Young Women Run conference & Nancy Pelosi!
Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a fantastic week.
My Monday and Tuesday were super exciting this week. Running Start co-hosted a conference called Young Women Run with an organization called Ignite! It was held at the AT&T Forum for Technology, Entertainment & Policy in DC, which is right across from the Georgetown Law Center. The conference brought together approximately 150 college women and young professionals from all over the country to learn about how to run for office. We had so many incredible keynote speakers and guests as well! Rosie Rios, the 43rd U.S. Treasurer and both Christine and Nancy Pelosi gave wonderful, inspirational keynotes. Leader Pelosi was such an incredible speaker. She talked about the importance of being AUTHENTIC and having a WHY, a vision, and a purpose. Leader Pelosi also went into detail about the importance of building a representative democracy and that “We are all resources to each other. Let’s strengthen each other.” She told us, each one of us, to be ready to RUN for office and to have a plan to act on our most important values.
Hearing these women speak about their experiences as women trailblazers in politics was an extraordinary moment. I went to two great workshops at this conference. The first was called Leveraging LinkedIn for Your Campaign. I learned so many helpful tips for creating a compelling profile on LinkedIn that really tells a story and allows you to connect with potential voters and employers. I even created a google document with tips I learned and shared it with my friends back at Wake Forest and friends I’ve made via my internship in DC. The second workshop was called Cultivating Confidence as a Candidate and it was led by Sarah Chamberlain of the Republican Main Street Partnership. The most helpful tip I learned from this workshop was to “be tough and fair”. Sarah’s exact words were “Be firm. Don’t complain.” This advice resonated with me because even though sometimes I am viewed as “too nice” for fear of coming off as “too bossy”, I know realize the importance of standing up for my beliefs and not worrying if I am perceived as being too assertive. Something that was pleasantly surprising to me about this workshop was the fact that Sarah mentioned that Republican Main Street is now working alongside Emily’s List to change the culture and encourage more women to run for Congress. It was so exciting as a young woman interested in mobilizing young people to vote, especially through my experience in the Wake the Vote cohort, and someone working to motivate young women to run for office, to see these incredible bipartisan relationships forming.
The highlight of my week was that my two friends, Carly and Will, came to visit me in DC. They drove all the way from Raleigh, North Carolina! We went paddle boating in the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson Memorial and toured the Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I am so blessed to have such great friends!
Have a good weekend,
Daniella Feijoo
Class of 2019
