Recent Headlines
July 26, 2024
People Magazine
Melinda French Gates is "making sure we have far more women running for office"
Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Melinda French Gates, opened up about her commitment to giving away her fortune through Pivotal Ventures, her nonprofit organization that works on projects to empower women.
“What I am doing now in full force is making sure that women’s rights are not only on the agenda, but that women are setting the agenda,” French Gates said about the company.
“One of the things I’m doing is making sure that we have far more women running for office, being able to raise funds for their positions and that they are really well trained on the legislative agenda they want to help get passed,” French Gates said. “There’s 7,000 seats at the state house level and getting women into those positions, they create great policy and it’s a great training ground then to go onto the hill in DC.”
Work like that, French Gates noted, was being done by phenomenal organizations like Vote Run Lead and Vote Mama. “But to do it at scale, it needs to be supercharged,” she said. “Part of why our women’s rights got rolled back in the United States is those organizations were starved for funding and they were playing defense. And I’ve decided to put a billion dollars to it in the next two years because I want us to play on the offense.”
June 25, 2024
Minnesota Women's Press
The State of Gender Parity in Minnesota Politics
At the 2024 Minnesota Women’s Press April event, leaders from the Changemakers Alliance series — including “Diversity in Politics” underwriters Nevada Littlewolf of Women Winning, and Beth Peterson of Vote Run Lead — discussed the state of women’s representation in Minnesota politics, and the impact it is having.
May 23, 2024
Lulete Mola and Jillian Hanlon Are Vote Run Lead's Newest Board Members
Vote Run Lead, the nonprofit on a mission to create a truly reflective democracy with women holding at least 51% of U.S. legislative seats, is excited to announce the appointment of new members to its board of directors: Jillian Hanlon and Lulete Mola. These appointments play a crucial role in advancing Vote Run Lead’s mission to train more women to run for office and win — increasing female representation in government, specifically in targeted state legislatures.
“I’m thrilled to have Lulete Mola and Jillian Hanlon join our Vote Run Lead board of directors,” said Board Chair Munawar Ahmed. “Vote Run Lead has quietly accomplished so much these past 10 years. I am ready for this organization to become a household name. Expanding the board with these two new excellent leaders will help achieve that.”
May 15, 2024
MSNBC
Poll: Sexism still ranks as the biggest hurdle facing women in elected office
In a comprehensive article, MSNBC examined an insightful new poll and reporting from Cosmopolitan and Pivotal Ventures, which found sexism ranked as the largest perceived challenge for elected women. Vote Run Lead is proud to be included with many organizations named as powerful resources for women fighting back, as leaders and lawmakers. Cosmopolitan/Pivotal Ventures interviewed more than 60 women in politics — including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Stacey Abrams — on the biggest obstacles women in office face, and how to eliminate gender inequity from the inside out.
May 14, 2024
Cosmopolitan
How to Succeed in Office
VRL is proud to be among the 60+ voices featured in “How to Succeed in Office,” a new feature from Cosmopolitan in partnership with Pivotal Ventures that unpacks the challenges elected women face and the solutions that can benefit us all.
May 10, 2024
Medium.com
Vote Run Lead Wins Award of Excellence and Awards of Distinction in 30th Annual Communicator Awards
In the 2024 Communicator Awards, Vote Run Lead’s 2022 End of Year report received the competition’s highest honor, the Award of Excellence, in the category of “Content & Marketing: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion,” plus Awards of Distinction in the categories of “Social Responsibility for Social Media” and “Causes & Awareness for Social Media.”
April 23, 2024
Public News Service
In politics, women candidates bear brunt of hateful threats and harassment
Anticipating and managing hateful threats and harassment, even violence, has become a fact of life for political women. As VRL Founder and CEO Erin Vilardi points out, this concern “permeates women in politics — not just for the folks who are stepping up to lead but for the ecosystem of women around them.”
April 15, 2024
Lean to the Left
Lean to the Left Podcast: Calling Female Candidates
Chief Political Officer Sabrina Shulman discusses the need for women in office at all levels of government (but especially state legislatures), the “VRL magic” of our training approach, relationships among our alumni and community members, our strong partnerships, and our data-driven strategies.
April 11, 2024
ATL69/WUPA
Sabrina Shulman on "Focus Atlanta"
Chief Political Officer Sabrina Shulman appears on ATL69/WUPA’s “Focus Atlanta” with host Keisha Lancelin to discuss the importance of women’s representation (in Georgia and nationwide) and why women’s unique experiences are valuable and necessary toward making effective policy (for everyone!).
March 28, 2024
C-SPAN
Erin Vilardi live interview on "Washington Journal"
CSPAN’s daily show “Washington Journal” invited Founder and CEO Erin Vilardi to talk about Vote Run Lead’s mission and goals. The spirited discussion includes insights, inspiration, and the occasional snappy comeback as our fearless leader deftly handled the live Q&A portion.
March 26, 2024
Spectrum News
Sabrina Shulman on "The Big Deal"
Chief Political Officer Sabrina Shulman recently appeared on Spectrum News’ new national show, “The Big Deal” with Errol Louis. She discussed VRL’s mission, our amazing alumni community, the obstacles women face in achieving political office, and how we can build a talent pipeline for women leaders at all levels of government.
March 19, 2024
AP News
VRL granted $2M by MacKenzie Scott's Yield Giving
When Yield Giving gave an open call for “community-led, community-focused organizations whose explicit purpose is to enable individuals and families to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being,” they received 6,353 requests. Vote Run Lead was not only selected but also ranked among the highest-scoring applications.
When it comes to governmental power, we don’t want it all — but we do want at least 51%. This unrestricted gift will be used by Vote Run Lead to supercharge our RUN/51 efforts toward 2024 races and beyond.
