Ready to Run History

AAUW of Alabama

Training Alabama Women for Government Leadership

Ready to Run is in partnership with Rutgers University, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Center for American Women and Politics.

How R2R Got Started

How Ready to Run^TM Got Started

Back in 2007, AAUW of Alabama's Program Theme Team and Public Policy Committee were looking for a way to support the national AAUW theme, “Education as the Gateway to Women's Economic Security.” After much research and discussion, they determined that the problems affecting Alabama women and the issues concerning them are centered around the fundamentally flawed state constitution and the insufficient number of women participating in governmental processes. The Program Theme Team and Public Policy Committee concluded that the voice of Alabama women has to be stronger.

According to a 2000 study by the Institute for Women Policy Research, women in Alabama lag behind in every index measured: political participation, employment and earnings, economic opportunity, reproductive rights, and health and well-being. This report assigns Alabama a grade of D-. Of the 50 states, we rank at the bottom even in evaluating the status of women in their communities (The Status of Women in Leadership in Alabama, 2003).

Ready to RunTM began as a Community Action Project funded by the AAUW Educational Foundation 2007-2009. Elizabeth Hendrix and Mildred Lanier were co-directors. Trainers and team members included Audrey Salgado, Juliet Arrington, Cindy Bell, Veronica Bryant, Jean Gerber, Brendette Brown Green, Susan Sheppard, Tiffany Todd, Anna Blair, and Alison Stigers. It targeted the 105 House districts, 35 Senate districts, and 67 counties in Alabama with concentration in the geograpical areas of AAUW of Alabama’s active branches and other major cities in Alabama. It did so well, the project was recognized by AAUW at its 2009 national convention's Taste of Success, an event that applauded states or branches for projects, events, or activities successful in helping break through barriers so all women have a fair chance.

Ready to RunTM has partnered with the prestigious Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers. CAWP is nationally recognized as the leading source of scholarly research and current data on American women's political participation. Wanda Foster and Susan Sheppard, co-directors of the Ready to Run™ project, were trained at CAWP, as was trainer Audrey Salgado.

Training has been held in Auburn, Birmingham, Decatur, Gadsden, Huntsville, Pell City, and Montgomery. Preconvention workshops were held before the 2008, 2009, and 2010 state conventions in the Shoals at the University of North Alabama, in Montgomery at Troy University, and in Montevallo at the University of Montevallo. Over 150 women have enrolled in Ready to RunTM and we're still counting.

In 2010, according to statistics from the Center for American Women and Politics, Alabama is ranked 48^th in the nation in terms of women serving in the state legislature (12.9 percent), with no women serving in the U.S. Congress. In 2010, there have been 6 statewide elected women in the executive branch; 5 out of 35 state senators; and 13 out of 105 state representatives. The problems affecting the quality of life of Alabama's women, children, and men can only be addressed by increasing the number of women leaders in government. Alabama is paying a high price for the absence of women's voices in our state's leadership. Clearly we have a long way to go.