in politics we’ve seen the mudslinging
and the millions of dollars it can take
to win people are fed up with a system
that hasn’t worked for them and women
are a part of the solution with women
making up less than a third of over half
a million elected offices in the United
States overwhelmingly at the local level
we need new voices in government
numerous studies show that when women
run they win at the same rates as men we
have thousands of qualified women in
this country who have something to offer
in public service women who are
entrepreneurs nonprofit leaders
stay-at-home moms and scientists who
already contribute to their communities
I can speak from my own experience as an
elected official and as someone who
works for she should run a national
organization expanding the talent pool
of women running for office I work with
a community made up of thousands of
women who are hungry to create change
and yet there are real fears around
what’s stepping into the political ring
looks like as a woman in 2014 I ran in
one my race for City Council at the age
of 27 in a town of about 17,000 called
Arcada
you may have heard of it here in the
room I ran because I wanted to make a
difference I
because I believe government is a place
where we can make people’s lives better
these are just some of the reasons women
share with me about why they want to run
for office as well however even with a
drive for change I felt fear around
running for office the fear of failure
the fear of messing up the fear of not
being qualified enough or perhaps I
wasn’t cut out for the political world
that can seem so mean and nasty these
are some of the concerns women share
with me as well about why they may be
hesitant to put their names on the
ballot we talk a lot about how tough
running for offices how grueling it is
and then as elected officials or as
candidates we don’t really talk about
what it really feels like to run and
that it’s normal and okay to have fears
and insecurities we’re human and if we
keep pretending that we have it all
figured out keep pretending it didn’t
feel risky or scary to get here keep
pretending that we were born for this
and we’ve been groomed our whole lives
for this moment then we are reinforcing
the ideas around who a politician can be
and how a politician should act a
politician could be a single mom working
hard to better her children’s future a
politician could be that community
volunteer you know who typically works
behind the scenes to get things done a
politician could be a recent college
grad who’s working two to three jobs to
make ends meet what makes us human makes
us equipped to lead and serve when I was
first running for City Council
I had my first ever candidate profile
interview with a local media outlet and
I knew a lot of eyes were going to see
it the day leading up to my interview I
felt sick to my stomach I was so nervous
would I say the wrong thing would I not
make a strong enough case for why I
should be elected when this article gets
posted will I be able to avoid the
trolls that inevitably will comment on
this article and if I do read what what
they have to say will I not take it so
personally I do the interview and it
went fine but the next day a wave of
anxiety consumes me all over again and I
realized that I could not dedicate this
much energy to one media interview how
was I supposed to campaign if I was
second-guessing everything I did I share
this with a friend of mine and out of
love and concern
she asked me Sofia have you thought
about dropping out of the race I mean
you don’t have to run for City Council I
mean maybe it’s not too late I was taken
aback by this question but I paused I
went back to why I was running in the
first place the issues I wanted to work
on how I knew I could do a good job as a
city council member I realized that I
had to let go of what I couldn’t control
what people may think of me I had to let
go of the fear that people were going to
want to tear me down my reasons for
running
meant more to me than holding on to
those fears so I kept running for office
even with those moments of uncertainty
however something I’ve learned in my
time in office is that having a seat at
the table isn’t enough once we’re at the
table we have to own our power so I’m
gonna take us back in time for a little
bit to November 8th 2016 this day may or
may not mean something to you but that
day I wore a pant suit all day in
anticipation of the glass ceiling being
shattered instead I spent that night
pacing the room and disbelief as the
results continued to come in Florida
Michigan Wisconsin the pit in my stomach
was heavy with grief now you may
remember where you were and how you felt
that night of the presidential election
in the United States that night a
collective shift occurred among
thousands of women in this country
thousands of women raised their hands
saying I want to run something needs to
change in my community and it’s up to me
to make it happen it’s incredible the
election affected me in another way I
felt regret I saw this incredible wave
of women stepping up to run for office
and here I was already an elected
official and while it was never anything
