December 2017
Updated: Sep 6, 2020
San Mateo County held nonpartisan elections in November 2017. Of the twenty-seven positions up for election, women won thirteen. That's a remarkable 48% of positions being filled by women. As a result, women will be represented on the City Councils of Burlingame, San Bruno, and Brisbane and will be serving on School Boards for San Mateo-
Foster City, San Carlos, Portola Valley, and Burlingame. Congratulations to all of the women who stepped up to fill these important leadership roles.
Jennifer Did It -- Follow Her Lead!
In November 2016, Jennifer DiBrienza was elected to an open seat on the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education. Although highly qualified and interested in education issues, Jennifer hadn't considered public office until friends began to ask her to run for the school board. It's natural to have self-doubt, but Jennifer advises women to ask themselves: “Why not you? If you have the interest, time and desire to serve, you are ahead of most people.”
“The first thing I learned was that running was a lot of work,” she admits. But
Jennifer was gratified and surprised by how many people willingly helped her
campaign. Her advice to other women thinking about public office: “Don’t be
afraid to ask for help from friends and colleagues--people do want to help." She
also found it very helpful to leverage the advice and experiences of other women
who are currently serving.
WIRE's goal is to accelerate the identification and recruitment of qualified women
like Jennifer. We hope to create an army of interested citizens who can identify
women who would be great public servants and convince them to run for office.
Once we identify and recruit these candidates, we will encircle them with a broad
network of volunteers, campaign expertise, and other resources to ensure their
success.
WIRE's Momentum is Building
WIRE has a strong group of volunteers advancing the group's mission. Here is a progress report since October 2017:
Completed a database of all elected and appointed offices in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. If you are interested in learning more about vacancies, send a note to info@wireforwomen.com.
Recruited five City Captains and looking for five more. Ask us for more information by sending a note to wireforwomen@gmail.com.
Launched a bi-monthly members newsletter.
Scheduled a candidate forum hosted by Vicki Veenker in February.
Connected with other local women's groups to spread the word about WIRE.
Developed a mailing list of over 200 people.
Organized a Member 2018 Kickoff party to be held on January 11, 2018.
Welcomed new members to Marketing and Executive Committees.
Learn how you can get involved below!
Want to Get Involved?
Please fill out the member skills survey to let us know what skills you
can contribute to WIRE's efforts or directly to campaigns.
Forward this newsletter to ten friends.
Follow us on social media: WIRE for Women on Facebook; Follow us
on Twitter.
We need help. Contact us if you can volunteer in the following areas:
Be a City Captain, help manage the database of elected or appointed
offices, or help with website/logo design, marketing, or the volunteer
committee. Email us at info@wireforwomen.com.
Upcoming Events
January Kick-off Event! Come join WIRE members for food and
fellowship: January 11, 2018, 5-7pm in Atherton, CA. Learn more about
how you can help identify, recruit, and get women into elected and
appointed office in 2018. Event location will be provided to all who
RSVP to wdub@me.com.
February 2018 candidate forum led by Vicki Veenker.
