by Andrea Steele,President & Founder.  Emerge America is the premier training program for Democratic women. We inspire women to run, we hone their skills to win. Our goal is clear: to increase the number of Democratic women in public office. 

Why Emerge?  Research shows that women don’t run for office unless they are
asked and trained – regardless of their qualifications.  

Emerge has created a successful program and curriculum that trains
Democratic women to run for office and win.  Each Emerge affiliate recruits
and selects 20-25 Democratic women each year to participate in the Emerge
training program.  Our recruitment efforts focus on all levels of diversity
– ethnic, age, sexual orientation, and geographic – so we can add depth and
breadth to the Democratic candidate pool.

Participants meet one weekend a month for seven months to be trained in the
following areas:

.    Public speaking
.    Fundraising
.    Campaign strategy
.    Field
.    Labor and endorsements
.    Networking
.    Media skills and messaging
.    Ethics in politics

In addition, each affiliate provides state-specific candidate support to
help Emerge alumnae run successful campaigns.  

Emerge gets results.  In only four years our eight affiliates have trained
540 women; 37% of Emerge participants have run for elected office; 50% of
Emerge candidates who ran for elected office won; 40+ alumnae have been
appointed to public boards or commissions.  In 2008 alone there were 82 runs
and 42 wins across our alumnae network.  Equally important, we have a strong
record of diversity, and 46% of our participants are women of color.

Each Emerge affiliate uses our branded curriculum but has local trainers
implement the components of that curriculum. In this way, the program is
consistent across states yet accommodates the idiosynchracies of individual
states, like clean elections or vote by mail.  At the same time, Emerge
participants are trained by and ultimately have access to the campaign staff
in their home states.

Emerge has affiliates in eight states – Arizona, California, Massachusetts,
Maine, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and Wisconsin – with a new state to be
launched in 2009.  When Emerge America launches a new affiliate, we identify
the top women elected officials, activists, and Democratic leaders in the
state and leverage their collective experience to build the strongest
organization possible.  In this way, each Emerge affiliate is truly
community-based.  Because we are building a powerful Democratic political
network of participants, alumnae, board and advisory board members, and
trainers, we are creating a new Democratic women’s movement, dedicated to
changing the face of power, the face of politics, and the face of leadership
in this country.  

If you are interested in learning about how you can support Emerge America
please or start an Emerge affiliate in your state, please send an email to
[email protected].  If you are interested in running for office
please contact the state affiliate where you live.