Alaska Women Ascend Application 2024/2025

Training Women to Win Public Office

Alaska Women Ascend (AWA) is a once-a-month, eight-session "Get Elected" training designed for progressive women interested in learning about running for public office, managing a campaign, being a campaign treasurer, or being a community change agent.

Who is eligible to participate in AWA? Progressive Alaska Women* of any age (Registered Democrat, Nonpartisan, or Undeclared). We train women who are pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ rights, pro-union, anti-racist, pro-racial justice, and environmentally minded. *We accept those who identify as a woman and/or are gender-expansive (e.g., two-spirit, non-binary, gender-fluid, etc.) regardless of sex assigned at birth.

When are the trainings? One Saturday per month (9 AM to 1 PM) from September through April. The trainings are virtual and last approximately four hours. Each session has homework assignments that are reviewed at the following session.

Where is the program? Trainings are virtual, held online, through Zoom.

Who are the trainers? Program trainers are Alaska women leaders, including current and former elected officials, candidates, managers, and campaign professionals, who are volunteering their time to prepare progressive women to win public office or be effective community change agents. AWA brings in women who are subject matter experts in dealing with social media, public speaking, endorsements, and the press.

What is the cost? The total fee for 8 4-hour sessions is $200. Scholarships are available.

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* 1. First Name

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* 2. Last Name

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* 3. Email Address

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* 4. Phone Number

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* 5. Street Address

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* 6. City

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* 7. State

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* 8. Zip Code

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* 9. Political Party

Alaska Democratic Party

Alaskan Independence Party

Alaska Libertarian Party

Non-Partisan

Not Registered to Vote in Alaska

Republican Party of Alaska

Undeclared

Other Party

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* 10. House District (If you're unsure click on this link and enter your address)

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* 11. Senate District (If you're unsure click on this link and enter your address)

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* 12. Assembly (or City Council) District

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* 13. Are you an elected official?

Yes

If yes, please indicate which office.

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* 14. “Have you held a position of leadership before? (E.g., public office, board, and commission, community council, non-profit board, etc.)”

Yes

If yes, please indicate the leadership role.

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* 15. Are you currently a declared candidate (have you filed with APOC or FEC?)

Yes

If yes, please indicate the seat you're running for now.

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* 16. Have you ever run for office previously?

Yes

If yes, please indicate which office and when.

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* 17. I'm interested in becoming (select all that apply)

Candidate

Campaign Manager

Treasurer

Field Staff (Ex: Phone Calls, Text Banks, Canvassing)

Volunteer (Ex: Data Entry, Office Work, Sign Delivery)

Other

Other (please specify)

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* 18. Please list your prior campaign experience, if any. Indicate the campaigns and roles you performed (this includes volunteer work).

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* 19. Please list any campaigns you're involved with now and your role (this includes volunteer work).

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* 20. Please list any current or previous civic involvement. This would include nonprofits, boards, or community work.

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* 21. I would like to be selected for this program because:

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* 22. Please provide a three to four sentence bio about yourself that you could share with other attendees.

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* 23. Do you support equal rights for LGBTQ individuals?

Yes

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* 24. Do you support the right of women to make their own reproductive decisions?

Yes

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* 25. Do you support collective bargaining? Go here for more info on collective bargaining.

Yes

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* 26. Do you support anti-racism?

Yes

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* 27. Do you support strong and immediate action to address the climate crisis?

Yes

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* 28. Do you support strong and immediate action to address gun violence?

Yes

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* 29. What are your pronouns?

she/her/hers

they/them/theirs

Other (please specify)

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* 30. We offer a fee waiver for those who cannot afford the $200 fee. Are you requesting a fee waiver?

Yes

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* 31. Please provide a reference name and contact number. (Your reference can be personal or professional.)

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* 32. What is your occupation?

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* 33. Who is your employer?

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* 34. AWA is committed to proving a safe, inclusive environment to train women to run for public office. Our organization is run entirely through volunteer efforts and donor support. We ask all of our participants to agree to the following. Please check each box to indicate you have read the statements and agree.

Conversations that are shared in the trainings are to be kept in confidence. We do not share photos, videos, or statements of participants publicly (including on social media) without permission from the participant, and we ask all other participants to do the same. Breach of this trust is grounds for expulsion from the program.

Participants are screened through an application process, and we ask that you not invite others to the online meeting without prior approval from the AWA Steering Committee.

AWA has one part-time administrator. We ask that you take responsibility to ensure you read emails carefully for dates, times, login information, and class materials. Please try to reply promptly to email requests so we can keep our administrative costs low and invest in continuing to improve our training materials.

If you decide AWA is not the right fit or something changes in your schedule and you can no longer attend, please provide the courtesy of emailing our administrator so we can follow up for feedback and adjust our training activities based on expected attendance.

If you ever see an opportunity for improvement, we ask that you please share that feedback immediately so our steering committee can discuss your ideas or concerns.

AWA participants come from a variety of backgrounds, and we ask that all participants respect that diversity as well as the many ideas and opinions that come with it. If you ever feel that AWA is no longer a welcoming or safe space, please contact our administrator immediately and we will work with you to resolve any issues.