LAKE COUNTY – Ever thought of running for office? Know a woman who you think would make an excellent candidate?

 

Emerge California is recruiting for the 2010 class. Emerge California is a nonprofit political training program for Democratic women from Northern California who are interested in running for elected office.

 

The Emerge California program provides Democratic women in the Bay Area with a unique opportunity to get hands-on training in running for elected office.

Program members receive training in campaigns and elections, public speaking, fundraising, network and coalition building, ethics and legislative process. They also get the chance to meet, interact with and be mentored by local women politicians.

 

Many of the program graduates have gone on to run for elected office already, and acknowledge the importance of the Emerge program. Sonoma County's newest supervisor, Shirlee Zane, is an Emerge graduate.

There have been seven classes totaling more than 160 alumnae and among them, there have been approximately 50 runs for public or party office, an almost 50% win rate (with at least six more running in November 2009), and nearly 60 appointments to boards and commissions.

 

Emerge seeks Democratic women from eleven Northern California counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Sacramento, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano and Sonoma) who have political leadership experience or potential, meaningful community involvement and an interest in running for elected office.

Emerge is committed to embracing diversity at every level (race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, geographic, socio-economic, profession, etc). For more information about Emerge California, please visit the website at www.emergeca.org .

 

It’s a known fact – women tend not to self-nominate for elected office. If you know someone who would make a great elected official, please encourage them to attend one of the following informational sessions where they’ll hear from alumnae and the executive director details about the application process and the program. They can feel free to attend any of the information sessions below, regardless of what county they live in.

If they do not live in any of the counties listed below, they can attend a session that is most convenient for them:

• SONOMA County: Monday, Aug. 17, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., North Bay Labor Council, 2525 Cleveland Ave., Suite A, Santa Rosa;

• SANTA CLARA County: Tuesday, Aug. 18, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., 125 Fox Ave., San Jose;

• SACRAMENTO County: Wednesday, Aug. 19, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., 1121 L St., Sacramento;

• SOLANO County: Thursday, Aug. 20, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., 4254 Green Acres Court, Fairfield;

• MARIN County: Monday, Aug. 24, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Kathleen Russell Consulting, 1346 Fourth St.., San Rafael;

• ALAMEDA County: Tuesday, Aug. 25, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Center for Community Dispute Settlement (CCDS), 291 McLeod St. (at Third), Livermore;

• SAN MATEO County: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., IBEW 617, 1701 Leslie Street, San Mateo.

• CONTRA COSTA County: Thursday, Aug. 27, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., 3731 St. Francis Drive, Lafayette.

• SAN FRANCISCO County: Monday, Aug. 31, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., 131 Steuart St., Suite 300, San Francisco.

Applications are available at http://emergeca.org/application on the Emerge California Web site.

 

All applications must be submitted by Sept. 21. Finalists will be invited to attend interviews Nov. 7. Sessions begin in December.