Brooklyn College and the White House Project Announce Partnership

More than 50 Brooklyn College students, alumni, faculty and staff were on hand at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 22, for the unveiling of a partnership dedicated to advancing women into leadership positions in various communities and sectors—right up to the Presidency of the United States.
 
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, a member of the Brooklyn College Class of 1970, addressed the crowd, as did Deputy Borough President Yvonne Graham; Karen Gould, the first woman president of Brooklyn College; Erin Vilardi, of the White House Project; and Namita Manohar, of the Brooklyn College Women’s Studies Program.
 
Under the terms of the partnership, the White House Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, will conduct Go Lead training, a unique daylong event designed to inspire young women to enter the world of politics by teaching them innovative skills and strategies they will need to run for office.
 
"The overall goal of the project is to foster a positive environment in which young women can actively contribute to and transform the political arena," Vilardi said.
 
Go Lead training will serve as a foundation for young, smart, ambitious women at Brooklyn College to pursue promising futures in politics.
 
The campus has historically been an arena where great ideas begin and prolific figures emerge, including Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Tuesday, Nov. 24, is celebrated annually as Shirley Chisholm Day at Brooklyn College. To honor that day, a public meeting will be held at which notable women, political figures and elected officials will speak of Chisholm’s life and legacy. Among the featured speakers will be Marie Wilson, founder and president of the White House Project.
 
After the meeting, there will be a luncheon at which the women who have signed up for the training will meet with members of the White House Project as well as Women’s Studies faculty and students.
 
Go Lead training will take place on Friday, Jan. 8, 2010. The training aims to demystify the political process and inspire a richly diverse group of women to vie for entry to the leadership pipeline. Workshops will provide nuts-and-bolts advice on running for political office by focusing on such areas as communications, fundraising and campaigning. These are skills that women can use in work and in community activities right up to the day they decide to run for office, when they become even more important.
 
The project’s goals are to create a network of young activists who will continue to be involved in the political arena and to find ways to mentor and bring more women into the political process.