Transcript:
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Brad Caruso:
Welcome to Civic Warriors, brought to you by Withum. On this podcast, we bring the conversation to you, sharing, engaging stories that motivate and build consensus in the nonprofit community. This podcast is about the innovators, the leaders on the frontline of adversity, guiding lights in the nonprofit industry affecting change. And through their stories, we can all join forces to become civic warriors. Hey, warriors. Welcome to today’s episode of Civic Warriors, brought to you by Withum. I’m your host, Brad Caruso, leader of Withum’s, not-for-profit practice. So today we’re gonna talk about a very important and timely topic around equal representation. Our guest today is Kaitlyn Newman, the director of development at, She Should Run, She Should Run as a nonpartisan nonprofit, working to drastically increase the number of women considering a run for public office. She brings more than a decade of experience in women’s studies and grassroots community organizing to her role leading fundraising efforts for the organization. Kaitlyn hails from Connecticut, where she resides with her partner and a trained actor. She enjoys spending her free time practicing her craft and working in various local theater productions. So, Kaitlyn, welcome to the show.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Thanks, Brad. Pleasure to be here today.
Brad Caruso:
So where I’d love to start off is tell our listeners a little bit more about She Should Run, the mission and, and really why you exist.
Kaitlyn Newman:
To start, I think I’d wanna ground it a little bit in how I, how I came to She Should Run, because I think that as an organization that serves women, that is staffed a hundred percent by women, it’s really an opportunity to say, look, my story, um, is connected to our, our really heartfelt mission to ensure that more women have the opportunity to explore their leadership potential. And, um, for someone like me who I grew up in a household of women, I have, I grew up the middle child of two sisters. I also have a 14 year old sister, and I’m learning so much from her about what future leadership, uh, will look like. My mother comes from a family of five sisters and has been, um, a beverage server at a casino for the last 30 years. And so I grew up embedded in this network of women who were really leading in their communities, taking care of their homes, often single-handedly.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Um, and so I saw firsthand that the, the stakes that exist for women and the, um, the ways in which women can and should, can make a contribution to the important conversations that are happening, uh, in policy, but certainly in, in everyday life in our communities. Um, and so as someone, uh, coming out of and working within the anti-violence movement, working within the labor movement, I really saw this opportunity to get on the front end of being able to enact change in all the places where decisions get made. And that what we’re really missing, and this is the heart of, of She Should Run’s, um, analysis, is we’re missing the unique contributions of women in leadership that, as I just said, we all know and see every day in our, in our real lives. Um, and so our work at She Should Run is focused on making sure that we build a strong bench of leaders who are fired up and ready to run for office.
Kaitlyn Newman:
And I wanna be really specific here, Brad, because a lot of the work that happens in the world, and certainly so many of of the conversations we have with really, um, near and dear partners, we talk about the candidate a lot and we’re excited about those candidates who are on the ballot, right? We’re excited, uh, to see women on the ballot and to support their campaigns and to volunteer on their campaigns and give the votes in dollars and, um, support that, that those women need. The reality is that the women that are running in 2024 started their journey years ago, right? The, we know for a fact through research that we’ve done that She Should Run that less than 2% of women in the United States wake up with a dream to run for office one day, right? In fact, there’s 24.4 million American women who may never think about running for office.
Kaitlyn Newman:
And these are women who are leading in our communities, who are civically engaged, who are in homes, workplaces, places of worship, uh, schools especially. And we, we ask the question, how do we move them to a place of action and get them to sincerely think about running? Um, and so we are at the top of the funnel, right? We’re here to say, there is a place for you if you are not ready to run, but you wanna explore. If you have a fire in your belly about something that, uh, you know, an issue or a cause that is affecting your life or the life of the people you love, then we wanna be here for you as a, as a place to explore that aspiration and to make it a little bit easier to normalize it, uh, and a little bit more accessible. So I think that that’s truly the heart of our work, is diversifying thought engagement, strengthening the health of local, state, national government systems by actually saying, let’s build a bench of leaders.
Kaitlyn Newman:
And you started, you know, you opened the call by by saying it’s timely. I mean, the truth is that the women we serve may not run until 2028, and that’s the point of the work. And they may not run until, you know, 2032. Our research also tells us that it takes an average of four years for women to make the decision and ultimately put their name on a ballot. And so where are they going, you know, in that time, where are they engaging in a process of discovery that’s, uh, where She Should Run sits and what we’re really committed to?
