#MDWomensForum #YDMWC #Women #Maryland #MDGA17 #Politics “You are wasting your time working in politics!” “A woman will never be President because women are too emotional and make bad decisions!” “What you do in politics doesn’t matter it doesn’t impact me in my life. I’m too busy working and taking care of my family.” This is just a glimpse of the comments I received from a man when I spoke about my passion for politics. I like to be fully transparent. There are still chauvinistic men that exist in this world that absolutely do not respect nor want women in power. To those men and others who think like them I say: “Women lead and we do a damn good job at leading!” I truly love what I do. I love making a difference in this world. I love helping other women not just enter politics but WIN elections. Our voices matter! Women serving in elected positions matter! When women serve in office we get things done!
I had the honor to attend the Maryland Women’s Legislative Forum sponsored by the Young Democrats of Maryland Women’s Caucus.
Delegate Aruna Miller, Delegate Pam Queen, Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins, Delegate Angela Angel, Dr. Leana Wen the Health Commissioner of Baltimore, and Elisabeth Sachs of the Job Opportunities Task Force all served on the panel to discuss legislation directly impacting women and immigrants.
Two of the major highlights was the Maryland Law Enforcement and Governmental Trust Act and the Maryland Paid Sick Leave Bill. The Delegates and Advocates informed all women in attendance on how they can support and advocate to help get legislation passed. There was also a discussion on how women can prepare to run for office and ways that women can support political campaigns. Three of the State Delegates
were trained by EMERGE Maryland a women’s organization designed to train and equip women to run for office and win. Another political training organization highlighted was Wellstone.
What steps can you take today to support your local candidates? First find out who your elected officials are and then contact them. Ask how you can help? If you are interested in running for office visit the Maryland board of elections website and educate yourself on the requirements to run for office. Consider taking political training to prepare and build your network. Together we can all work to build a better Maryland!
Websites for more information:
Maryland Board of Elections http://www.elections.state.md.us/
Find Your Maryland Elected Officials http://www.mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmmain.aspx?pid=legisrpage&tab=subject6&poptype=find&popid=
EMERGE Maryland http://www.emergemaryland.org/
Wellstone (Training)
http://www.wellstone.org/events
Maryland Legislative Session 2017 http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/07leg/html/sessions/2017.html
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