Emerge Joins Forces with Women Belong in the White House

  • Jan 20, 2021
  • Emerge Staff

Contact 
Allison Abney, allison@emergeamerica.org

 

Emerge Joins Forces with Women Belong in the White House

Latest podcast season highlights Kamala Harris’ historic rise to the Vice Presidency 

Washington, D.C. — As the country celebrates the inauguration of the first woman Vice President of the United States, Emerge announced its partnership with the Wonder Media Network for the latest season of the hit podcast Women Belong in the White House, which focuses on Vice President Kamala Harris’ political career. Each episode examines her experience in a different elected office, starting with her first position as District Attorney and culminating with her ascension to the White House. Her experience running for office inspired the founding of Emerge’s first affiliate in California, and her story continues to inspire women leaders to step up to run for office.  

“We are so proud that Kamala Harris is the first woman elected to be Vice President of the United States, but we don’t want her to be the last,” said A’shanti F. Gholar, President of Emerge. “We are laser-focused on increasing our outreach and building our network to inspire and support women across the country by providing them with the tools they need to run for office. Democratic women have proven that they are strong leaders and that the future of moral and ethical leadership – both political and otherwise – lies with them. We are creating an inclusive and responsive democracy by engaging democratic women in every level of government.” 

“It’s a privilege to explore Vice President Kamala Harris’ path to the White House alongside stories from the pipeline,” said Jenny Kaplan, CEO and Co-Founder of the Wonder Media Network and host of the podcast. “With the help of so many powerful Emerge voices, we’re celebrating VP Harris and the women who someday may sit in her same position. It’s taken an enormous amount of work from Emerge and other aligned organizations to get to this point. This season’s narrative feels uniquely hopeful in a moment when we’re all looking for inspiration.” 

According to the Center for American Women in Politics, less than 30% of Congress, 30.3% of statewide elective executive offices, 30.8% of state legislatures and less than 25% of mayoral offices are held by women. For 15 years, Emerge has increased women’s representation by recruiting and training leaders for local, state and federal offices. As the organization looks to the future, it is focused on making sure the government reflects the country’s increasingly diverse population by expanding its programing and ensuring that Black, Brown and Indigenous women, women of color as well as unmarried, young and LGBTQ+ women are elected and appointed to office. 

Emerge has trained more than 4,000 Democratic women to run for office and has committed to training 100,000 more women of the New American Majority over the next 15 years. There are currently 27 state affiliates, and the organization has impacted a total of 45 states, Washington, D.C. and territories. In 2020, more than 400 Emerge alums won their races at all levels of government.

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