Unconventional Women 2008
Swanee Hunt on the campaign trail with Ken Salazar, who was elected
US Senator from Colorado in 2004.
Politics
Unconventional Women 2008
Gifted Women 2005
Unconventional Women 2004
During Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992, Swanee Hunt co-chaired “Serious Women, Serious Issues, Serious Money,” a ground-breaking initiative that brought together women from all walks of life to generate major financial backing for a national political campaign. Since then, she has remained very active in the Democratic Party, supporting candidates at all levels. During the 2004 election, Hunt was national co-chair of Dick Gephardt’s 2004 presidential bid and subsequently active in John Kerry’s campaign.
Women’s Voting Circles
The goal of Women’s Voting Circles is the civic engagement of a massive number (in this case 10,000) of “least likely to vote” women, using a sponsorship process and multiplication principle. Women already committed to a victory for Barack Obama are being organized in expanding circles, from which they shepherd currently unaffiliated citizens through the voting process.
Starting with a small circle, the number of new voters grows exponentially as more already committed voters join the circle, committed to reaching potential voters.
Each circle is independent, determining its own name, accountability, goals, strategy, and tactics. Members are responsible to each other rather than headquarters. Headquarters serves as a resource, data clearinghouse, and a tracking location.
On August 25, 2008 in Denver, Colorado, Swanee hosted Unconventional Women, a historic symposium uniting 3,000 women to advance their political leadership and participation. The event was part of the Democratic National Convention's Rocky Mountain Roundtable series. The week of the convention marked the passing of 88 years since the enactment of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. Women from all walks of life – young and old, affluent and struggling, Democrat and Republican – gathered to hear stories from senators, congresswomen, White House staffers, donors, non-profit leaders, candidates, and a governor about the challenges and rewards that women face in politics.
Swanee and Black Entertainment Television co-founder Sheila Johnson opened the day with a reading of the “Remember the Ladies” correspondence between Abigail and John Adams. They were followed by former White House deputy chief of staff Maria Echaveste, who introduced film clips documenting the work of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and other early suffragists. Later in the day, Ilana Goldman, President of the Women’s Campaign Forum Foundation, introduced the She Should Run program, calling upon the audience to nominate women that should run for office.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi spoke about her life in the public eye, reflecting on over 20 years in the House of Representatives and exhorting the young women in the audience to “know their power.” Later, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota addressed the question “So you’re in office…now what?” with the help of CNN commentator Donna Brazile. Senator Barbara Boxer spoke about her own political journey, introducing the film 14 Women, a documentary about the 14 women Senators of the 109th Congress.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
Sheila C. Johnson, co-founder of BET and CEO, Salamander Hospitality
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Donna Brazile, political commentator
Barbara Lee, Principal, Barbara Lee Family Foundation
Kathy Cloninger, CEO of Girl Scouts
Ellen Malcolm, President, Emily’s List
Maria Echaveste, former assistant to the president and
deputy chief of staff for President Clinton
Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY)
Page Gardner, President, Women’s Voices. Women Vote
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Ilana Goldman, President, Women’s Campaign Forum Foundation
Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-CA)
Dusti Gurule, Executive Director, Latina Initiative
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver
Former governor Jane Swift (R-MA)
Ambassador Swanee Hunt, President, Hunt Alternatives Fund
Marie Wilson, President, The White House Project
Tickets to the event were available on a sliding scale, beginning at $1. All money raised was split among our four non-partisan partners, each of whom is on the forefront of the fight to increase women’s participation in politics: the Latina Initiative, The White House Project, Women’s Campaign Forum Foundation, and Women’s Voices. Women Vote.
The Girl Scouts of Colorado closed the day with a stirring rendition of a song that echoed through the Buell Theater:
We’re great and no one knows it, no one knows it so far. Some day they’ll realize how wonderful we are. They’ll look at us, they’ll point at us, and then they’ll shout HOORAY! We’re great and no one knows, but they will some day!
Nearly 200 Girl Scouts of all ages attended the event, learning about the struggles and rewards that women face in public life. Each received an individual “Toolkit for the Future,” designed to help prepare them for lives of civic engagement. The tote bags, donated by Lifetime Television, were filled with books by women leaders, DVDs about women public officials, voting information, and temporary “Rosie the Riveter” tattoos!
Inspiring Women to Political Leadership
Inspiring Women is a multi-year project combining grant making and international consultations to build a critical mass of women in positions of political leadership around the world. In August 2008, Hunt Alternatives Fund sponsored Unconventional Women, a nonpartisan symposium with internationally-known leaders and experts intended to inspire the next generation of women to become candidates, leaders, and mentors.
On August 4th, 2008 Swanee led a conversation with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on the subject of her new autobiography, Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters.Before a packed house of over 1,000 guests at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, Swanee and Speaker Pelosi discussed her religious upbringing, her experience growing up in a political family, and the challenges women face in public life. Speaker Pelosi relayed stories both heartwarming and disheartening about her journey to become the first woman Speaker of the House, from meeting President Kennedy as a high school student to discussing childbirth with male colleagues in Congress.
Read a transcript of Swanee's conversation with Speaker Pelosi
Watch Here!
Gifted Women 2005
In June 2005, Swanee Hunt launched “Gifted Women,” an initiative to bring Massachusetts women together to elect more women to high-level public office and raise women’s influence as both fundraisers and architects of the political landscape.
Women hold only 14% of the seats in the US Senate and 15% in the House. That makes us 59th in the world, even behind Rwanda (49%), Tunisia (22%), and Pakistan (21%). In our 50 states, only eight women serve as Governors. “Gifted Women” supports Democratic women candidates for United States senator and governor through a series of events to raise money for women by women.
June 26, 2005: US Senator Maria Cantwell (Washington)
September 18, 2005: Governor Kathleen Sebelius (Kansas)
Swanee Hunt, US Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), and Barbara Lee
at the launch of Gifted Women
Unconventional Women 2004
During the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Swanee Hunt hosted “Unconventional Women: A Gathering of Great Minds,” designed to stimulate discussion about key issues of concern to American women. Two hundred women from around the country, including elected officials and opinion leaders, met for substantive discussions about how to engage women in the political process, both as voters and legislators influencing the direction of American public policy.
- U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) described how women’s representation in government impacts the nature and emphasis of debates about key national and foreign policy issues.
- Marie Wilson, President of the White House Project, stressed the importance of encouraging young women to run for office.
- Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) expressed her hope that—in the not-so-distant future—women will learn that they don’t need permission to be a candidate for public office.
 Isobel Coleman (Council on Foreign Relations), Sarah Sewall (Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) discuss how to raise women's voices on international security issues. |
 Swanee Hunt introduces the next panel. |
“Unconventional Women” provided a forum for women to talk about how to raise women’s voices on international security issues. The panel below discussed the most important opportunities and obstacles in having women’s voices heard in matters of foreign policy.
- U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who led the Senate’s effort to end the suffering of Afghan women under the Taliban and authored a resolution calling for the inclusion of women in the interim government of Afghanistan.
- Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), the first African-American to represent Dallas and an internationally recognized leader in promoting democracy, good governance, and human rights; she has led congressional efforts to protect the rights of women and children during and after war.
- Dr. Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who directs a multi-year initiative to examine how the international community can advance the role women in economic and political development in the Greater Middle East.
- Dr. Sarah Sewall, Program Director at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University, who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance in the Clinton Administration and helped develop American peace operations in Haiti, Bosnia, and elsewhere.
 Swanee Hunt and Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) |
 Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, (D-CA) |