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. And, and, and certainly a lot, a lot to continue to go, go through on that. Um, yeah. When, when I, when I, when I think about the topic and, and even, you know, a lot of our listeners are in the nonprofit industry, and the nonprofit industry in general is predominantly run by women. I mean, if you look at a lot of the major organizations, I mean, I’d say definitely more than half my client base is a, it’s a woman, CEO. <Right.> And, and listen, they’re, they’re making change in the, they are real civic warriors. I mean, I think it, you know, it, it goes a long way. Um, and I’m, I’m sure there’s a lot of drivers that you’re gonna get into about, you know, why someone would or wouldn’t run for office, why, why women would or wouldn’t. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and, and two, you know, consistent with you. I, I, uh, I, I don’t my, I have a sister and a brother, but my mom has three sisters and my dad has three sisters. So, yeah.
Kaitlyn Newman:
So you are surrounded by these women, you know, the, the question again comes back to how do we tap the talent pool <Mm-Hmm.> That we know exists. I mean, you mentioned the nonprofit sector again, you know, in, in 2022 on the heels of the pandemic in which She Should Run, was able to serve more women than ever with our virtual programming. We asked this question of like, what are those motivators? And what we found was that like, civic engagement is the real gateway, is the connective tissue to being able to convince a woman to run. But, you know, I, again, listening to your, your, um, one of the last podcasts you did this question of like, how can we get involved so many of us who are in social services, who are working in the nonprofit sector, I myself have been in this work, you know, for the last 15 years.
Kaitlyn Newman:
You, we, we feel like that is out of reach. We may be able to, you know, become a senior leader in an organization. We may be an active volunteer at, at a nonprofit. We may even join a nonprofit board. But this idea of running for office, that’s something for someone else, right? That’s not something for me. I often joke with my colleagues, you know, my, I ran a campaign successfully. I ran for senior class President <laugh> when I was 17. It was quite the co and, you know, so I actually have like, uh, early leadership experiences. If you ask me today, would I run for office? I’m still a maybe, right? I have a lot of fears and concerns about that level of visibility. How will it fit into my life? How will it fit into my goals? Um, do I have what it takes?
Kaitlyn Newman:
And so I think there’s a lot of work around self-perception and, um, you know, eradicating those messages that we as women absorb in the world about our own capabilities. Uh, but then I also think that there’s this opportunity to create an infrastructure, to create an ecosystem of encouragement, which we call multipliers that She Should Run. Um, and that we don’t just have to say, you know what, it’s not gonna happen in this generation, right? We’re not gonna see it. Women are still only 30% of all elected offices, and the percentage of women of color within that 30% is even more dismally, you know, smaller than that. Um, so again, we’re not tapping the full talent pool of women’s potential, you know, for our government for a healthier democracy, right? We know that policymaking is stronger when you have a diverse set of perspectives. Um, yeah. So it’s been really interesting to see that like sort of even women in leadership or those of us who had those early foundational experiences are not yet quite ready to commit to that next step. And so we’re here to, to make that an easier transition.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. I love that. And, and you know, I I, it sounds like, you know, le a lot of, a lot of what you teach and a lot of, a lot of the, the skills are also a, you know, leadership, right? I think leadership is a big part of, of public office, and, you know, it, it’s all about giving people the opportunity to have those leadership positions. So, you know, my, my thought process too, just just going into this discussion is I, I, I imagine a barrier to entry too is, is potentially, you know, many women may not have been in those leadership positions, or may not have been given those leadership positions or, or been had the opportunity to have them. Yeah. Which also could be a barrier to, you know, I’m, I am going to lead a bunch of, I mean, if you’re gonna be in public office, like you’re, yeah, you’re, you’re leading your constituency. I mean, that, that’s a daunting task if you haven’t been exposed to it or had the opportunity.
Kaitlyn Newman:
<affirmative> Mm-Hmm, , yeah.
