Women meet in Sandy for leadership training

An event to engage women in the political process was held recently at Salt Lake Community College on the Miller Campus.

The Real Women Run leadership training seminar brought together about 300 women from across the state to meet with media experts, current and past female politicians, public appointees, campaign managers and other experts with knowledge on the process of setting public policy.

The event was the product of a partnership between the YWCA of Salt Lake City, The Hinckley Institute of politics at the University of Utah and an organizing committee of 20 prominent women in positions of leadership.

Former member of the Utah House of Representatives Jackie Biskupski, a member of the Real Women Run organizing committee, said participating women had come from all backgrounds to learn more about how to make a difference in their communities by taking active leadership roles.

“[These women] have a voice. They just haven’t learned how to use it yet,” Biskupski said.

According to statistics provided by the Hinckley Institute, the proportion of women serving as an elected official in the Utah legislature is just 17 percent.

Currently, there are no Utah women elected to Congress or serving in a statewide elected office.

The Real Women Run training lasted the full day on Jan. 14. The event was free, nonpartisan and inclusive of women from diverse backgrounds.

Topics covered included making the decision to run for elected office; how to put together a political campaign; how to get appointed to boards and commissions that set public policy at the state and local levels; how to finance a campaign; how to work with the media and craft a campaign message; and how caucuses and conventions work within the political process.

Real Women Run participant Melinda Nagai, who grew up in Sandy, said she heard about the leadership training seminar from a professional peer and was inspired to get involved.

Nagai currently works in local government as the South Jordan associate director of community services. She called the leadership training event “eye-opening” because of the range of topics covered and the opportunities to network with other women.

“There’s an amazing number of women invested in their community,” she said. “I am inspired to be more involved.”

The women who participated in Real Women Run were encouraged to leave contact information so that conference leaders could follow up with them and provide any additional information or encouragement needed to pursue their goals.

Biskupski said she would like to see more women from Sandy and the East Bench area get actively involved in local politics.

She said many local women don’t realize that they have a good chance of being elected to public office.

“When women run here, they win,” Biskupski said.