Women's Campaign School

The Women's Campaign School is an independent, nonpartisan, non-advocacy political campaign training and leadership program hosted at Yale University by the Yale Law School. The WCS was founded in 1993 by author and scholar Andree Aelion Brooks. Their mission is to provide the best training in the world for women who want to run for office, want to move up to higher elective office or public service, run political campaigns, or to advance their careers in public life in political environments. WCS trains women leaders who are capable of building relationships regardless of political point of view. At a time of intense political divisions, WCS draws women who will step up to lead when others walk away.

Events

Every summer a small group of women are chosen to gather from around the United States and other parts of the world to learn the skills and strategies to run successful political campaigns. For five days participants are put through an intensive political immersion program designed to teach political skills, strategic assessment, and improvisation. Experienced operatives and media experts are brought in to teach and to share their experiences in a more reflective way to provide perspective.

This unique curriculum is designed by and for women to address the particular cultural challenges faced by women in politics. The instructors are the best and most experienced in the business, and they come from both political parties. The focus is on teaching advanced campaign skills keeping in mind the common needs and experiences of political women, not the differences of political partisans. Some WCS alumnae already sit across the aisle from one another in state legislatures around the country and in Washington.

WCS has a competitive admissions process. Due to the rigorous nature of the program and the schedule, participants are advised to apply after they have already had some political campaign experience. WCS is a small-group setting designed to increase opportunities for networking among students. All classes are held at Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut.

WCS occasionally runs a series of Special Event Seminars, day-long seminars throughout the calendar year designed to provide in-depth training in a particular area of expertise. The emphasis for these sessions is also non-partisan. WCS seminars may be arranged at venues around the country.

External links

* [http://www.wcsyale.org The Women's Campaign School at Yale]