In the 2024 elections, a record number of women were elected to federal and state office making the 119th Congress the most diverse in U.S. history. Yet, we still have a long way to go to increase our political influence. Women have been historically under-represented in the country’s governing bodies, and while significant progress has been made in the last decades, the U.S. trails behind many similarly developed and less developed nations. As of 2024, the U.S. was outranked by 42 other countries in the global Gender Parity Index – an index that benchmarks national gender gaps on political, economic, and social criteria.
This year more women are passionate and engaged, and motivated to have their voices heard and use their influence to affect change. If you are considering running for office or getting involved in a political campaign, you are not alone.
If you have the passion to create and influence change, where do you start?
In order to learn more about what women can do to turn their activism into action, I reached out to Patti Russo, the executive director of the Campaign School at Yale, a non-partisan organization with a mission to increase the number and influence of women in elected and appointed office in the United States and around the globe, as well as amplify women’s voices in the community,
Marcus: What should a woman consider before they make the decision to run?
Russo: What I like to say is not every woman was born to run, but every woman was born to lead. Find your lane, find your path.
I had no interest in running for office ever. I like telling people what to do. I like helping them to become even more fabulous than they already are. I never had any interest in running, but I had an interest in leading in a different kind of way. My whole clarion call right now is find your lane and let us help you find your lane.
I had no interest in running for office ever. I like telling people what to do. I like helping them to become even more fabulous than they already are. I never had any interest in running, but I had an interest in leading in a different kind of way. My whole clarion call right now is find your lane and let us help you find your lane.
The overwhelming number of women who are applying to our school currently for our premier five-day training in June at Yale Law School, overwhelmingly want to run for office. They’re in office now and are getting ready for a higher-level office next year. Next year, as you know, is going to be a big year, it’s the midterms. Or they’ve run and they lost, and they want to figure out, “How do I win next time?” Then the other spectrum, I’m not interested in running, but I do love working on campaigns. I’m a finance director, I’ve been a field director, how do I get that top spot as campaign manager?
There are so many different and exciting ways to lead. Our whole philosophy is “Find your path.” Find the way that you can effectively utilize the skills that you have with the world.
Read for full article on Substack.com.
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