Ready to Run

Ready to Run™ is a bi-partisan program for women who want to run for office, seek higher office, work on a campaign, get appointed to office, or learn more about the political system. Ready to Run™ is your one-stop training on running for office or getting involved in public life. You will learn from prominent elected and appointed leaders, campaign consultants, party officials, and policy experts.

Women, half of the population, hold just 18.4 percent of North Dakota’s legislative seats, 12 percent of county commission seats, and only three women serve in elected statewide executive office. Startlingly few of those who have won office are women of color, despite the state’s increasing diversity. North Dakota ranks 41st nationally in the percentage of women in state legislature.

In an effort to increase women’s representation, the North Dakota Women’s Network (NDWN) is hosting two trainings to encourage women’s political participation. Ready to Run TM is a bi-partisan program for women who want to run for office, seek higher office, work on a campaign, get appointed to office, or learn more about the political system.

On October 13-14, 2017, a full training will be held on the NDSU campus in Fargo. Cost to attend is $45. In November 2017, a series of workshops will be held at the Bismarck Public Library on November 6, 13, and 20. Cost to attend is $25 per session or $60 for all three. These trainings will include sessions such as Message Training, Media Strategies, Fundraising, and more. The Ready to Run TM trainings are open to anyone in the state with an interest, curiosity or ambition to seek a leadership position in public office.

The Ready to Run TM is led by a diverse advisory committee whose membership includes: Justice Carol Kapsner; legislators Karla Rose Hanson, Shannon Roers Jones, and Cindy Schreiber-Beck; Bismarck City Commissioner Nancy Guy, and Wahpeton City Commissioner Renelle Bertsch; former house member Rae Ann Kelsch; former Public Service Commissioner Susan Wefald; former statewide candidates Ruth Buffalo, Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun, and Cheryl Bergian; campaign leaders Mary Tintes, Amy Jacobson; former legislative candidate and director of Sacred Pipe Resource Center Cheryl Kary; and Peg Racek, NDWN board member.

For more information on Ready to Run™ and to register for these trainings, visit www.ndwomen.org.

To register for the Fargo event, click here

To register for the Bismarck event, click here.

To support Ready to Run with a donation, click here.