Go Vote, Go Run, Go Lead

Photo via Melissa Brewer on Flickr

So I found this really interesting article called VoteRunLead to recruit, train women to run for local office. The article focuses on why more women don't run for office and how we can motivate each other to actually run for office. This is somewhat similar to my first blog post, about pushing ourselves and conquering our dreams. 

What is VoteRunLead?

VoteRunLead is a new non-profit organization which launched in early September 2014. This organization will recruit and train women on how to effectively run for office at state and local levels. VRL was founded by Erin Vilardi, which a veteran of the now-defunct White House Project. Vilardi has high hopes that VRL will train and increase the number of women in civic and political leadership.

How does it work?

So VoteRunLead has launched a campaign called Invitation Nation, which allows women to invite and ask other women in their network to run for office. VRL hopes this campaign will help get women more motivated about running for office. Once you are invited and recruited then you will receive online and in-person trainings how a campaign operates and how to make it to the top. The plan is to reach every women in every community and in every race across America. VRL also hopes to have 50,000 women invited by November 2014 and 500,000 invited by 2016. 

I think this organization will truly succeed as it teaches women to go vote, go run, and go lead. If your interested  in more information about VoteRunLead and you want to get involved then visit www.voterunlead.org. 

Why Are Women Paid Less Than Men???

Photo via Andy Nquyen on Flickr

What is the Paycheck Fairness Act? 

The Paycheck Fairness Act is to secure equal pay to all working Americans. Also the Paycheck Fairness Act will replace the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which was unable to achieve it’s promise to close the wage gap. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the new act will be more beneficial to keep everyone equal as as it will:

• Require employers to demonstrate that wage differentials are based on factors other than sex.
• Prohibit retaliation against workers who inquire about their employers’ wage practices or disclose their own wages.
• Permit reasonable comparisons between employees within clearly defined geographical areas to determine fair wages
• Strengthen penalties for equal pay violations;
• Authorize additional training for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staff to better identify and handle wage disputes.

If this bill is ever passed will increase women's pay to finally be equal to men's pay. 

Photo via Wikipedia 

Gender- Based Wage Gap

Many people might be unaware of the gender- based wage gap but women are being paid much less than men. Unfortunately full-time employed women in the United States are currently being paid only 78 cents for every dollar paid to men. This is extremely upsetting and unfair to many hard-working women, especially single moms with children to care for. To make matters worse, majority of  African American and Latino women are paid only 64 to 56 cents for every dollar. With this huge gender-based wage gap women will work as hard as men but will not be the paid same amount. 

Photo via Cliff on Flickr

Congress Failed Us Once Again

As many women was hoping for the Paycheck Fairness Act to finally be passed by congress, last week the Senate Republicans decided to unanimously vote to block the bill. This is not the first time Republicans has refused to allow the bill to pass, as they have unanimously voted against the bill multiple times in the past four years. It’s ridiculous that women have to suffer because men egos are too big, to allow us to be paid the same as them. This is exactly why more women need to get into Congress, so we can pass bills and protect us women from being treated unfairly.

Let's Dream BIG....

Photo via CollegeDegrees360 on Flickr

When your a little girl, you're told you can be anything you want to be. Years ago many little girls might have said they wanted to be princess, a mermaid, or even Beyonce, but now days more girls are wanting to become the president. Why not dream big? With society changing everyday, the election for a female president is right around the corner. I believe legislation should properly represent the diversity of our nation. Currently women make up almost 51% of the United States population. According to the Huffington Post, women only comprise 18% of the House of Representatives body and 20% in the U.S Senate.  In my opinion these numbers are way too low, women should have 50% of the House of Representatives and U.S Senate body. Unfortunately it might be a few more years or even a decade before we see these numbers raise.  Currently only 4% of CEO’s of fortune 500 companies are females. I believe these numbers prove that many people are still afraid of women running our country and businesses. 

Ladies don’t let these statistics scary you, as many people might not know but females are attending college and grad school at a much higher rate than males. We are becoming more smarter and educated than ever before. So women if you want to serve in the House of Representatives, the U.S senate, or even run for president, then go for it. I believe many people are afraid to let a female president into office. Don’t allow anyone to determine your destiny its truly up to you.