Emerge: Training Women to Run for Office Throughout the Nation
A six-month, 70-hour training program providing aspiring female leaders with the tools and training to run for elected office
By Hannah Rouse
The Progressive Teen Staff Writer
EMERGE IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT TRAINS WOMEN TO RUN FOR DEMOCRATIC OFFICE in the United States. The organization witnessed the shocking ways in which women are underrepresented in the U.S. government and demanded a solution. The program aims to provide women with a means of learning the skills necessary to run for office and perform well once elected.
The training for these women is rather intensive. They meet one weekend a month for seven months and focus on topics such as public speaking, networking, campaign strategy, and cultural competency. The trainers are composed of a variety of successful campaign advisors and staff from around the country.
Emerge began in 2002 and has operated on a state-by-state basis ever since it started out in California. Ten years later, it spread to 10 additional states and is currently rooted in 18 states total. In the 2016 elections, it had 213 alumnae show up on ballots across the nation with a 70% success rate.
With so many years of experience, Emerge seems to understand the reasons why women do not run for office, and why they really should. It turns out that the issue for women is not struggling to receive votes, but choosing to get on the ballot in the first place. Women assume either that they will not win, or that men are the ones who are supposed to run the government. As is turns out, Emerge has come up with just the way to prepare women — and convince them that they are prepared — to run for office.
Some may argue that fewer women are in office than men because women are just generally less apt to be interested in politics. However, female legislators are generally more responsive, value cooperation among all levels of operation, and formulate more creative solutions. Emerge sees it as important to incorporate women into public office due to what they have to offer.
I recently had the opportunity to talk to a woman in my community who is currently enrolled in the Emerge program in Tennessee. She informed me of the practical exercises they completed, including planning a budget for an office for which they would like to run. The women ranged from their early twenties to women up into their sixties. When I asked her how she thought being in the southernmost Emerge state affected what they learned, she told me that the difference was very minimal. Most of their training was based around addressing conflicts in the area (mainly recognizing that they live in a red state), as well as gender-based slander. Additionally, a woman in my area that is running for the State House of Representatives (the first Democrat to run in that district in 20 years) is a gradute of the program.
Emerge has the ultimate goal of expanding their organization in order to give women an equal opportunity to educate themselves in all states. They especially lack a presence in the south, where their two southernmost states are Virginia and Tennessee. Groups or individuals interested in trying to start up their own state can contact Emerge at contact@emergeamerica.org. If you or someone you know may be interested in participating in the training program, information about the appication process can be found at http://www.emergeamerica.org/training/application.
