidates and their unique role in politics.

Running Start also introduces college and high school girls to the power of politics through their education initiatives. These include the Young Women's Political Leadership Training, the Running Start/Walmart Star Fellowship, Campaign College, the Women to Watch Awards, and Path to Politics lunch series.

The Young Women's Political Leadership Training introduces high school girls to politics, equips them with the skills necessary for political leadership, and inspires them to become political leaders. Young women candidates and elected officials speak to the girls about what it is like to run as a young woman, how to get involved on a local level, and why they feel it is important to get more women elected. The Political Leadership Program is held in July each year. Due to the high success of this program, Running Start has developed shorter programs in major cities across the country. So far these shorter programs have occurred in New York City and California.

The Running Start/Walmart Star Fellowship program, launched in September 2009, brings 14 college women or recent graduates to Washington, DC each year to learn about politics and work on Capitol Hill for a female Member of Congress. The Fellows hone their political skills and learn about the legislative process first-hand Each Friday, the fellows take part in a seminar conducted by Running Start which heightens their internship experience by giving them the skills and contacts they need to become political leaders. Fellows must also interview the Congresswoman they intern with. The fellows will emerge from this semester in DC with a deeper understanding of the need for more women to run for office, and confidence in their own abilities to lead, whether at their schools or on the national stage.

Campaign College is an initiative in which Running Start, the Women and Politics Institute at American University and the American Association of University Women work with student governments at colleges around the country to train college women on how to run for office.

The Women to Watch awards is an annual event which honors impressive young women leaders under 40. In 2009, honorees included Erin Burnett, CNBC Television Anchor; Julie Gilbert, Founder and CEO of WOLF Means Business; Tammy Duckworth, Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs; Betsy Fischer, Executive Producer of Meet the Press; and Mona Sutphen, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Obama Administration. In 2008 honorees included Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary; Linda Rottenburg, CEO of Endeavour; Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Dutch Parliamentarian; Cathy Lanier, DC Chief of Police; and Michelle Rhee, DC Schools Chancellor. By honoring these outstanding women, they hope to inspire young women and girls to take their leadership to another level. Proceeds from the Women to Watch Awards benefit Running Start's research and education programs. This gala event is held annually in May at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

The Path to Politics luncheon series brings together young women interested in running for public office and gives them the opportunity to meet young women legislators and candidates over lunch. The speakers focus on a particular aspect of what it is like to run or serve as a young woman. Each seminar focuses on practical advice, such as fundraising, building your base, working with the national parties, establishing credibility as a young woman legislature, as well as on inspiring the audience to run for office themselves.

Through these and other programs, Running Start seeks to educate young women about how they can make a difference in politics by becoming candidates themselves.

External links

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