Issues Important to Women to Be Topic at Emerge America Annual Celebration – Former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin will headline event.

At a time when women’s rights are under attack and elected officials are vocal about wanting to turn back the clock on issues like contraception, Emerge America, a national organization that trains Democratic women to run for office, hosts its annual Celebrating Women Trailblazers luncheon. The celebration will feature a timely keynote address by Former U.S. Ambassador & Governor Madeleine Kunin, author of The New Feminist Agenda: Defining the Next Revolution for Women, Work and Family.

 Emerge America Celebrating Women Trailblazers Luncheon

 Wednesday, October 3, 11 AM – Doors Open, Noon  – Program begins

Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason Street, San Francisco

Emerge America will also honor Emerge Nevada, Executive Director Erin Bilbray Kohn and Emerge Wisconsin Class of 2010 graduate Representative JoCasta Zamarripa as its Trailblazer Award Nominees. Bilbray is the founder of Emerge Nevada and the longest-serving executive director in the Emerge network. Zamarripa is the first Latina to serve the Wisconsin Assembly, and she recently came out as bisexual member of the LGBT community.

About Emerge

Launched in 2002, Emerge America was created to address the under-representation of women in office at the local, state, and federal level. Our program is the essential step for Democratic women who want to run for public office. It is the only in-depth, seven-month training program that inspires candidates to run and gives them the tools to win. There are Emerge programs in twelve states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

Emerge has a remarkable 171 women running in 2012- the most Emerge women running ever in one year.