This post was written by current Clinton School student Kayla Brooks
Current Clinton School students, Anna Applebaum (class 9), Quiana Brown (class 9) and myself (Kayla Brooks class 8) along with Clinton School Alums Katie Hicks (class 7), Rebecca Kaufman(class 5) and Erin O’Leary (class 5), attended Women Lead Arkansas’s Campaign Training Workshop on November 16, 2013.
Women Lead Arkansas is a non-partisan non-profit dedicated to encouraging women and girls throughout the state of Arkansas to become involved in politics, policy and leadership. This daylong workshop was held at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, AR. It was the inaugural Ready to Run Campaign Training for Women. The goals of the workshop included educating and supporting women considering running for office, providing an opportunity to network with women politicians, learning from field experts and meeting political party representatives.
We joined about 40 other women from around the State for this rare training. The workshop covered a broad range of topics from notable facilitators. Alice Stewart, a Republican political strategist, presented on messaging and communication strategy with the media and Sarah Scanlon, a Democratic political organizer, discussed where to start when deciding to run for office. Political Consultant, Michael Cook, talked about the key elements of fundraising and field organizing.
We learned about the history of women running for presidential office in the U.S. and the numerous female heads of state across the globe. We also had the opportunity to hear from the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office and the Arkansas Commission on avoiding ethical pitfalls and how to complete all proper paperwork required to run for office.
The workshop concluded with an informative session on current leadership opportunities for women and a question and answer panel. The panel was comprised of current and former office-holders and representatives from various political parties: Tachany Evans, Democratic primary candidate; Rep. Andrea Lee, candidate for Arkansas Auditor; Candace Martin, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Arkansas; Laurie Lee, impact management and conservative activist, and Stephanie Johnson, President o the League of Women Voters of Arkansas. Panelists spoke about what they felt women have to offer in the political arena and gave advice on how to overcome some of the obstacles they faced.
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