Brad Caruso:
It’s important.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Yeah. You know, you, that, that point, Brad sort of raises the question of like, what qualifies a woman to lead? Yeah. And, and one of the things that we always say that She Should Run, that if you care, you’re qualified. Because the truth is right. There is a lot of dissatisfaction and disillusionment in our government already. There we’re, we’re seeing record rates of polarization. Um, I think that there’s a lot of dysfunction that folks are aware of regardless of where you stand, right? I mean, She Should Run’s a nonpartisan organization. So we chop chat with women across the spectrum. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And the, the common thread that we see is, my needs are not represented. My interests are not considered. And so, you know, what, what we also saw show up in the research is that in addition to sort of preexisting civic engagement, that we can reach women when we connect the dots between issue advocacy and the issues that they care about.
Kaitlyn Newman:
And then say, one way you can get to that is through policymaking. It doesn’t, it, it, we, we need to sort of demystify. It doesn’t, we don’t have to have the mystique of it. I had mentioned that, you know, I started my own career in the anti-violence movement, working in solidarity with amazing organizations that were, um, survivor led, uh, women who had in oftentimes experienced unspeakable trauma, um, and, you know, combating sexual violence, state violence, especially against women of color, especially against black women. And, and what was so powerful about those movements is the ability to speak truth to power, have the lived experience be, um, validated through, you know, seeing it advocating for policy because you know what’s best? Like, we have to believe that women have the wisdom that will ultimately yield better outcomes for our lives. And, um, and yet I also experienced this burnout because I wasn’t, I knew that the potential was there.
Kaitlyn Newman:
I knew the talent was there. I knew the analyses were on point. I wasn’t seeing that translate into more women on the ballot. I wasn’t seeing that necessarily translate into policy outcomes or government funding that really, you know, bolstered these movements to end violence against women. And so I got really burnt out. And so I came to, She Should Run because I said, look, there’s an opportunity here to, to change the tide. There’s an, we have to be on the front end. We have to be proactive. We have to be long game about building this bench of leaders because we’re just not seeing, um, this energy and power and wisdom translate into elected officials yet. And that doesn’t mean by the way, that we have not seen these moments. I think about 2018 when I first joined the team, where you have these amazing examples, <laugh> of women who are leading, and frankly, you know, women are as likely to, to win as men.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Certainly sometimes the election is harder and, and there’s more scrutiny. Um, but it’s that women aren’t running at the same rates as men. And then this piece about the multiplier is that women are not asked at the same race as men. Right? They’re not encouraged. So when you say, you know, a lot of women haven’t even been in those leadership roles yet, that’s systemic. And so what can we do to create, uh, a movement of multipliers who are making it a priority in their everyday lives or in their, in their positions of power to, you know, pull a woman up behind them and inspire her to take those first steps to run.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. I love that. And, and I think, you know, consistency is, is so important. It, you can’t just do something once and, and you, you need a pipeline. You need, you need, exactly. It can’t just be okay, one-to-one, like, okay, we’re coaching one person, and that’s gonna work out. Like, you need a pipeline of a thousand. So you get two. And, and I don’t know what the statistics show for you, but, but my guess is that that’s what, and I know that’s how it is, you know, running, running a firm, it’s, you know, yeah. You need, you need a thousand just to generate five that are gonna be successful at it. I guess where I’m curious is, do you think a barrier to entry is just that they have been so male dominated or the right motivator hasn’t come up to, to push them?
Kaitlyn Newman:
Yeah. And I think the first thing that’s important to say is that women aren’t on a monolith. And so every woman has had a different experience of what that barrier might look like. Yes. And so certainly we have met women who are operating in an environment or in a community where it’s, there’s sort of like the good old boy club, right? That makes it really hard to, to break through, um, and be considered as that. Like, we’re gonna champion you, put our resources behind you, and ultimately get you on the ballot. Um, I also think though, that there’s, um, and this is why I mentioned it’s like systemic, is there’s like the normalization of women. Uh, you know, there’s that saying of like, if you, if you can see it, you can be it. So certainly representation is important. <affirmative> just by like, role modeling, right?
Kaitlyn Newman:
And creating and normalizing. Um, but beyond that, I think the reason why She Should Run’s signature curriculum has been so successful is that we recognize that women are very busy, right? Women because women bear the brunt of the issues that, you know, that, uh, many Americans are facing right now. Uh, when we think about combating racism, when we think about struggling a struggling economy, um, when we think about gun violence, regardless of where you, you stand, right? That like, we know that these are issues that affect our communities and our lives, education, um, all of those reproductive health, right? Whatever the issue is, there’s a specific impact that it has on women that also decreases their capacity to participate fully. And I think that what we try to do is to say, look, that’s okay. We know the pressures that you’re facing. We know that you’re busy.
