thank you. hi, friends. how are we? are we thriving were surviving today? my name is ashley i use she and her pronouns and i have a slide with my headshot so i'm not going to tell you too much about me right now. vote run lead is our c3 national organization and this is an image of our run 51 program, so what is vote run lead action and what do we do, why am i here?

we train pro-democracy antiracist antifeminist women and non-binary folks to address the long-standing underrepresentation of women in state legislature so we are working up and down the ballot with state legislatures where our focus is. that's where the action is and the policies are made that change our lives basically. we are also training campaign staff who went through our campaign staff programming. it's going to create a holistic approach and ripple effect of how we change the complete cycle of the political landscape. it's. not enough to train as candidates. we also have to drain the campaign staff because when we have a woman of color running for the first time and then no

shade about her campaign manager is still an old straight white man who doesn't know anything about what's going on on the ground, that doesn't work. but no shame we are just also going to train other folks. i want you to look at all of the contested seats over half of the legislative seats in georgia in the 2022 general cycle were uncontested so that means we are letting people hold their seats, we are not saying if you're not doing what you were elected to do, we are going to run against you and put people in the seats that are going to work to make a difference. at the current rate of that we are going it's going to take 28 years to reach gender parity. i don't know about you although i'm not going to wait three decadesea to see representationn

my state so that's why we are doing the work that we are doing and why we are not going to stop anytime soon. so there is me at the capital. again my name is m ashley and i use she her pronouns. my hometown is hershey pennsylvania, the sweetest place on earth. that is a real thing. i'm very biased when it comes to chocolate. my background is legislative advocacy and campaign strategy and my likes are live music, i love to travelha especially i gt back from japan just two weeks ago and black female novelists, so toni morrison, audrey, all of the grades. in georgia she was the youngest

at 29 and first palestinian american womanec in the georgia legislature and also the first wearing a woman in the state legislature. and most a importantly, she is a proud alumni so that is why we arent spotlighting her so what e are going to talk about today, we have a lot to get through in a you're going toec want to take notes, so talk about how we go from training with practical steps on how we feel the confidence cap and go from education to action because being mad and not doing anything about it and then considering a career change. politics might not be your first option and that's okay you can still make a difference in different industries and sectors and then we are going to have some reflection time and demand

interactive exercise, so bear with me it won't be that hard i promise. we are going to talk about filling the confidence cap and i'm going to pretend i know how to multitask with two hands, so bear with me. did you know that no two fingerprints are the same? even on your hands, your feet if you are an identical twin the, you have different fingerprints and that tells us that no one else can be you. the first being take a picture of it, you are enough. you are more than enough and you've always been enough and always will be.

so that is step number one. your unique skills and value again no two people are the same, no two people have the exact same knowledge or experience, the exact same skills, and there is power in that how we b work together bringing our authentic identities to the table as an asset rather than a liability. let your why be your guide, so everything we do in this work into space and campaign is movement work and saving democracy because that is literally what we are doing if you are not aware we are saving democracy right now. there has to be a why. what grounds you and what are you passionate about.

this work is hard but also heart work. let's be honest none of us know what we are doing. wewe are all trying to figure ts out and go sit together evidence of your accomplishments, keep a folder, keep a subfolder

wherever you keep things whenever you get an e-mail from a boss or colleagues that says this is great, thank you for whatever you did, keep that e-mail, make a mental note of the compliments that you get not necessarily about your appearance but about the work that you've done that has helped somebody. a lot of us have an all or nothing approach and a specialty and campaigngn management and movement work we've got to break those down because otherwise we will go crazy and it's panic we are trying to overcome that is so break down your success metrics instead of saying we need $40,000 for the quarter, say we need $5,000 this week.

also trust to to talk to friends and mentors need to be in your isolation bubble where we don't feel like we are doing what we are supposed to do. how many of you have a high spot? we need the squad to so sometimes i have a chat of my sorority sisters o and closest friends. when i say i am having a day and i get voice memos back to say stop playing, your that girl, hello, hashtag beyoncé number onem and then accept failure. i know a lot of us have heard the phrase failure is not an option, yes it is. it absolutely is, and it's okay because when you fail that is an opportunity toat learn how to do something better. it's an opportunity to learn how to do something different and also an opportunity to realize

