Women in Politics Foundation, Inc.

The Women In Politics Foundation, Inc. (WIP) is dedicated to the fight for women to achieve political equality in Missouri and Kansas. We are a nonpartisan organization that sponsors projects to educate women about leadership and how they can contribute to the political process. We believe equal gender representation is essential for those who seek true democracy. We must continually grow the numbers of women ready to assume responsibility for our Nation’s offices.  The U.S. Census Bureau estimated females make up about 51 percent of the nation's total population. Yet, even with a jump this year in the number of women elected to Congress, they will make up only 23.6 percent of the body. Since 2016 women’s interest in becoming involved and running for political office has increased dramatically. Women in significant numbers sought training to prepare to run for offices — learning how to campaign, develop resources and fundraise. The number of women who ran for office in 2018 was up by 28 percent in state legislatures. Many states saw dramatic increases in the percentage of women elected. However we did not see those types of exciting outcomes in Missouri and Kansas. Missouri moved from 23.4 percent women legislators in 2018 to 24.9 percent in 2019. In Kansas we saw 27.9 percent in 2018 go to 28.5 percent in 2019. Much work needs to be done to end this underrepresentation and close the leadership disparity in Missouri and Kansas.  WIP is committed to supporting and maintain efforts and avenues for women leaders with the skills and experience needed to finally end this era of underrepresentation and close the leadership disparity. Our primary long-term goal is to have the percentage of women office holders equal to the percentage of women in the population at all levels of government. Within the next two election cycles our goal is to raise the number of women holding office by 2 percent based on election results. A second important goal is to increase the number of women working on campaigns and active on all levels. This goal will be measured through the number of women attending candidate and leadership programs and trainings. Goal three includes reaching out to outstate women in Missouri and Kansas with training opportunities to become involved politics at all levels. WIP believes in the importance of creating a strong pipeline of diverse women with the knowledge and skills to become our leaders of tomorrow.

WIP is committed to supporting Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus (GKCWPC), campaign schools as well as outstate trainings. WIP will also support regularly scheduled Campaign 101 trainings, promoting women’s involvement in all levels of campaigns and government. These trainings will also encourage and instruct women on the importance of board and commission positions in local and state government.  WIP continues to provide funding for capacity building of organizations working to train women in leadership roles. This includes GKCWPC outreach grants dealing with legislative issues and issues important to women and families.  A capacity building grant was recently awarded to the Kansas Nation Women’s Political Caucus (KNWPC), to assist this start-up organization organize throughout Kansas including rural areas. An important strategy to strengthen the future of active participation by women will be our continued efforts to provide funding to support developing future leaders through "Teach a Girl to Lead", trainings.

WIP continues to provide funding for capacity building of membership organizations that have diverse memberships capable of carrying out activities aimed at involvement, education and training of women and girls.  This includes GKCWPC and outreach grants dealing with legislative issues and concerns important to women and families. A capacity building grant was recently awarded to the KNWPC to assist this start-up organization organize throughout Kansas including rural areas. The Missouri Women’s Leadership Coalition(MWLC), is currently working on trainings to assist out-state women in Missouri to run for office, become educated on issues and become active in local boards and commissions.

WIP has sustained programs of candidate trainings for women for almost two decades. Many of the women attending these trainings did choose to run for office or take on important roles in candidates’ campaigns  WIP has funded voter registration drives and “Get Out the Vote” campaigns throughout local, state and national election cycles. The organization has also funded technology to educate the public on legislative issues and public policies.   WIP continues to be a sponsor of the “Teach a Girl to Lead” trainings, offering girls an opportunity to learn the tools to make meaningful decisions, set goals and advocate for an issues and positive change.  We have seen an increase in the number of women elected to office at the state level and even larger increases in the number of women willing to run for offices at every level.  The organization has recently restructured within its own board roles to provide clearer more specific task and responsibilities. Where we have not been as successful as we would like is in the area of fundraising in order to sustain and increase our capacity to meet mission goals. -The Board is currently working on revised fundraising objectives and plan.