Kaitlyn Newman:
We know that you’re raising children. We know that you’re, uh, you know, working, you know, maybe two jobs. How can we create low barrier, accessible, flexible, free? ’cause our signature curriculum is entirely free, um, to the women we serve. That lets you dip your toe in and create a custom journey of exploration where you can really start to like, just put the building blocks in place, because there will come a time when it makes sense for you, right? There will come a time when you’re, you can match your purpose with the way that you spend your time. Two stories that sort of come to mind, um, just to like, make this really concrete. <affirmative>, uh, I’ll share with you a little bit of a woman that, uh, from my own life that is not yet ready to run, uh, and has very limited capacity to do so.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Uh, my older sister, she’s actually in the world of business, she’s like a supply chain logistics expert. She works for a major multinational company, um, and leads a team of people. Uh, she has three small children. She has a one-year-old, a five-year-old, and an eight year old. I absolutely love my niblings. They are, they take a lot of time. They take a lot of energy, right? Uh, and she volunteers, you know, with her son’s Boy Scout troop. Um, she goes to her local farmer’s market. She even has started attending local meetings for her Board of Selectmen, which look, it’s literally called Board of Selectmen, Brad <laugh>. So again, when you talk about the, like, the, like intangible barriers that exist for women, I mean, let’s be real, right? Like, it’s called Board of Selectmen, and she started attending meetings in her town because it’s, it’s an aging population in her town.
Kaitlyn Newman:
And so sometimes the way that policy around, like the education budget, for example, gets, uh, rolls out, is not meeting the needs of folks with children. Because, you know, the, there’s sort of a contentious debate that happens in her town around the education budget. And so she said to me one day, I went to this meeting and I felt like no one was, you know, we have a huge community of young families in our town. And like, literally no one on the board of Selectmen is representing that interest. <affirmative>. And so, of course, you know, you can’t be related to me without me saying, you know, well, have you ever thought about running for office? <Right?> <laugh>. And like, her response, and we continue to talk about it. I may have even called her this morning to be like, I’m going on this podcast and I’m going to tell everyone about this.
Kaitlyn Newman:
<affirmative>, uh, to get her permission. And of course, even that moment, she was like, I’m so touched that you would, you know, think of me in this way. Um, but every time she brings it up, I’m saying to her like, why don’t you run? Why don’t you run? And like the, the the reason is right now, simply time <laugh>, you know, uh, she has what it takes. She has the organizational skills. She has the, um, certainly the support of her family and her friends. Um, and even her, someone like her, she’s saying, not now, not now, not now. And so, because I wanna be present, you know, and, and so we of, I often say like, well, maybe when Violet, my, my one-year-old niece, maybe when Violet goes off to kindergarten <laugh>, and you, you know, you don’t have staggering daycare bills anymore. Maybe that can be something that you decide to do.
Kaitlyn Newman:
And so that’s an example I think of a woman in, in sort of the earliest stages of her journey, who’s saying, how do I start to take action on an issue that’s affecting me and my family? I see there’s an opportunity, there’s someone missing in my community who’s making decisions, you know, in, in this particular room. How do we get her to a place of running? So she’s not saying no now, right? Before it wasn’t even in her purview. So we’ve achieved the sort of first objective of She Should Run, which is to normalize <affirmative>. Now we’re in this sort of, um, flexible space of how do we make time? How do we, how do you continue to learn, right? She’s a donor to organization. She follows us on social. So she’s in the conversation. And eventually, I truly believe that, and perhaps with me as her campaign manager, she will get to that place, uh, of being able to, to get on the ballot for her board of Selectmen.
Kaitlyn Newman:
So that’s a really personal story, but I think we all have women in our life that we can think of who we were clear on what their barriers are because we know them so well. How do we help them overcome those barriers? That there’s a second story I wanna share. A woman who’s gone through the, She Should Run programming. Um, and this is an amazing young woman, uh, who is a Latina educator. Um, and she was working as a teaching assistant in a low income community in a, in an elementary school. And, um, I believe in an elementary school, I don’t know the level, but she was a teaching assistant, and she experienced gun violence in the classroom very acutely. <Mm.> A student brought a weapon into the space. Um, and so on the heels of that had paralyzing trauma, understandably so, um, and felt very acutely depressed about what her next steps would be.
