I am in the midst of running for local school board! I have considered it for years, but there were always a lot of reasons not to do it. This year, encouragement from women I respect and admire pushed me over the fence - so here I am! So far, it has been an incredibly positive experience, challenging me in all the right ways. Win or lose, I will learn and grow from this. If you're on the fence, consider this your sign to DO IT!
Thank you for this post Shannon. I am currently in elected office in a town in Massachusetts. I am the first black woman elected to my town’s select board (similar to a town council) in its 200+ year history. I’m also an Emerge alum. I work full-time, run a company, am a wife and mother to a child in elementary school. As I enter the last year of my term, I have many thoughts about our current form of government and its viability for a woman of my demographic to serve yet the deep need for diverse representation.
After one of my MAGA neighbours ran for school board with no education experience whatsoever (and thankfully lost), I started seriously considering running for school board against her if she ever tried to run again. I just don't know anything about the process, how much fundraising I'd need to do or how to do it, and I don't know how someone does a role like that and works a full-time job. I'm in an odd transitional season in my life where I'm not working in education anymore but still feel like I need to be involved in some fashion or another, so I've been keeping an eye on the school board elections in my county just in case I need to step up one day.
In addition to Shannon’s recommendation for Emerge, there’s also Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America’s “Demand a Seat”. Many, many former Moms volunteers with little to no political experience have been trained to run for office via this program and well over 300 of them got elected to their seats last year alone. https://demandaseat.org/ Not coincidentally, Shannon founded Moms Demand Action, too.
I don’t feel I know enough about politics to run for office. But if the opportunity presented itself and I felt knowledgeable enough, I think I would do it!:)
I have considered it. I just don’t know how. I’m on long term disability. I would love to now because I got sick in my 30s and raised two kids while in chronic pain. The fact that they are cutting SSI really makes me angry. And i have a 13 year old son who has special needs and he can’t even get into the program for support at our local middle school because there is a long wait list that he is on. But he has been home from school for the past years. Cutting the DOE isn’t the answer. During covid, me and a few other mothers taught our boys on my front porch. It was cold and they were angry and scared. My disability is unpredictable and I can’t stand for long periods of time. I don’t have any money to run. But I would with help. I had a fundraiser with my friend for Obama in Brooklyn and we designed everything and we raised $11,000 for him that night. The people from his 2012 campaign saw our designs and they hired her to work on his 2012 campaign in Chicago. I have worked with women transitioning from welfare to work when I was a voucher counselor to a caseload of 250 families in massachusetts. I went to the welfare office once a week to meet with women there. I had a couple of women tell their stories in front of politicians. We used to lobby at the state house in Boston and I LOVED it. And a letter to the editor got published in the Boston Globe about it. I am pro life and I also took care of my mom when she had cancer. I worked as a instake coordinator in an 18 bed battered women’s shelter. I was the only one there. The police would call me and bring the women in. The stories i heard were terrifying and real. I think we need women to run. I would need help with learning how to debate and explain situations and policies. I’d be afraid I’d be nervous.
I would love to run for office in Texas. I am a college professor who has specific knowledge in education (English teacher for a decade pre-PhD; I teach folks to teach and do research). but I have no interest in school board or even local local offices. I think there is a need for CLEAR TALK out there to confront all the crazy bullshit and lies at the state level. We’re gerrymandered and the CULT of red hats is difficult to manage here.
I was on the the highway the day the Biden/Harris bus was assaulted by crazed MAGAs in central Texas in 2020. It was scary. So given those conditions, how does one even start to run for office without intergenerational wealth? Women are dying from miscarriages here, so we need more women in office. Is that even possible in a state that seems to mainly elect men who want trad wives?
I have said many times, if it weren't cost prohibitive I would run for Congress. I had a successful fortune 500 22-year career, then the recession. Due to the job market after 2007 crash, I started my own business, which I ran for 10 years. Many Americans lost everything in the economic upheaval of 2007/2008. I was lucky, I didn't lose my home, but we had to live on my retirement for an extended period of time, which has motivated me to get more involved in politics. There was harm done to so many. Those impacted are still feeling the effects of it (while CEOs who caused the housing crash were not held accountable!).
I feel that the working class people are shut out of running because you must be wealthy to run for office. If I had a path I might honestly consider it. I did a lot of public speaking in my corporate days, and grew to love it and always loved helping people. If the ladder to get there didn't force me to bet my bottom dollar, I would be up to the challenge with a little coaching.
I am passionate about what is happening in today's world and believe we need honest people in office. We need stock trading and lobbyists removed from government. We need people who are patriots in Congress who do not have a price tag on the reason why they want to run. We also need people who bring dignity and decorum back to our politics, while still being able to raise a ruckus for the issues that impact everyday Americans. So, yes, I would consider it, if there were a reasonable path there.