I took for granted having this privilege
to serve my community I realized that
I was afraid I was afraid to fully step
into my power as an elected official
afraid to make mistakes afraid of
disappointing people or saying the wrong
thing afraid of harassment afraid of
asking a question too directly in a
meeting and looking like a you-know-what
afraid of looking too confident or that
I thought too highly of myself the 2016
election was a wake-up call for me
I wasn’t serving anyone by trying to
stay small I realized that I needed to
be able to stand up and speak up for
what I believe in
despite fear of political consequences
whether it was standing up for the
marginalized in my community or speaking
out against racism I knew that in order
to truly stand up relationships would
change or be lost but I didn’t know at
the time the extent to which it would
affect me coming into my own as a leader
resulted in me losing one of my biggest
cheerleaders my confidante my mentor my
father I didn’t know at the time that as
I started to become the leader I felt
called to be that I would lose a
relationship with my father now as you
can imagine in this current political
climate my father and I are on different
sides of the political spectrum but this
is something that we long celebrated
having heated yet respectful debates on
hot-button issues from gun rights to
Obamacare
nothing was really off the table and I
think you would have had a lot of fun or
been very uncomfortable at our family
dinners my relationship with my father
shaped how I interact with those that I
disagree with seeing their humanity even
when I disagree with their perspective I
didn’t know at the time that losing a
loved one would be a risk that I would
take as I started to get more
comfortable in my skin to be the strong
woman I was told I should be growing up
losing a relationship with my father has
been one of the hardest things I’ve ever
dealt with and for months I wasn’t sure
if I should just recoil Appy’s and quit
making waves but I have more to lose if
I cannot stand up for what I believe in
and what I believe to be fair and just
for my community politics are not a
sport or a hobby politics shape
everything from the roads we drive on to
the very fabric of our democracy the
values that we hold dear our values of
freedom justice and equality are worth
fighting for in the halls of government
now I think all of us are probably going
to have slightly different definitions
for these values and what they mean to
us and we may never completely get on
the same page but we need leaders who
are unafraid to stand up for what they
believe in leaders who are / in an
compass and not just popular opinion we
need leaders who are unafraid to build
bridges with those that they disagree
with we need leaders we need leaders
like the small town lawyer from Ohio who
ran against a slate of powerful male
incumbents and despite her loss
she’s running again we need leaders like
the California woman I met who bravely
with a quiver in her voice declared her
intentions to run for City Council to a
room full of strangers and on a national
stage
she put her ambition on the record we
need leaders like the veteran from Texas
I met who’s running for school board in
her community to improve student
outcomes don’t let those of us in
elected office fool you we all have
moments where we doubt ourselves where
we feel we aren’t good enough or maybe
we could have handled something better
these feelings may never completely go
away but I’ve learned that I’d rather be
true to myself then pretend to be
someone I’m not
or what people expect me to be as a
politician I felt safe playing it’s
small for some time but I can’t and I
won’t anymore to the women out there I
hope you take the risk and run for
office take the risk so that you can
pave the way for women and girls
behind you take the risk because it will
bring you clarity of purpose and allow
you to lead in ways you may not have
imagined possible before and for those
of you that don’t run regardless of
gender take a risk and engage in our
democracy it’s your civic duty take a
risk and organize your neighbors around
a cause you believe in take a risk and
apply to participate in a local
government board or Commission and offer
your expertise and perspective as a
resident of your community take a risk
and write to your elected officials
write letters to the editor show up to
your City Council and school board
meetings your voice matters
and lastly ask an amazing woman you know
to run for office and I’d like to think
that each and every one of you had
someone that came to mind right now
ask her to run and once she’s running
support her campaign and I’m talking
dollars and door-knocking you got to put
some money and some people power behind
her as well to get her to the finish
line and then once she’s in office keep
supporting her and that work because
once she’s taken that oath that’s not
the end of the work that’s just the
beginning this is what democracy can
look like when we go all in and these
are just some ideas on how we can make
government work for the people thank you
you
