While 51 percent of the total population may be female, most of the officials elected to represent them are male. To correct that imbalance, the Women's Campaign School at Yale presents programs to teach would-be-politicians and political advisers the nuts and bolts of how to run for office.
"I believe that women of all political parties and ethnic groups must learn the skills necessary to get elected if we are to finally achieve gender parity in government," says Nancy Wyman, president of the Women's Campaign School at Yale and comptroller of the State of Connecticut.
The next training program, the school's annual five-day session, will be held on campus Wednesday-Sunday, June 4-8. Topics to be covered include making the decision to run, polling and research, fundraising, setting ethical standards, developing a message and slogan, using free and paid media, and conducting field work. On the final day, the students organize a model campaign based on hypothetical election information provided and the skills they have honed during the program.
Speakers will include Ron Faucheux, publisher and editor of Campaigns and Elections Magazine; Maureen Moakley, codirector of the University of Rhode Island Center for Ethics and Public Service; national image consultant Lillian Brown; national Democratic campaign strategist Cathy Allen; and Republican fundraiser Nancy Bocskor, who heads her own consulting company.
An Elected Women Officials Dinner will be held at the Yale Graduate Club on Thursday, June 5. The keynote speaker is former Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts, a lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School for Government. Invited guests include Connecticut Congresswomen Barbara Kennelly, Nancy Johnson, and Rosa DeLauro; State Senator Toni Harp; State Representatives Pat Dillon and Ann Dandrow; Ansonia Mayor Nancy Valentine, and other elected officials.