When I think about running for office, I think of all the trauma, tragedy and dark chapters in my past where it would be easy for someone on the outside to say I was a failure. And assuming some of that history would have to be publicly revisited, I’m not sure any candidacy would survive that scrutiny. On the other hand, I think having survived it all is an uplifting story and I also know my stuff is pretty ordinary considered across the whole spectrum. Many Americans deal with much more difficult stuff every day. It’s very weird to think about giving up your privacy though.
I've always wanted to run for a local office, but honestly don't have the resources. It seems like money is so entrenched in our elections that whoever sends the most flyers and runs the moat ads, gets elected.
It’s definitely been a consideration and I’ve been encouraged to by others at times. Part of what I enjoy in not being an elected official is the ability to truly say what I feel. I know that politicians can and some often do but seeing how some constituents treat elected officials would make me want to put them in their place! I think also seeing the time commitment if you do the job correctly is a deterrent for me as a mom of two (9&10) because with my job I have the flexibility and freedom to go on field trips, soccer practice, advocate for what I believe in etc.
Thought about it but I don’t think I can handle the stress. Maybe I’ll run locally when I’m in my 50s. I don’t think I can deal with being a politician and having a child in elementary school.
Hey Shannon! I was going to run this year and then spoke with a few friends who have been elected. They told me to not run, that I was too honest and it would be difficult for my family - so I opted out. I did however apply for a community board seat. Will find out in May!
Yes. I've always thought about it. I ended my wedding speech with, "Vote for me for president..." All the reasons why I don't: 1) resources 2) insecurity 3) fear of losing business 4) not thick-skinned enough. I feel like running for office has become so costly and mudslinging. I'm not sure I'm ready or willing to jump in the mud pit.
Yes. Several things holding me back 1. Fear of losing business and if I am running for office I need the resources my revenue provides. 2. Weirdly, backlash from Family who are ultra right wing, which means we are indoctrinated as children in our churches, schooling and home. I say weirdly as most do not talk to me or avoid me anyway. I grieve people who are alive and somehow running for office seems like a sense of finality. If you were brought up this way then you know whereof I speak. When I got divorced in 1998 I knew I would lose my church, friends, family, and severance of every presupposition my life was based on, and I did. I was not lonely as I found diversity and real family, allowing me to grow bigger than my grief. But still, grief is still there.
I am in the midst of running for local school board! I have considered it for years, but there were always a lot of reasons not to do it. This year, encouragement from women I respect and admire pushed me over the fence - so here I am! So far, it has been an incredibly positive experience, challenging me in all the right ways. Win or lose, I will learn and grow from this. If you're on the fence, consider this your sign to DO IT!
Thank you for this post Shannon. I am currently in elected office in a town in Massachusetts. I am the first black woman elected to my town’s select board (similar to a town council) in its 200+ year history. I’m also an Emerge alum. I work full-time, run a company, am a wife and mother to a child in elementary school. As I enter the last year of my term, I have many thoughts about our current form of government and its viability for a woman of my demographic to serve yet the deep need for diverse representation.
After one of my MAGA neighbours ran for school board with no education experience whatsoever (and thankfully lost), I started seriously considering running for school board against her if she ever tried to run again. I just don't know anything about the process, how much fundraising I'd need to do or how to do it, and I don't know how someone does a role like that and works a full-time job. I'm in an odd transitional season in my life where I'm not working in education anymore but still feel like I need to be involved in some fashion or another, so I've been keeping an eye on the school board elections in my county just in case I need to step up one day.
In addition to Shannon’s recommendation for Emerge, there’s also Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America’s “Demand a Seat”. Many, many former Moms volunteers with little to no political experience have been trained to run for office via this program and well over 300 of them got elected to their seats last year alone. https://demandaseat.org/ Not coincidentally, Shannon founded Moms Demand Action, too.
I don’t feel I know enough about politics to run for office. But if the opportunity presented itself and I felt knowledgeable enough, I think I would do it!:)
I feel this exact same way
I would love to run.
I have considered it. I just don’t know how. I’m on long term disability. I would love to now because I got sick in my 30s and raised two kids while in chronic pain. The fact that they are cutting SSI really makes me angry. And i have a 13 year old son who has special needs and he can’t even get into the program for support at our local middle school because there is a long wait list that he is on. But he has been home from school for the past years. Cutting the DOE isn’t the answer. During covid, me and a few other mothers taught our boys on my front porch. It was cold and they were angry and scared. My disability is unpredictable and I can’t stand for long periods of time. I don’t have any money to run. But I would with help. I had a fundraiser with my friend for Obama in Brooklyn and we designed everything and we raised $11,000 for him that night. The people from his 2012 campaign saw our designs and they hired her to work on his 2012 campaign in Chicago. I have worked with women transitioning from welfare to work when I was a voucher counselor to a caseload of 250 families in massachusetts. I went to the welfare office once a week to meet with women there. I had a couple of women tell their stories in front of politicians. We used to lobby at the state house in Boston and I LOVED it. And a letter to the editor got published in the Boston Globe about it. I am pro life and I also took care of my mom when she had cancer. I worked as a instake coordinator in an 18 bed battered women’s shelter. I was the only one there. The police would call me and bring the women in. The stories i heard were terrifying and real. I think we need women to run. I would need help with learning how to debate and explain situations and policies. I’d be afraid I’d be nervous.