and the millions of dollars it can take
to win people are fed up with a system
that hasn’t worked for them and women
are a part of the solution with women
making up less than a third of over half
a million elected offices in the United
States overwhelmingly at the local level
we need new voices in government
numerous studies show that when women
run they win at the same rates as men we
have thousands of qualified women in
this country who have something to offer
in public service women who are
entrepreneurs nonprofit leaders
stay-at-home moms and scientists who
already contribute to their communities
I can speak from my own experience as an
elected official and as someone who
works for she should run a national
organization expanding the talent pool
of women running for office I work with
a community made up of thousands of
women who are hungry to create change
and yet there are real fears around
what’s stepping into the political ring
looks like as a woman in 2014 I ran in
one my race for City Council at the age
of 27 in a town of about 17,000 called
Arcada
you may have heard of it here in the
room I ran because I wanted to make a
difference I
because I believe government is a place
where we can make people’s lives better
these are just some of the reasons women
share with me about why they want to run
for office as well however even with a
drive for change I felt fear around
running for office the fear of failure
the fear of messing up the fear of not
being qualified enough or perhaps I
wasn’t cut out for the political world
that can seem so mean and nasty these
are some of the concerns women share
with me as well about why they may be
hesitant to put their names on the
ballot we talk a lot about how tough
running for offices how grueling it is
and then as elected officials or as
candidates we don’t really talk about
what it really feels like to run and
that it’s normal and okay to have fears
and insecurities we’re human and if we
keep pretending that we have it all
figured out keep pretending it didn’t
feel risky or scary to get here keep
pretending that we were born for this
and we’ve been groomed our whole lives
for this moment then we are reinforcing
the ideas around who a politician can be
and how a politician should act a
politician could be a single mom working
hard to better her children’s future a
politician could be that community
volunteer you know who typically works
behind the scenes to get things done a
politician could be a recent college
grad who’s working two to three jobs to
make ends meet what makes us human makes
us equipped to lead and serve when I was
first running for City Council
I had my first ever candidate profile
interview with a local media outlet and
I knew a lot of eyes were going to see
it the day leading up to my interview I
felt sick to my stomach I was so nervous
would I say the wrong thing would I not
make a strong enough case for why I
should be elected when this article gets
posted will I be able to avoid the
trolls that inevitably will comment on
this article and if I do read what what
they have to say will I not take it so
personally I do the interview and it
went fine but the next day a wave of
anxiety consumes me all over again and I
realized that I could not dedicate this
much energy to one media interview how
was I supposed to campaign if I was
second-guessing everything I did I share
this with a friend of mine and out of
love and concern
she asked me Sofia have you thought
about dropping out of the race I mean
you don’t have to run for City Council I
mean maybe it’s not too late I was taken
aback by this question but I paused I
went back to why I was running in the
first place the issues I wanted to work
on how I knew I could do a good job as a
city council member I realized that I
had to let go of what I couldn’t control
what people may think of me I had to let
go of the fear that people were going to
want to tear me down my reasons for
running
meant more to me than holding on to
those fears so I kept running for office
even with those moments of uncertainty
however something I’ve learned in my
time in office is that having a seat at
the table isn’t enough once we’re at the
table we have to own our power so I’m
gonna take us back in time for a little
bit to November 8th 2016 this day may or
may not mean something to you but that
day I wore a pant suit all day in
anticipation of the glass ceiling being
shattered instead I spent that night
pacing the room and disbelief as the
results continued to come in Florida
Michigan Wisconsin the pit in my stomach
was heavy with grief now you may
remember where you were and how you felt
that night of the presidential election
in the United States that night a
collective shift occurred among
thousands of women in this country
thousands of women raised their hands
saying I want to run something needs to
change in my community and it’s up to me
to make it happen it’s incredible the
election affected me in another way I
felt regret I saw this incredible wave
of women stepping up to run for office
and here I was already an elected
official and while it was never anything
I took for granted having this privilege