Kaitlyn Newman:
And she had a friend who, um, had not run for office herself, uh, had, was connected, but She Should Run, uh, knew about us. We were in the, either for her, again, we had sort of normalized the conversation in her own life. And so she said, you know, I think you should check out this group. I feel like there’s something for you here that could maybe relight that spark, um, that you lost in this devastating incident. And she convinced her to register for our, one of our issues webinar, which webinars, which happened to bring together, uh, community experts on the issue of, of ending gun violence in communities. And connecting that to, here’s the actions you can take in policy. Here’s how you can be an advocate. Again, here’s how you can become civically engaged on this thing that’s so important to you on the pathway to maybe thinking about running.
Kaitlyn Newman:
And so, through attending that She Should Run program, she actually ended up launching, she spoke to her, her county government, and she ended up launching basically a community safety committee, <laugh>, that hadn’t existed before. Uh, and that is now actively creating, you know, recommendations and exploring what it would mean to end this particular kind of violence and other forms of, um, public safety, uh, to support other forms of public safety in her community. She also has recently joined our community council as a way to pay it forward and say, look, here was my journey from a place of disillusionment and fear to a place of empowerment and action. How can we re-engineer that for other women who are in my same circumstance? And so I think that’s a great example of a woman who didn’t just dip her toe in, which is totally fine if that’s where you’re at. Uh, but then who then kind of went deeper with us and went through this really, um, thoughtful deliberative process to ultimately create, you know, her own policymaking role, uh, which I think is so very cool, and then is now showing up as a multiplier for other women.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Those are, those are great stories to ground both how you help, as well as the importance of kind of starting small to some degree, or starting with something that you’re personally connected to. <Yes.> And starting with something that, that resonates with you. So, <affirmative>, you know, running, running for, for, you know, local office or running, running where your kids go to school, running for school board, running for, you know, things like that. That, ’cause obviously, I mean, I mean, from my perspective, it equal representation is absolutely needed because you, you need diversity and thought without question.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Well, question for you, because I, I, not to put you on the spot, Brad, but I do kind of, if I could turn the tables with your, your permission, I would love to hear as I was sharing <affirmative>, you know, did you have any specific women or, or women in your own life come up? And, and what do you think it will take for her, for her to start to take first steps?
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. So, so interestingly enough, uh, I appreciate that question. I love it. Um, so I, I have, um, two small kids. I have a five and a seven year old. Um, you know, I’ve talked to my wife about this. My, my wife is, uh, her position is like, I never wanna like be in front of like a large group of people and like have to deal with like, you know, she, she wants to avoid it. But, um, my, my son’s best friend, uh, his mom, we’ve been talking to her, you know, we, we hang out a lot, have a lot of conversations, and she was not sure about getting into coaching because she’s like, oh, I don’t know if I should, you know, like, I’m a little scared of it. And I’m like, come on, like, I’ll coach with you <laugh>. Like, yeah. And then so she started, you know, we coached together, uh, kids flag football and, you know, started out that way. And she’s like, I don’t know if I can call a play. I’m like, you’re gonna call play, just call plays. Like, it’s fine. Like, they’re a bunch of five year old, they’re a bunch of six year olds. Like, where’s the problem? And she’s like, what if I screw it up? I’m like, what if I screw it up? You think I know what I’m doing? I’m just, mm-Hmm. I’m an account, I’m an accountant for god’s sakes.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Fake it till you make it is really important.
Brad Caruso:
A hundred percent. It’s put one foot in front of the other, fake it till you make it. 90% of life is showing up. That’s, that’s been my philosophy forever. <Yeah.> And now she’s doing it, and now we’re coaching the second season right now, now she’s calling all the plays. Now she’s like basically the, the, you know, team advocate. She’s doing it way better than I ever would’ve. And she’s like communicating with everybody timely. And I think the parents appreciate it more because, you know, she’s out there kind of putting herself on the line to, to coach these kids. And I know that’s not a, a political example, but, but from a leadership perspective, you know, I resonate with your stories to say that’s how you, that that’s how I view it, how you start small and it’s, and it’s encouragement. So, you know, I I’m constantly encouraging her to say, Hey, just, just keep doing it like you’re doing, doing a great job. And honestly, you are doing it better as much as you don’t think you’re doing it better than I would’ve. And, and, you know, you’re resonating with everyone, and the kids love it. And, and the the coolest part is, like you said, you know, when you think about how, how she brought her own experiences and like, you know, just being more creative than I would ever be. You know, her playbook was color coded and she started naming the plays, and I was like, this is awesome. <laugh>.
