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

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

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 co-founded the original affiliate, Emerge California, 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, critical mass is the minimum mass of the fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction in a particular setup. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specific ...

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 President and CEO, 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 legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

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

Reception

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

has praised the group as an organization helping to elect Democrats since the 2016 election by using coaching on

public speaking Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

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.

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