that you cannot do this work by yourself. you have to have community, and when you fail it is a reminder to say what did i not do this time around, who did i not reach out to, did i ask for help, did i delegate, i'm one of them raising my hand. it's okay, like to be in control, very tight a. we are going to learn together how to delegate. next we are going to go from agitation to action, so agitation is a very powerful catalyst for change but you have to channel that energy somewhere productive like i said earlier it doesn't make sense to just be mad and then not do anything about it so to go from agitation to action, we are going to talk about some very specific practical steps. t first of all advocacy is acti. we are doing something about it. so first we are going to

connect, engage with like-minded people who share your values and your passion and also who want to do something about the work that you're passionate about, so social media is a powerful tool to client like-minded individuals. we are all on tick-tock and i still call it twitter i don't know what x is and instagram and threads and all the things. think about the people you talk with on a regular basis. have you ever talked to them about what you're passionate about, yourat family, cousins, college friends,en have you ever had a conversation about what is happening in the world and what you can do about it? you also want to learn, educate yourself from the nuances of the political landscape and some of the historical context about the things you're passionate about so what does this mean, what

does it look like and what policies have already been tried and what can we do different. most importantly with learning, please get your information from credible sources. the shade room is not a credible news source. i'm not going to tell you what a broadcast news channels to watch but make sure that you're doing your due diligence and getting your education from credible news sources. next we are going to mobilize. you need to activate at the appropriate level so for example if you're concerned about potholes ince your community, please don't call the governor's office. he doesn't care. he can't do anything. who is your city council member? if you can't get in touch with them, who is your mayor? make sure that you are advocating at the appropriate

level. a lot of us we are activists, i am also a grassroots activist. we like to lace up our sneakers and hit the ground with the bullhorn. mine is in the trunk. itn. stays in the trunk. i'm always ready. but hitting the streets is not a step one. step one, did you write a letter, send an e-mail, request a meeting. like yes burn it all down but make sure that it's the right building first. make sure there's nobody in it. we've got to think strategically about these things and finally, we are going to collaborate. there is no reason to do this work alone. we cannot do this work alone and you don't have to reinvent the wheel. think aboutt all of the coalitions and the spaces that already exist and are doing the work that you also want to do. reach out, make connections, say i saw that you are doing this great work and i'm also

interested. raise your hand and say do you need volunteers? are you looking for an intern? at my age i will in turn absolutely. there is power in numbers and joining me in this movement coalition is an excellent way to not be inefficient and how you are going about change. considering a career change, this is the big one. all of us are not going to run for office. all of usre are not going to manage a campaign and that's okay. consider what your unique skills are, consider whatou your unique abilities are and how you can be most useful to this work. and i am a communications digital media maybe i can help you to be a speechwriter. maybe i can write grants for a nonprofit organization.

it doesn't necessarily have to beri campaign related. it doesn't have to be running for office related. advocacy, grassroots advocacy, mobilizing your community. i'm still considering law school and just trying to c figure out who's going to pay for it because thehe student loans i he right now, i have nothing to do with it, it's above me. but being a paralegal, being a secretary, there are different waysnt to get into these industries. media and communication, education and research, so we all knowll a campaign staffer in the room. the opposition research firms and consulting, but you also can educate on a grassroots level. it doesn't have to be complicated is my point. and then the bogeyman, corporate affairs. there are gold spaces and departments into corporate

relations and corporate affairs that help you connect with communities. my first big girl job when i moved to atlanta i worked at a building right down the street on the 37th floor and i helped run pro bono community service at a large law firm, so my job was to connect our really powerful wealthy attorneys with nonprofits who are doing excellent work on the ground, making sure one, they are getting their hours and they can stay licensed but also making sure the money we are bringing in is going into the community where they needed. one of the main things i don't have this written down but, adhd, one of the things that is important to think about when we are running these corporate programs, and even for those of you that work in nonprofits and other spaces where you give back to the communities, what does the community actually need? so, if you're going to do a back

to school drive and you are feeling bookbags with school supplies but the parents are saying we don't need crayons and pencils, my babies are hungry, we need to think about are we here because we want a photo op and want to look good in the newsletter because we gave out 500 book bags or do we want to actually make a difference and make sure they are fed when they go to school, make sure their sneakers don't have holes in them et cetera? so, we are moving. does anybody have -- because we have some time, does anybody have any quick questions for me tbefore we move into the reflection and interactive exercise? i have a question over here. can i have a microphone runner, please and thank you. >> bless her heart i appreciate you. give it up, he's been working