Kaitlyn Newman:
It’s like, there’s, there’s a fun debate out there. Yeah. Which, you know, I think is important because women are not a monolith. There’s a fun debate of like, do women make better leaders or not? <affirmative>. And, and I think She Should Run’s perspective is, look, there’s a lot of our, our partners in, in the field, uh, research I can think of from like the Center for American Women in Politics, or the Barbara Lee Family Foundation that does show that women leaders are at the very least more collaborative and sort of like, also just make like really good project managers, right. As you described this sort of, um, and again, that’s not everyone’s experience necessarily. I myself am a neurodivergent leader. And so as a someone with ADHD, like, I don’t know that I’d have the color, color coded, uh, a more of a relational leader.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Yeah. Right? Again, like women bring lots of different experiences to the table. But it sounds like that sort of coaching, you know, I love this example because there, there, you know, we see coaches in communities across the nation, and it’s a perfect way. And I also think sports, right? Let’s be real. Sports has been a very male dominated field for a long time. And so stepping into that space, even at, um, the municipal level and like finding your way and finding your voice and doing like, excuse my French, but a damn good job at it, <laugh>, it sounds like, <oh yeah.> is characteristic of the, you know, hundreds of thousands of women that we’ve seen interact with our content, um, who are, who are saying, oh, like, there’s something here for me. You know, Brad, you’re, you’re also kind of spurring from me something that I think you’re listeners would be really interested to hear.
Kaitlyn Newman:
<affirmative>, which is that, you know, so many of the people that that we see, that we interact with and, and women that we serve are coming out of corporate environments. <affirmative>. And are, you know, I think we found like our partners within that world are really powerful multipliers. Um, because also the challenges you’re probably seeing perhaps at Withum or in other places with the, the challenges that women experience in the workplace as well, whether that’s a coaching environment, whether that’s like a boardroom, um, really mirror the challenges of, uh, or the barriers of why women don’t wanna enter public office or run for office to begin with. And so I just wanna make, make a a note. I know, and we, as we think about sort of the responsibilities that we’ve identified here, that, or the opportunities rather, we all have to be multipliers.
Kaitlyn Newman:
I think that institutions are also a really key part of this conversation. Um, you know, the, the, my, the most favorite part of my job day to day is being able to partner with corporations, companies, workplaces that see that connectivity. They know that folks are hungry for, uh, that type of engagement in civic action. I remember I was hearing a, when you speak with, um, Maria? Maria Spina, uh, from PSEG Foundation, and she was kind of saying, look, we as this foundation are committed to, we understand that our constituents are calling on us for, you know, to build healthy communities alongside of them. Uh, and as a side note, <laugh> thought it would be fun for you all to know that PSEG was a original funder of, of She Should Run and helped us launch our incubator program ahead of the or right after rather the 2016 election.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Uh, and so I think about, uh, organizations like PSEG who are seeing that connectivity, who understand that corporate leadership is also where, um, this kind of encouragement can occur. And so She Should Run programs, you know, in addition to facilitating these really thoughtful one-on-one interactions with women. You know, we go into, um, corporate offices and conduct employee engagement workshops. We run co-created campaigns, um, with large national and multinational companies who have platforms that are speaking to women. And so I think that’s what makes us really unique as a nonprofit. And I would encourage, you know, other nonprofits who, who are listening to say beyond financial contributions, though certainly we’re a 501c3, I’m a director of development, so I understand firsthand what sustainability is in, in, in those terms, but also recognizing that our mission is not apart from the people who are giving to us or the people who are listening today, but that actually there are women who are listening to this podcast right now who are our target audience, and there are allies and, and other, and people of all genders who are listening to this podcast right now who are in positions or in institutions that can make a really big dent on our path to seeing more women actively step into the fray.