If they are so called "pro life" or are republican women, we do not need them.
I would love to run for office in Texas. I am a college professor who has specific knowledge in education (English teacher for a decade pre-PhD; I teach folks to teach and do research). but I have no interest in school board or even local local offices. I think there is a need for CLEAR TALK out there to confront all the crazy bullshit and lies at the state level. We’re gerrymandered and the CULT of red hats is difficult to manage here.
I was on the the highway the day the Biden/Harris bus was assaulted by crazed MAGAs in central Texas in 2020. It was scary. So given those conditions, how does one even start to run for office without intergenerational wealth? Women are dying from miscarriages here, so we need more women in office. Is that even possible in a state that seems to mainly elect men who want trad wives?
I have said many times, if it weren't cost prohibitive I would run for Congress. I had a successful fortune 500 22-year career, then the recession. Due to the job market after 2007 crash, I started my own business, which I ran for 10 years. Many Americans lost everything in the economic upheaval of 2007/2008. I was lucky, I didn't lose my home, but we had to live on my retirement for an extended period of time, which has motivated me to get more involved in politics. There was harm done to so many. Those impacted are still feeling the effects of it (while CEOs who caused the housing crash were not held accountable!).
I feel that the working class people are shut out of running because you must be wealthy to run for office. If I had a path I might honestly consider it. I did a lot of public speaking in my corporate days, and grew to love it and always loved helping people. If the ladder to get there didn't force me to bet my bottom dollar, I would be up to the challenge with a little coaching.
I am passionate about what is happening in today's world and believe we need honest people in office. We need stock trading and lobbyists removed from government. We need people who are patriots in Congress who do not have a price tag on the reason why they want to run. We also need people who bring dignity and decorum back to our politics, while still being able to raise a ruckus for the issues that impact everyday Americans. So, yes, I would consider it, if there were a reasonable path there.
When I think about running for office, I think of all the trauma, tragedy and dark chapters in my past where it would be easy for someone on the outside to say I was a failure. And assuming some of that history would have to be publicly revisited, I’m not sure any candidacy would survive that scrutiny. On the other hand, I think having survived it all is an uplifting story and I also know my stuff is pretty ordinary considered across the whole spectrum. Many Americans deal with much more difficult stuff every day. It’s very weird to think about giving up your privacy though.
I've always wanted to run for a local office, but honestly don't have the resources. It seems like money is so entrenched in our elections that whoever sends the most flyers and runs the moat ads, gets elected.
It’s definitely been a consideration and I’ve been encouraged to by others at times. Part of what I enjoy in not being an elected official is the ability to truly say what I feel. I know that politicians can and some often do but seeing how some constituents treat elected officials would make me want to put them in their place! I think also seeing the time commitment if you do the job correctly is a deterrent for me as a mom of two (9&10) because with my job I have the flexibility and freedom to go on field trips, soccer practice, advocate for what I believe in etc.
Thought about it but I don’t think I can handle the stress. Maybe I’ll run locally when I’m in my 50s. I don’t think I can deal with being a politician and having a child in elementary school.
I’m planning to run for local office in the next cycle and am applying for the upcoming Emerge boot camp. Small world!
Hey Shannon! I was going to run this year and then spoke with a few friends who have been elected. They told me to not run, that I was too honest and it would be difficult for my family - so I opted out. I did however apply for a community board seat. Will find out in May!
Yes. I've always thought about it. I ended my wedding speech with, "Vote for me for president..." All the reasons why I don't: 1) resources 2) insecurity 3) fear of losing business 4) not thick-skinned enough. I feel like running for office has become so costly and mudslinging. I'm not sure I'm ready or willing to jump in the mud pit.
Yes. Several things holding me back 1. Fear of losing business and if I am running for office I need the resources my revenue provides. 2. Weirdly, backlash from Family who are ultra right wing, which means we are indoctrinated as children in our churches, schooling and home. I say weirdly as most do not talk to me or avoid me anyway. I grieve people who are alive and somehow running for office seems like a sense of finality. If you were brought up this way then you know whereof I speak. When I got divorced in 1998 I knew I would lose my church, friends, family, and severance of every presupposition my life was based on, and I did. I was not lonely as I found diversity and real family, allowing me to grow bigger than my grief. But still, grief is still there.