Young Women Run...the World! 2017 Conference Reflections
On July 17th and 18th, 2017 150 motivated young women from across the political spectrum gathered in Washington, DC for Young Women Run with the goal of advancing their leadership skills and capacity to run for office. Another 300 Elected leaders, professionals and mentors showed up as allies to support these ambitious young women.
Events like these are essential if we are ever going to reach political parity in this country. Women are 51% of the US population yet remain grossly underrepresented nationwide in all levels of government at less than 25%. Young Women Run organizers IGNITE and Running Start (the only national organizations focused on training young women to run for office)hosted the training to mobilize young women to step into political power and pursue elected office.
One of the most inspiring moments was on the first day of the event when 95% of the room raised their hand when asked who planned to run for office. The future truly is female!