behind-the-scenes. [applause] my question is, no one understands how vital having your squadad and mentors are and so how would you go about acquiring a mentor? because what in some cases there are some people who don't necessarily have the time and/or the capacity to be able to take on a mentorship and there are people that have friends for decades andhe they just have outgrown them and need to move forward into a different space with differentfe people into tht kind of dynamic. >> that is an excellent question. the greatest mentor ship relationships that i've had in my personal and professional life have not been from intentionallyy seeking out mentr ships, so i didn't send an e-mail. i'm not saying this is wrong but i did and sending an e-mail and

say i would love to learn more about you and what you do, will you mentor me. i reached out and said i'm interested in the work you're doing, how can i help. so, offering yourself is not just somebody that is going to be a sponge and a sack of information, but make yourself available to get your hands dirty. so, my campaign strategist, campaign leadership mentor i reached out to her and said if you need help on some of these campaigns that are coming up, call me. i will knock on doors and make calls, i will volunteer with your candidates, and that is how i got tos be in the room where t happens, shout out. that's how i got to be in the room and see what she's doing and build a relationship with her. you can also send code out outr, send an e-mail and say my name is ashley and i am interested in

the work you're leaving and i would love to treat you to coffee one day and chat and just to see y where that goes. i think a lot of it, they believe it or not i'm a textbook introvert, i am veryab uncomfortable right now but shout out to me for doing hard things. [applause] but putting yourself out there is going to be really important. thank you. >> absolutely. i saw a question over here, this gentleman over here. question is about the it's okay to fail. i've learned maybe in our jobs it's okay to fail, and i know in life it's also okay to fail, and this is probably like a therapy session but -- >> it's okay. [laughter]r] bring it on.

one of the things i've struggled with for most is yes it may be okay to fail but if i do i'm failing at something so big it sets me back a year or two years in my life plan or maybe it can have pretty dire consequences on me in my future. that's what i struggle with when it comes down to it's okay to fail. so i wanted to ask have you encountered that not just in your life but also with people you've trained in how have you kind of overcome that? >> that's an excellent question. i love that. i also had a life plan. i still do i just kind of mixed up the timeline a little bit because there is no such thing as being too old to start over or being too old or seasoned to try new things, so it is okay to fail. but thinking about, i turned 30

on april 1st, shout out to all my areas in the room and by 30, i was like i'm going to be married, lol, might have a couple of kids, i'm going to have my law degree, i'm going to buy a house -- i did do that, but i had all these plans and things that i had to accomplish by a certain time and i was stressing myself out. my anxiety was through the roof. i was trying to manage all the things to get done by 28 and 30, it was a lot. shout out to lexapro, but one of the main things i tell people literally,ng i know this probaby doesn't really answer your question, but it's okay. i think how old was oprah when she got her first on air job, 35 or 36. ava, one of my favorite film directors didn't pick up a camera until she was in her

mid-30s, so yes there is that overwhelming kind of the voices in the back of our head say if i don't do this or if i don't do this right, what consequence does that have for my family, what consequence does that have for the movement work that i'm trying to do, and i think my point is we cannot carry all of that on our own. i hope thatpe helps you a little bit. then i have time for one more question h. how do you discern when you have difficulty in an organization with them not honoring the values they set forth in the public, how do you know whether

to stay and fight for that change order to leave the organization because i feel disillusioned and excited to work at my board but now it's not the organization itself, it's my particular affiliate so i'm having a hard time whether i should stay and fight because i care about the people that work there because they are very sweet and they really care, or do i just say i can't do this the fight is too big, i'm gone? did i ask too big of a question? [laughter] >> that might have been too good of a question. also shout out to your shirt, planned parenthood. stand with black women. [applause] what are your nonstarter's?

