Education and Training

Campaign Trainings for Women

50-50 in 2020
50-50 in 2020 is a ten-year bipartisan initiative to recruit, train and mentor women candidates in Iowa. The goal is to elect women to 50% of the seats in the Iowa Legislature, 50% of the Iowa Congressional Delegation and to the office of governor by the year 2020, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in this country. Training programs and seminars offer candidates tools for running successful campaigns. Together with our partner groups, we are also creating a state-wide network to encourage women to serve on local boards and commissions and run for school boards, city councils and boards of supervisors, in order to "Build the Bench" for higher office. 50-50 in 2020 does not endorse candidates and is not a PAC. Individual members are encouraged to support the candidates of their choice.

For more information:
Jean Lloyd-Jones
50-50 in 2020
PO Box 3131
Iowa City, IA 52244-3131
info@50-50in2020.org
(888) 488-4293

DAWN's List
DAWN's List (Democratic Activist Women's Network) is dedicated to strengthening Iowa by electing progressive pro-choice Democratic women to the state legislature. Since 1993, DAWN has provided campaign training, mentoring, and support for hundreds of Iowa Democratic women. DAWN's List is dedicated to supporting, recruiting, mentoring, and electing progressive women.

For more information:
Carole Kasmierski, President
DAWN's List
P.O. Box 814
Des Moines, IA 50304
info@dawnslist.org

Ready to Run™ (Iowa)
Sponsored by the Carrie Chapman Catt Center
Ready to Run™ Iowa is a bi-partisan, comprehensive, one-day workshop offered every other year by the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics in partnership with the League of Women Voters of Ames and Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University (NJ). As part of the Ready to Run™ National Training Network, Ready to Run™ Iowa offers women an opportunity to hear directly from prominent elected and appointed leaders, campaign consultants, and party officials about how to get ready to run for office or work on a political campaign.

For more information:
Diana Bystrom, Director
Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics
309 Catt Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011-1305
dbystrom@iastate.edu 
(515) 294-3181

Leadership Training Programs for Women

NEW Leadership™ Iowa
Sponsored by the Women's Resource and Action Center, University of Iowa
Iowa NEW Leadership™ is an intensive six-day residential institute that develops college women’s public leadership skills, supports their engagement in civic life, and creates opportunities for them to build relationships with women involved in public leadership on the local, state, and national levels. During the program selected students meet with women in a variety of roles in the public sphere, learn about women’s political participation, explore ideas about leadership and politics, and participate in hands-on skills building exercises. Iowa NEW Leadership™ is part of the NEW Leadership™ Development Network of the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University (NJ).

For more information:
Linda Stewart Kroon, Director
NEW Leadership™ Iowa
Women's Resource and Action Center, University of Iowa
130 N. Madison Street
Iowa City, IA 52245
wrac@uiowa.edu
linda-kroon@uiowa.edu
(319) 335-1486

Leadership Training Programs (women and men)

Leadership Iowa
Sponsored by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI)
Founded in 1982, Leadership Iowa is an issues-awareness program promoting leadership within the state. Through monthly two-day sessions over a nine-month period, selected participants explore needs and opportunities within the state while taking advantage of networking opportunities and enhancing civic engagement. Participants come from both the private and public sectors and go on to take leadership roles in business, communities, and government.

For more information:
Leadership Iowa
400 East Court Avenue, Suite 100
Des Moines, IA 50309
info@leadershipiowa.com
(515) 235-0564
(800) 383-4224

New Leaders Council Des Moines
New Leaders Council (NLC) was formed in 2005 to train and support the next generation of progressive political entrepreneurs—young professionals in their twenties and thirties who are leading industries, setting trends, and building institutions that support robust civic and political life in a global America. NLC accomplishes this mission primarily through the NLC Institute - a political entrepreneurship training program held 10 days over a five-month period that builds local teams of young professionals in 19 cities across the nation. NLC Fellows learn entrepreneurship, leadership, and political management skills from over volunteer faculty from relevant industries. Fellows are also paired with career mentors, join a national alumni network, and agree to fundraise to support the next class of Fellows.

For more information:
Ryan Crane, Director
Jaimie Miller, Director
rcrane@newleaderscouncil.org
miller.j@newleaderscouncil.org

Organizations Committed to Political Parity

Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics
Sponsored by Iowa State University
Founded in 1992, the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics provides leadership development and educational opportunities for women and men interested in politics and public service through programs blending the resources and scholarship of the academic environment with the actual experiences of individuals in the public and private sectors. The Center:

• Offers leadership development, mentoring and educational opportunities to ISU students
• Fosters research on issues related to women and politics through the Archives of Women's Political Communication, annual Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics, and studies conducted by Center staff and students
• Brings prominent women leaders, national and international scholars, and political activists and practitioners to campus for lectures, programs and seminars; and
• Encourages women to pursue careers in politics, public administration and public service through its mentoring and leadership development programs.

For more information:
Dianne Bystrom, Director
Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics
309 Catt Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
dbystrom@iastate.edu
(515) 294-3181

DAWN's List
DAWN's List (Democratic Activist Women's Network) is dedicated to strengthening Iowa by electing progressive pro-choice Democratic women to the state legislature. Since 1993, DAWN has provided campaign training, mentoring, and support for hundreds of Iowa Democratic women. DAWN's List is dedicated to supporting, recruiting, mentoring, and electing progressive women.

For more information:
Carole Kasmierski, President
DAWN's List
P.O. Box 814
Des Moines, IA 50304
info@dawnslist.org

Iowa National Organization for Women (NOW)
Founded in 1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW) is multi-issue, multi-strategy organization that takes a holistic approach to women's rights. The organization's official priorities are winning economic equality and securing it with an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that will guarantee equal rights for women; championing abortion rights, reproductive freedom and other women's health issues; opposing racism and fighting bigotry against lesbians and gays; and ending violence against women. NOW has over 550 chapters in all 50 states that participate in education and advocacy activities. Information on state and local chapters of NOW is available on the national NOW website and through state chapters.

For more information:
Iowa NOW Judicial Bypass Fund
3635 E. 43rd Court
Des Moines, IA 50317
claccounting@qwestoffice.net

Women’s Political Action Committees (PACs)

DAWN's List
DAWN's List (Democratic Activist Women's Network) is dedicated to strengthening Iowa by electing progressive pro-choice Democratic women to the state legislature. Since 1993, DAWN has provided campaign training, mentoring, and support for hundreds of Iowa Democratic women. DAWN's List is dedicated to supporting, recruiting, mentoring, and electing progressive women.

For more information:
Carole Kasmierski, President
DAWN's List
P.O. Box 814
Des Moines, IA 50304
info@dawnslist.org

PURSE (People United for Republican Sisters' Elections) PAC
PURSE PAC, a women's political fundraising organization founded in the fall of 2008, hopes to draw more women to the Republican Party of Iowa by seeking out Republican women to work on and donate to political campaigns and to run for office themselves.

For more information:
Diane Crookham-Johnson, Chairperson
diane.crookham-johnson@musco.com
(641) 660-2822

Gender Parity Legislation

Iowa Gender Balance Legislation
The Iowa General Assembly passed gender balance legislation (HF 243) in 2009, requiring that all appointive boards, commissions, committees and councils of the state be gender balanced. Gender balance on state-level boards and commissions has been required since 1987, and the 2009 legislation extended this expectation to county and city boards and commissions. This law goes into effect in January 2012.