Cultivate Your Leadership Potential

The Virtual Cohort is free to apply. There is a $65 registration fee for accepted participants to complete before starting the program. The registration fee is non-refundable. Scholarships are given on a case-by-case basis.

Yes! This isn’t your typical political training. Many trainings would drop you right into the proverbial deep end of the political pool. The Virtual Cohort instead helps you dip your toe in and get used to the water. While we’re sure you’ll be inspired to run someday while participating, we also know the Virtual Cohort and community will prepare you to be a stronger leader for however you decide to make an impact.

Where you used to see barriers to running, we aim for you to see opportunities to run and serve. The Virtual Cohort will help you find your unique way to start envisioning a life in public service based on your own experiences, networks, and leadership style. You will gain increased confidence about running for office and feel more prepared to navigate the path to elected office, especially with a supportive community of women encouraging you along the way.

The Virtual Cohort is NOT a campaign training. The Virtual Cohort is the beginning, not the end of your journey. The program focuses on helping you build a solid foundation to run someday. If you are looking for a nuts-and-bolts campaign program that focuses on voter outreach, targeted fundraising, etc., check out Pinpoint. Pinpoint helps you find and share local, state, and national resources focused on running for office and includes organizations that offer campaign programs.

Our Virtual Cohort participants are women from all different backgrounds, ethnicities, political parties, and from all across the country. Some are just starting to consider it and some know they want to run but are looking for the first place to start. We aim to build a supportive network among our Cohorts that you can lean on during the program and afterward.

Each weekly session lasts 90 minutes and attendance is required. As this is an investment in your personal leadership journey, there is required homework outside of the program for participants to work on that can take between 30-60 minutes per week. We estimate cohort members will spend up to 2.5 hours each week, but it will vary from person to person. Participants should plan to block out time each week to focus on the cohort and their leadership.

Each week, Virtual Cohort members will meet for 90 minutes via Zoom, a video conferencing platform, to discuss the elements of leadership, building networks, fostering communication, and finding pathways. The sessions are interactive and members are expected to come fully prepared to engage with one another and their facilitator. Outside of the weekly sessions, participants have access to online groups where they can chat and get to know one another.

Due to the short nature of the program, we allow only one excused absence. If a participant is more than 30 minutes late to a session or leaves with more than 20 minutes left, this will count as an absence. If you miss more than one, you can remain in the program but you will not receive a certificate of completion. Participants are also required to give notification of absence within 24 hours of the virtual session or as soon as you are aware you will be absent.

In order to maintain the privacy of our participants, we don’t offer recordings of the sessions. Additionally, the weekly virtual sessions are interactive-style rather than a traditional webinar.

As a 501(C)(3) nonprofit, we do not work directly with candidates by providing political endorsements or financial support. If a woman in our cohort is actively running, we ask that she refrain from soliciting support from fellow cohort members for the duration of the program.