what values can you say i am here to do this work because of this, and i'm not going to jeopardize that, i am not going to change that for anyone, and if that is not what we are doing, there isn't a place for me here and that is also okay. movement work as we all know it isn't aboutab the money becausee all can be getting paid for, but it's about the value system that you hold personally so i've been in situations where i love the organization and what we stand for externally and i may even love my colleagues i'm doing the work with, but at the end of the day i'm going to use the phrase shucking and driving if we are not doing what we're supposed to bet doing for the communities e

love and serve, you have to have that internal value and conversation to say from my example earlier if we are supposed to be feeding the community it all we want tobu do is show up with bookbags, can you tell this is a personal experience i had?ar like high schoolers don't need crayons, they need 500-dollar calculators. what are we doing. but if that isn't what is happening, like listenen to tha. listen to that and sometimes it is worth having a conversation with of the people that are above you. i've learned that being afraid of saying what i need, asking for what i need and even questioning strategic plans on an organizational level if you

will fire me, that means i wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. but somebody has to be holding each other accountable, and that includes your president and founder ceo, the folks that sit ont the board. ask t all the questions and if u don't get a significant answers were sufficient answers, sometimes it's okay to step back and say maybe this isn't the role for me. i hope that helps a little bit. but listen to that voice that you have because it is there and i know she's telling you you need to stay and fight for this or if every day you get up to go to work and you're like here we go l again, it takes you forever to get your tasks done because there's no motivation, sometimes that's also kind of that internal trigger like this is draining me, it's not bringing me joy, so i need to find where i can make a difference but also not be invisible.

can i do the reflection and then i will get to you, i promise. i want you all to sit quietly, talk among yourselves if you would like to play want you all to really reflect on what your values are and what your passion projects are and what your unique superpower is that you can useer for change. so, i will give you an example. my passion project is electing women of color up and down the ballot, the unique superpower that i have to get that done is strategy, logical thinking, makingg it all makes sense. so, take a couple of minutes and just really think about what your passion projects are, what your top values are, where you draw the line. and then the superpowers and potential career changes that

you can make. i'm going to be quiet for a couple of minutes and let you all do that. all right. let's come on back. if you can hear my voice, clap once. if you can hear my voice clap twice. and we are back. i hope that was helpful for you all to reflect on what your unique lane is. some of us are martin and some of us are carrabba. it's okay. the bold advocacy, the person at the front of the room, the that is a public figure and then there's those of us that are in that quiet strength in the background. the strategy, the logical thinking, making it all makes sense. so, my friend from venezuela over here i'm going too pick on you because you had a question. you don't have to, but if you want to share what you're reflections was and then ask a

question, go ahead. >> [inaudible] i connected a lot with the reflection over the question that was asked over there. because often times [inaudible] often times as human rights

activists we are often times in positions we make decisions of power but we don't connect with vulnerable people. i know everyone here does, yes. but our mission is to teach people that are not in this room right now. in my experience i lived in ecuador for five years and there i thought i learned what we needed to help immigrants who were fleeing from one dictatorship walking through countries, going through and they would get to the city and

my organization and my friends, venezuelans, ecuadorians, people from the united states. we believe the best way to help them is with a coat and some food. obviously, that just seems right. but a lot of these immigrants use ecuador as a launching point for which to go through themselves.i but i understood what you said earlier. it's putting yourself in the shoes of other folks. it's kind of what you said, stepping outside of our comfort zone. but it's very easy to say here we are. the question is are we really doing that.

[applause] what did i do? it was a crazy thing. don't do this. [laughter] i left everything i had in ecuador. four years of hard work as an immigrant and i said we are doing something wrong. we are not helping these immigrants in the correct way. i decided that i needed to be an immigrant as well. i went back to venezuela and i walked with the immigrants with the little bit of clothes that i had on me eating from trash cans just like they do, hitchhiking, sleeping out in the street, and

ndit took me three months to get from san antonio to peru, to lima peru crossing through venezuela, colombia, ecuador and peru.ul i could have gone back to my house, but i had to do what you're trying to teach us here it literally put my self in the shoes of others and kind of step outside of my comfort zone and that is where i understood that we were doing everything wrong. i got back finally in other cities in colombia and ecuador, to tell them, these immigrants that they need all of these

things and many more things that the immigrant, the african-american person, the asian person, the white person, the underprivileged white person might not say out of fear of not knowing or because out of shame you're trying to give me food and clothing and who am i to ask for more and what if you don't give me it into the message i want to leave here is please listen to her. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you. that was the best example that any of us could have heard.

we are the ones we've been waiting for. i know we've heard that before and it's's cliché, but we have o take that to heart and do the work. we have to be uncomfortable, we have to roll up our sleeves and get dirty and the project is combating food deserts. are you in the dirt clenching vegetables or just talking about it? if your passion project is reproductive justice an abortion access because abortion is not a bad word, if that's your passion project, are you just talking about it or signing up to be in court to take young women to clinics and make sure they are not heckled? are you doing the work? so thank you so much for sharing. [applause]