Education and Training

Empowering women of African descent in the political arena and increasing 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 Run Sister Run
  Facts on African American Women in Elected Office in NJ and the U.S.
  Run Sister Run Steering Committee

Overview of Run Sister Run

CAWP, together with a steering committee of African American women leaders, sponsors Run Sister Run: Women of the African Diaspora Changing the Political Landscape, a preconference session of Ready to Run™ Campaign Training for Women. Run Sister Run participants attend a half-day session that targets issues of particular interest to African American women running for political office.  Run Sister Run participants then attend Ready to Run™ 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 African American Women in Elective Office

• Nationally, 239 of the 1,781 women serving in state legislatures are African American. Thirteen of the 98 women serving in the 113th Congress are African American. For more details and information about African American women serving in other elected positions around the country, visit our African American women in elective office page.
• In New Jersey, nine African American women serve in the state legislature out of 120 seats. For more details and information about African American women serving in other elective positions in New Jersey, view the Women in New Jersey Government fact sheet.

Run Sister Run Steering Committee

Charlene Brown
New Jersey External Affairs Vice President, AT&T

Lauren Cooper

Tahirah Cooper

Tara Dowdell
The Tara Dowdell Group, LLC

Joyce Wilson Harley, Esq.
Essex County Administrator

Desha Jackson
New Jersey Women Lawyers Association (NJWLA)

Barbara George Johnson
John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy, Thomas Edison State College

Genia Philip
Black Americans Lobbying for Leadership of Tomorrow (BALLOT) and Caribbean Bar Association

Joi Taylor
Black Americans Lobbying for Leadership of Tomorrow (BALLOT)
 

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.