WinningWomen helps female candidates harness powerful digital tools to overcome barriers to electoral success
There are promising signs that the number of women entering the political arena is on the rise. In the United States alone, 23% of candidates that have filed to run in 2018 are women—up from 16% in 2016, and only 14 states have had filing deadlines pass so far. In Europe, Vasilica Dăncilă became the first female Prime Minster of Romania at the end of January 2018. In Cameroon, political parties have set a goal of having 30% seats held by women in the upcoming election.
While all of these statistics hold promise, long-standing barriers to women entering politics still hold strong. Difficulties securing campaign finance, breaking through the “old boys club,” and steering gendered narratives back to policy are just a few of the challenges facing female candidates and officeholders.
In our recent report, “(Anti)Social Media: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Digital for Female Politicians,” we highlight some of the ways in which digital campaigning can help female candidates break down barriers to electoral success. While engaging on social media can come with some downsides — such as harassment — it gives women a platform to reach out directly to voters and donors, circumventing institutional barriers.
With this in mind, we have partnered with Tectonica, a leading digital agency, to create WinningWomen, a digital campaigning solution for female candidates.
Powered by NationBuilder, WinningWomen gives female candidates access to a powerful suite of campaigning tools, at a much lower cost than typical custom website builds.
