In the Spotlight

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey will be the keynote speaker at Mount St. Mary's College's "Ready to Run" nonpartisan, campaign-training program for women Feb. 8-9.

There are now more women in the United States Congress than at any other time in American history. Still, that record number of female Representatives and Senators accounts for less than 20 percent of all Congressional seats.

Statistics like that are why Mount St. Mary’s College is offering Ready to Run™ this Feb. 8-9, a nonpartisan, campaign-training program for women. Ready to Run™ will encourage and train women to run for elective office, position themselves for appointive office, work on a campaign or get involved in public service in other ways. 

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey will serve as keynote speaker Feb. 9. More than a dozen other women in positions of leadership will present workshops on political campaigning, governance, communications and issue-related advocacy. 

“We are privileged to offer this training at Mount St. Mary’s and we are thrilled to welcome our prestigious speakers and panelists who are coming to share their advice and expertise,” says Ann McElaney-Johnson, president of the College. “This initiative is a natural fit with our own mission at the Mount to enhance each student’s education with an emphasis on building leadership skills and fostering a spirit to serve others.”

In 2012, keynote speaker Lacey became the first woman and the first African-American elected to the D.A. post in Los Angeles County, the largest prosecutorial office in the United States. A career prosecutor, Lacey’s successful run for the top D.A. post in the nation was her first-ever political campaign.

“District Attorney Lacey’s election was a historic moment for Los Angeles County, and it was an important moment for women,” McElaney-Johnson says. “We are so thankful that she will be here to speak directly to young women about her experience, and to illustrate how much women’s voices and perspectives are needed, and valued, at every level of public service.”

The Feb. 8-9 training at Mount St. Mary’s will offer two tracks for participants. “You’ve Decided to Run…Now What?” is designed for women planning to run for office or enter public service in the near future. “I’m Not Ready to Run Yet, But…” was created for women interested in politics and public service, and want to learn how to position themselves for future campaigns.

Workshop titles include: “What Women Candidates Need to Know,” “Introduction to California Politics and Advocacy” and “Laying the Groundwork for Public Life.” The training opens Feb. 8 with a Diversity Initiative program and concludes Feb. 9 with a networking reception.

Mount St. Mary’s College is the official Southern California provider of the Ready to Run™ program, in partnership with the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

The training’s Feb. 8 schedule of events will be held at Mount St. Mary’s downtown Doheny Campus. Day two’s program will take place at the Mount’s Chalon Campus in Brentwood. In addition to Lacey, a sampling of other Ready to Run™ presenters and panelists include:

• Kafi D. Blumenfield, president and CEO of Liberty Hill Foundation, a social change organization

• Celeste Greig, president of the California Republican Assembly

• Celinda Lake, prominent pollster, political strategist and president of Lake Research Partners

• Abbe Land, Mayor Pro Tempore of West Hollywood

• Bonnie Lowenthal, California Assemblymember

• Helen Torres, executive director of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality

• Betty Ye, member of the California Board of Equalization

• Val Zavala, host of “SoCal Connected” and vice president of news and public affairs at KCET, the nation’s largest independent public television station

To register, or to read continually updated information on Ready to Run™, visit www.msmc.la.edu/R2R.