Kaitlyn Newman:
So it just feels really important to, to also say that outside of the sort of one-on-one, there’s this, like you had mentioned, like getting to scale through the, um, you know, one more woman, one more woman, one more woman we’re able to connect with.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. And you, and you bring up a lot of super important topics that, um, I, I think are relevant here. And I, you know, I, I have some opinions on how to, how to do things the right way, but I, I, I really wanna hear your opinion on this. So, you know, a lot of things we are talking about is, is this concept of, of, of encouragement, this concept of how others help. I mean, you know, how do you, how do you feel just in, in, in both running the organization, you run a as well as just your experiences? How, how does everyone become a part of this, you know, solution of equal representation? Or how does everyone contribute to that? Um, you know, both on the, you know, you mentioned the, you know, charitable side, right? I mean, you know, PSEG funds a lot of very important issues and, and organizations. Um, yes. That it’s important. So, you know, what, what, what is your opinion on that when it comes to how, how others can be a part of this solution for, for equal representation?
Kaitlyn Newman:
Yeah, I mean, I, I think we, we touched on it a little bit with my, my question for you sharing about < a hundred percent > your family friend, right? I think fundamentally talking about it, and, and I realize by the way that, that, it doesn’t sound like a revolutionary thing, but trust me, it is.
Brad Caruso:
It is.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Right? Because we’re, we, we, like I said, there’s a lot of women out there and people in their lives who aren’t connecting the dots to thinking about running. Um, and this notion that men are, you know, much more likely to be asked the last I checked, I think the research, um, there’s this amazing scholar, Jennifer Lawless, and I think it was something like, men are 15 times more likely to <laugh> be asked. I mean, it was like this astronomical, like,
Brad Caruso:
Oh, geez,
Kaitlyn Newman:
You know, that, that, like, uh, and there was a recent, there was a recent study that just came out this week that showed that like over 50% of men held leadership positions as youth, and that it was much smaller for women, right? So again, our opportunity within our everyday lives to make the conversation normal, to ask the women in your life to run, uh, you know, you may get, I wanna prepare folks, if you ask a woman in your, in your life to run, you may get a reaction that you’re not expecting. I, I, we used to have this tool on our website, and I was in this book club when I lived in Austin, and I had an amazing educator. Um, she was a bilingual curriculum, uh, expert. And, and, uh, I was like, she should run for school board. And so I used our tool on our website, and I sent her an, an email that said, you know, I think you should run, here’s why.
Kaitlyn Newman:
And the next time I saw her at our book club, she said, Kaitlyn, I got the weirdest email from you, and I thought it was spam because you were asking me to run for office. And I said, that was not spam. That was actually like a sincere, like, I wasn’t making it up, you know? And so just to say that if the first step is having the conversation, the woman that you think should run, she may not even be expecting it. It’s not in her purview. And so there’s a variety of reactions that you can get when you start having that conversation. But the more you sort of like in marketing, right? The more you bring it up, the more touchpoints you have, the more you see it, it come to life for that person. So that’s really foundational and it, um, it’s an important part of She Should Run’s strategy.
Kaitlyn Newman:
I think institutionally, as I had mentioned, there’s all of these ways in which we see and, and the research, uh, there is this out as well, tapping into existing networks of women or places and spaces where women gather makes it more likely that women will then take the first steps and actively consider. And so I think that there are a lot of employers, um, there are a lot of faith leaders. There are, you know, a lot of folks who are already in those positions of power, who are, who have a vantage point of who you know they’re working with or who they’re supporting that should also be, be thinking about this. And so certainly connecting them to our programs or having them, uh, you know, we have some really accessible content. We have something called the starter kit, for example, where you just really start to learn like, how does government work?
Kaitlyn Newman:
You know, uh, we have the public office profile suite, which it’s like, I think I’m interested in school board. What does that look like? Can I hear from other women who’ve run from school board to understand that campaign experience and what the, the responsibilities are of that position? So I think that that’s the other piece. And then this finally, you know, the activation, the multiple, the multiplication finally, and I’d be remiss not to say this, but it is bringing financial resources to bear on this kind of work. The truth is, and, and the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University, they put out this really powerful women and girls index, uh, every few years. And it talks about, it sort of evaluates where is money flowing within the philanthropic sector? And the truth is that to organizations like She Should Run who exclusively serve women and girls, right?