to serve my community I realized that
I was afraid I was afraid to fully step
into my power as an elected official
afraid to make mistakes afraid of
disappointing people or saying the wrong
thing afraid of harassment afraid of
asking a question too directly in a
meeting and looking like a you-know-what
afraid of looking too confident or that
I thought too highly of myself the 2016
election was a wake-up call for me
I wasn’t serving anyone by trying to
stay small I realized that I needed to
be able to stand up and speak up for
what I believe in
despite fear of political consequences
whether it was standing up for the
marginalized in my community or speaking
out against racism I knew that in order
to truly stand up relationships would
change or be lost but I didn’t know at
the time the extent to which it would
affect me coming into my own as a leader
resulted in me losing one of my biggest
cheerleaders my confidante my mentor my
father I didn’t know at the time that as
I started to become the leader I felt
called to be that I would lose a
relationship with my father now as you
can imagine in this current political
climate my father and I are on different
sides of the political spectrum but this
is something that we long celebrated
having heated yet respectful debates on
hot-button issues from gun rights to
Obamacare
nothing was really off the table and I
think you would have had a lot of fun or
been very uncomfortable at our family
dinners my relationship with my father
shaped how I interact with those that I
disagree with seeing their humanity even
when I disagree with their perspective I
didn’t know at the time that losing a
loved one would be a risk that I would
take as I started to get more
comfortable in my skin to be the strong
woman I was told I should be growing up
losing a relationship with my father has
been one of the hardest things I’ve ever
dealt with and for months I wasn’t sure
if I should just recoil Appy’s and quit
making waves but I have more to lose if
I cannot stand up for what I believe in
and what I believe to be fair and just
for my community politics are not a
sport or a hobby politics shape
everything from the roads we drive on to
the very fabric of our democracy the
values that we hold dear our values of
freedom justice and equality are worth
fighting for in the halls of government
now I think all of us are probably going
to have slightly different definitions
for these values and what they mean to
us and we may never completely get on
the same page but we need leaders who
are unafraid to stand up for what they
believe in leaders who are / in an
compass and not just popular opinion we
need leaders who are unafraid to build
bridges with those that they disagree
with we need leaders we need leaders
like the small town lawyer from Ohio who
ran against a slate of powerful male
incumbents and despite her loss
she’s running again we need leaders like
the California woman I met who bravely
with a quiver in her voice declared her
intentions to run for City Council to a
room full of strangers and on a national
stage
she put her ambition on the record we
need leaders like the veteran from Texas
I met who’s running for school board in
her community to improve student
outcomes don’t let those of us in
elected office fool you we all have
moments where we doubt ourselves where
we feel we aren’t good enough or maybe
we could have handled something better
these feelings may never completely go
away but I’ve learned that I’d rather be
true to myself then pretend to be
someone I’m not
or what people expect me to be as a
politician I felt safe playing it’s
small for some time but I can’t and I
won’t anymore to the women out there I
hope you take the risk and run for
office take the risk so that you can
pave the way for women and girls
behind you take the risk because it will
bring you clarity of purpose and allow
you to lead in ways you may not have
imagined possible before and for those
of you that don’t run regardless of
gender take a risk and engage in our
democracy it’s your civic duty take a
risk and organize your neighbors around
a cause you believe in take a risk and
apply to participate in a local
government board or Commission and offer
your expertise and perspective as a
resident of your community take a risk
and write to your elected officials
write letters to the editor show up to
your City Council and school board
meetings your voice matters
and lastly ask an amazing woman you know
to run for office and I’d like to think
that each and every one of you had
someone that came to mind right now
ask her to run and once she’s running
support her campaign and I’m talking
dollars and door-knocking you got to put
some money and some people power behind
her as well to get her to the finish
line and then once she’s in office keep
supporting her and that work because
once she’s taken that oath that’s not
the end of the work that’s just the
beginning this is what democracy can
look like when we go all in and these
are just some ideas on how we can make
government work for the people thank you
you
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