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Ready To Run™

Catt Center for Women and Politics


Additional Resources

News Stories about 2009 Workshop

Insider Iowa
Ames Tribune
2009 Program Agenda and Speakers
History of Program
Frequently Asked Questions
Sponsors of 2009 Program
Advisory Board Members
Donate to Ready to Run™ Iowa
 

Ready to Run™ Iowa is a bi-partisan, comprehensive, one-day workshop offered every other year by the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics in partnership with the League of Women Voters of Ames and Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University. It is based on CAWP's successful Ready to Run: Campaign Training for Women™ school to recruit and train women to run for all levels of office. The Catt Center became part of CAWP's Ready to Run™ National Training Network and offered its first campaign workshop in 2007. The second Ready to Run™ Iowa workshop was held on April 3, 2009.


Although Ready to Run™ Iowa addresses topics unique to women as they seek greater participation in the political process, the campaign school is open to anyone who is interested in running for elected office, serving on public boards and commissions, and/or working on a political campaign.

The next Ready to Run™ Iowa workshop will be presented in spring 2011.

The 2009 Ready to Run™ Iowa workshop featured:

Ready to Run Participants
  • 20 speakers, including 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans

  • 60 participants, including women and men; Republicans, Democrats and Independents; college students from Iowa State, Simpson College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Iowans and residents of Illinois and Wisconsin

Evaluations of the 2009 workshop by participants were very positive, with scores ranging from 3.9 to 4.8 on a 5.0 (excellent) scale, with an average score of 4.3. Comments about the overall workshop included: "training sessions were outstanding"; "speakers were great"; "thoughtful, educational and entertaining event"; and "staff was very helpful." Comments about the individual workshop sessions included:

Launching your campaign participants
  • Wow! Sensational! Personal stories made it REAL and made it seem we all have the ability to run.
  • Great info! Informative!
  • Great variety of real life stories from all areas of service. Good mix of Republicans and Democrats.
  • Diverse and helpful suggestions.



Photos from the 2009 Ready to Run™ Program

Interactive Ice Breaker Activity Beth, Mary, and Diane

Participants get to know each other through an interactive icebreaker -- a political bingo game -- at the beginning of the workshop.

Among the speakers at Ready to Run™ Iowa were State Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (center), Story County Auditor Mary Mosiman (foreground) and political fundraiser Diane Crookham-Johnson (right).
Fundraising Role Playing Kay and Molly

Becky Greenwald (left) and Lauris Olson practice asking for money during a role playing session.

Kay Oskvig (foreground) and Molly Tracy (right) were among the Iowa State students who attended the workshop.