Kaitlyn Newman:
Certainly we know that lots of social services agencies and organizations serve women and girls, but for organizations like ours, that that is our exclusive mission, we comprise and receive less than 2% of charitable giving <laugh> in the sector. And so that 2%, I think it’s like 1.9% now, that 1.9% is being spread across all of, you know, I started saying across the anti-violence movement, right? When we’re looking at, um, women in labor issues when we’re looking at women in government. And so the, the percentage that organizations like She Should Run, get as we’re building these national pipelines is very small. Uh, and so I think there is an opportunity for folks to say, okay, how do we invest in long game, long-term strategies that truly move the needle on the front end? Because as I had started with, if we don’t start doing this now, we’re not gonna have the candidate pool we need in 2028, and certainly in 2032, and certainly when my 14 year old sister is ready to run for president run day, right? <laugh>, like, we’re not gonna, that’s not gonna happen, right? So I think that that’s the real crisis. And so the take if, if folks leave with one takeaway around how they can be a part of this process, it’s that it takes a lot longer than you think to get a woman there. And so you can be a part of starting that process and expediting that process through your support engagement and through your financial investment.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Without question. And, and I think it, it’s one thing to say you’re gonna do something, it’s another thing to act on it, and it’s entirely another thing to put your money where it is. And, um, yeah. <laugh>, you know, I, and, and it also, you know, it also is gonna take people in positions that have the piggy bank, uh, to move that 2% <laugh>. And, and the reality is, you know, you, you probably, you know, a lot of those people say things publicly, but you know, where do they, where do they send the money?
Kaitlyn Newman:
Yeah.
Brad Caruso:
You know, I think we could all read between the lines on that one. So.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Well, and, and look, even, I mean, even the most well intentioned I wanna honor and say like, we, we have, you know, in the world of philanthropy and certainly outside of it, we have some amazing donors who are actively giving to women’s campaigns right now. And we celebrate that, we support that. Um, and if you wanna see more women candidates, just statistically our research is telling us like, we’re, we’re stagnant. So, um, you know, you have to largely stagnant. And so it, I think that I would encourage folks who maybe are political donors and care about that, right? And are, or PACS 501c4’s who ha, who understand what it’s like to lean into the candidate to say, well, how do we make more of those <laugh>, <right?> What do we need to get, you know, to, to, to fill the ballot so that also we have women with diverse perspectives among women, right?
Kaitlyn Newman:
Uh, who are bringing their lived experience and can have a really healthy democratic debate around what’s the best direction for their community to go in. Um, and so I think we’re, we’re seeking a plurality of women’s voices. Uh, and there’s an opportunity for folks who are already giving in the political space to say, I’m gonna do, you know, I want that short term win, uh, because I wanna, you know, there’s a great representative, you know, that I, I think is worthy of support, but I’m also gonna put something here that pays it forward and continues to build pipeline.
Brad Caruso:
Love it. Yeah, no, super important. And I, I think it’s incumbent upon upon everyone to, you know, participate in each one of those verticals as far as encouraging, you know, someone to participate as far as donating on both the campaign level as well as to an organization like She Should Run that’s helping encourage people, um, you know, and then, and then, you know, it’s all lead by example. Well, Kaitlyn, thank you so much for being on the show. I, I, this was such an engaging conversation. Your energy is just phenomenal. You’re gonna start your own podcast soon. I can, I can probably, and you should if you haven’t already thought about it.
Kaitlyn Newman:
Yeah. I thank you. I, I, I appreciate all of the questions and obviously, you know, I’ve been at She Should Run for five years, so this is something that I’ve really dedicated this part of my career to, and I believe very strongly in uplifting women’s voices. And that starts with me practicing and using my own. So grateful for the opportunity today and to meet you, Brad.
Brad Caruso:
Love it. And Warriors, thank you for listening. And you know, just remember, you know, a, a any anyone should consider running for public office, everyone should consider it. You should encourage your, your friends. You should encourage the mothers in your town to run for local office. Or if you have someone that’s looking to run on a grander scale, it’s so important, encouraging people, they can do it. And also using, using the resources that Kaitlyn shared with us today at sheshouldrun.org and going out there and just doing the best we can. So we appreciate everyone’s time and, you know, subscribe and meet us right back here for another episode, Withum’s Civic Warriors in the near future. Bye everybody.
