Education and Training

A project of Latinas United for Political Empowerment (LUPE) and CAWP to empower Latinas in the political arena and increase their numbers in elected and appointed offices at all levels. We gratefully acknowledge The Fund for New Jersey for its major support of this program.

    Program agenda
    More details on Ready to Run™ here
    Overview of Elección Latina
    Facts on Latinas in Elected Office in New Jersey and the U.S.
    Elección Latina Steering Committee

Overview of Elección Latina

CAWP and Latinas United for Political Empowerment (LUPE), together with a steering committee of leaders in the Latino/a community, sponsor Elección Latina, a preconference session of the New Jersey Ready to Run™ Campaign Training for Women. Elección Latina participants attend a half-day session that targets issues of particular interest to Latinas running for political office.  Elección Latina participants then attend Ready to Run™ the next day to learn about the nuts and bolts of working on a campaign. 

Ready to Run™ offers a unique opportunity for potential women candidates to hear directly from prominent elected and appointed leaders, campaign consultants, and party officials about how to get Ready to Run™.  Topics covered include fundraising, navigating the political parties, working with the media, and developing a campaign plan.  More details on Ready to Run™ can be found here.

Facts on Latinas in Elective Office

• Nationally, 80 of the 1,781 women serving in state legislatures are Latinas. Nine of the 98 women serving in the 113th Congress are Latinas. For more details and information about Latinas serving in other elected positions around the country, visit our Latinas in elective office page.
• In New Jersey, six Latinas serve in the state legislature out of 120 seats. For more details and information about Latinas serving in other elective positions in New Jersey, view the Women in New Jersey Government fact sheet.

Elección Latina Steering Committee

(affiliations for identification purposes only)

Martha L. Bahamon
LUPE Fund, Inc.

Milagros Camacho
Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey

Grissele Camacho-Pagan, Esq.
LUPE Fund, Inc.

Carmen Diaz
LUPE Fund, Inc.,
New Brunswick Library Board of Trustees, and
Douglass College Alumnae Association Board of Directors

Wilda Diaz
Mayor, Perth Amboy

Zulima V. Farber, Esq.
LUPE Fund, Inc.

Nilda Garcia
Latina Women’s Council of Mercer County

Lucía Gómez-Jiménez
La Fuente, A Tri-State Worker and Community Fund

Gilda Morales
Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) and
LUPE Fund, Inc.

Margarita Muñiz
Deputy Mayor, City of Newark

Arlene Perez, Esq.
LUPE Fund, Inc.

Jose Perez

Lillian A. Plata, Esq.
LUPE Fund, Inc.

Katty Rivera
Rutgers University Latino Alumni Association (LAARU)

Ana Shaener
Mujeres Latinas en Acción

Gloria Soto, Esq.
LUPE Fund, Inc.

Questions? 

Contact Jean Sinzdak at (732) 932-9384, ext. 260 or sinzdak@rci.rutgers.edu or Deanna-Marie Norcross at (732) 932-9384, ext. 223 or dnorcros@rci.rutgers.edu