Emerge America is a non-profit national political organization based in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

with the mission to increase the number of Democratic women leaders from diverse backgrounds in public office through recruitment, training and providing a powerful network.

Background

Andrea Dew Steele Andrea Dew Steele is an American activist who co-founded Emerge California in 2002, and founded Emerge America in 2005 which now has affiliates in 27 different states of the U.S., with the goal of having an affiliate in all 50 states by 2020. ...

co-founded the original affiliate,

Emerge California Emerge California is a non-profit organization and affiliate of Emerge America, created by Andrea Dew Steele, that seeks to identify and help more women and minorities in California be elected to public office. It was praised in 2017 by Hillary Cli ...

, which was formed in 2002. Under Steele's leadership, Emerge was expanded nationwide in 2005. Steele resigned from her position in May 2019. Emerge America added affiliates in 6 states in its first year and by the 2016 presidential election, it had affiliates in 23 states. The organization's strategy is to have affiliates in all 50 states by 2020. Steele says the initial aim is for women to achieve 30% representation for women in government, noting evidence suggests this level passes a

critical mass In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fissi ...

to effectively enact institutional change. Emerge America has had 4,000 graduates, of which more 690 have been elected and are currently serving a political office, as of October 2018. A’shanti Gholar, the Political Director, said enrollment has increased across the board since the 2016 presidential election, and some classes have seen attendance almost double. Overall, Emerge has seen an 87% increase in the number of applications since the 2016 election. Gholar notes that at the end of 2017, there were 427 women running for a position in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

, compared to 219 women running at the same time in 2015. The organization advised

Naquetta Ricks Naquetta Ricks is a Liberian-American politician, businesswoman, and accountant serving as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 40th district. Elected in November 2020, she assumed office on January 13, 2021. Early life a ...

during her successful campaign in 2020 for the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

Reception

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

has praised the group as an organization helping to elect

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

s since the 2016 election by using coaching on

public speaking Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

, networking, and

ethical leadership Ethical leadership is leadership that is directed by respect for ethical beliefs and values and for the dignity and rights of others. It is thus related to concepts such as trust, honesty, consideration, charisma, and fairness. Ethics is concern ...

References

Democratic Party (United States) organizations Women's organizations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in San Francisco Organizations established in 2002 2002 establishments in California {{poli-org-stub