Your life can change in just one night. Kate arrived at the Conference Center in Mableton, Georgia to volunteer for a night and help out in her community. Little did she know, she had gotten herself into something much bigger than she had planned.

The White House Project (www.thewhitehouseproject.org) , a women’s organization, was preparing to hold their third annual Go Run Political Leadership Training in Georgia, and Kate had planned to help out. She introduced herself to some of the women near her volunteer table. The National Program Director, Erin Vilardi, spoke with her about the training, and explained more about the 82 women who would soon stream through the doors of the conference center.

It only took Kate a minute to realize she was on the wrong side of the table—she wanted to be number 83, and train to run for office with the rest of the women. Unlike many women who do not self-select to lead, Kate chose to step into leadership that day. The next morning, she jumped right in, learning the nuts and bolts of campaign strategy, communications and fundraising. After dinner with her fellow participants, she settled in to watch a movie about Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman who ran for President, back in 1972. The next day, Kate rose early again to attend community building sessions and learn just how to mobilize her own campaign.

Although she entered the conference center having no intention of “living a political life,” at the end of the weekend Kate found herself surrounded by women leaders who were doing just that. On Sunday, April 29^th, Kate pledged to lead a political life, and work on two of her fellow participant’s campaigns.

The White House Project has been training women to take on positions of power in business, politics and media since 1998. Kate walked right into the organization’s established community of women who want to be leaders, or already are. Over the last three years, the Project has trained over 1,100 women nationwide to run for elected office, through its signature program, Vote Run Lead. The national office is in New York, but they also run offices with strong bases of support in Georgia, Colorado and Minnesota.

In response to the current political turmoil in and around Atlanta, the devastation and need for visionary leadership throughout Katrina-affected areas, and the need to infuse new energy into southern politics, this year The White House Project rededicated its efforts to changing the political landscape in the south by adding women to the pipeline.

Luckily, there are strong women leaders to learn from in Georgia’s own backyard. The south can claim two of the nine US female governors and four of the sixteen female US Senators. This summer, one of the two women governors, Kansan Kathleen Sebelius, keynoted the Project’s “Add Women, Change Everything” luncheon, an event commemorating the organization’s dedication to rebuilding the pipeline of women leaders in the south.

At the event, the White House Project recognized nine organizations and individuals—because none of this work happens without help—for their dedication to advancing women’s leadership. During her speech, Governor Sebelius looked around the room and proclaimed, "I am filled with hope and optimism for our future. Our nation and our world would be much different if half our leaders were women, and we have the women here in this room who can make that happen!"

Underscoring the necessity for more women to enter the political arena, Marie C. Wilson, President and founder of The White House Project, echoed Governor Sebelius’ remarks saying, “When women leaders bring their voices, vision and leadership to the table alongside men, the debate is more robust and the policy is more inclusive and sustainable.”

The White House Project has trained over eleven hundred women nationwide. They know that there are women in the south who have run and won political office; and others who can run and will win. These women are and will continue to be the members and heads of our board of educations, our city councilors, our county executives, our state senators, on up to the members of our federal government. These women simply need an invitation to run. The White House Project has been extending invitations for the last three years and will be extending them for a long time to come.

At a Go Run training the Project held just one month ago, a woman in the audience took the invitation seriously and felt called. She stood from her chair and walked to the front of the room, quietly humming the famous gospel hymn “This Little Light.” Her voice grew stronger as she walked to stand and face an audience of more then 70 people. The entire audience of women and staff rose to their feet clapping and singing along. She began to speak and her triumphant voice stole the breath out of the room. With authority and passion, this leader spoke with strength: “When you decide to stand in the public square, sometimes you can't even articulate it, but when you sit in a room with women who believe the same thing it makes the burden a little bit lighter.”

The White House Project
The White House Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501 c(3) organization that aims to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors—up to the U.S. presidency—by filling the leadership pipeline with a richly diverse, critical mass of women. www.thewhitehouseproject.org

National Office
The White House Project
434 West 33rd Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10001
p. 212-261-4400
f. 212-904-1296

Georgia Regional Office
501 Pulliam Street, Suite 542
Atlanta, GA 30312
p.404-658-0033
f. 404-658-0035

The White House Project | Publish Date: 09.19.07 | Back to home