Bringing Women to the Table Emerge MA Lightning Talk

RwandaNamibiaAngola The F.Y.R. of MacedoniaSudanAustraliaViet NamDominica BoliviaNicaraguaSloveniaEl SalvadorGuyanaIsrael Equatorial GuineaGuinea CubaSpain United Republic of TanzaniaSwitzerlandNepalIraqSingapore Republic of Moldova SeychellesMozambiqueGermanyAlgeria United KingdomSouth SudanEstonia Bosnia and Herzegovina SwedenNorwayBurundiZimbabweLuxembourgFranceCabo Verde Dominican Republic SenegalAndorraArgentinaNew ZealandAfghanistanCanadaChinaMonaco MexicoBelgiumPortugalTunisia Lao People's Democratic RepublicHondurasLithuaniaAlbania South AfricaEthiopiaSerbiaCameroonPolandTurkmenistan United Arab EmiratesPakistan EcuadorTimor-LesteUgandaItalyBelarusSurinamePeruMadagascar FinlandDenmarkCosta Rica Trinidad and TobagoPhilippinesMauritaniaIrelandBulgaria IcelandNetherlandsGrenadaAustriaKazakhstanLesothoEritreaCambodia KenyaGreeceSaudi ArabiaColombiaSlovakiaLiechtensteinCzech RepublicBangladesh

Where We Are  United States is ranked 97 th in the world for female representation at the national level  Massachusetts is ranked 25 th in the country for female representation at the state level  25% Elected at the State level  Never elected a female governor  Elected one US Senator

Why This Matters

Why This Happens  Women are less likely to win their electoral campaigns  THIS IS NOT TRUE

Why This Happens  Women are less likely to run for office  Women are less likely to think they are qualified to run for office  Women are less likely to identify themselves as “confident”, “competitive” or “risk taking”  Women are less likely to be encouraged to run for office  Women are more likely to perceive the electoral environment as highly competitive and biased against female candidates  Treatment of prominent female candidates aggravated women’s perceptions of gender bias in the electoral arena  Women react more negatively to many aspects of the modern campaign  Women are still responsible to the majority of childcare and household tasks

What Is Emerge Doing?: Recruiting  Recruiting  Women are less likely to be encouraged to run for office  Women are less likely to think they are qualified to run for office

What Is Emerge Doing?: Training  Training  Campaigns are highly competitive and biased against female candidates  Treatment of prominent female candidates aggravated women’s perceptions of gender bias in the electoral arena  Women react more negatively to many aspects of the modern campaign

 Mentoring  Women are less likely to identify themselves as “confident”, “competitive” or “risk taking”  Women are still responsible to the majority of childcare and household tasks What Is Emerge Doing?: Mentoring

Emerge’s Successes 160 women trained(and 24 graduate this Sunday!) 40% ran for office 67% have won 25 ran last year 20 won 25 are running this year

Closing Thoughts  Where else are we falling because we don’t have a diverse group at the table?  How can we create opportunities to get them there?  How else can we encourage women to run for office?  Encourage someone in your life to run  Run yourself! (and reach out to me!)  How can we make the political system seem less biased?  How can we make political campaigns more accessible?  How can we make dents in the systematic sexism that leads women to see themselves as less qualified?  How can we create policy that makes the care of a family less burdensome?  How can we help women win and lead once they are in office?  How can we use innovations from other sectors to help bolster small nonprofits  How can you learn from the Emerge model?  How can you use the power of community to address other issues?

Thank you!  Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re interested in Emerge or in continuing this conversation!  Ryanne Olsen, Executive Director    Facebook.com/EmergeMass