The Women in Public Leadership track met twice with the purpose of inspiring and motivating women to run for public office, especially at the municipal level -- and to create mechanisms to maintain a critical mass of support for those efforts going forward.

The first session was devoted to “The Top 10 Ways to Prepare for Running for Office,” those things that must be considered and acted upon before one actually announces a run for a specific office. The key is to be properly positioned when an opportunity comes about or even suddenly arises. Materials outlining elective/appointive opportunities at various levels and data regarding current representation of women were presented and briefly discussed. A panel moderated by Paula Xanthopoulou of the Miami-Dade Commission for Women addressed the “Top 10” and answered related questions. Panelists were: Honorable Evelyn Greer, Miami-Dade County School Board (District 9); Gepsie Metellus, Executive Director of SantLa; and Rhonda Ridley, White House Project Southern Strategy Adviser. There were 75-80 women in the session – many new, young faces! – and there was a lot of enthusiasm and energy.

The second session was devoted to crafting action items in order to carry forward the agenda of electing more women across the county:

1) Establish an online network of current plus future participants on http://www.collectivex.com – Corinna Moebius, Moderator.

2) Accept Women’s Fund gracious offer to host webpage(s) to keep above information and data fresh, with additional links to non-partisan campaign resources.

3) Coordinate with The White House Project to establish a campaign training schedule to include scholarships to 2008 training scheduled for Orlando plus additional events in Miami-Dade County. A working group of volunteers was created, Chair Susan Vodicka.

4) Urge every delegate partner to devote one regular meeting between now and the end of the year to the subject of Women in Public Leadership, with the appointment of at least one member to participate in the online network.

5) Try out the “study circle” model of meeting to flesh out related info/issues/actions in support of Women in Public Leadership – a model will be created in County Commission District #3, with Celeste Delgado as Moderator.

6) Coordinate monthly follow-up networking gatherings, using municipal city halls or community centers when possible. The first will be in Miami Gardens with Shamele Jenkins as Coordinator. (Ongoing focus on Commission Districts will allow more familiarity with that political process as well as any included cities or districts.)

The above action items will be managed on the online collectivex.com network where all the info, dates, etc. will be posted in a timely manner.