A new student organization at UW-Madison encouraging women to get involved with public service and run for office will host its first meeting next month.
Leading Women for Tomorrow is an international, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has been brought to the university by Rachel Sweet, the recently appointed president of the UW chapter.
Sweet said the organization will prepare, empower and inspire women to get involved in politics by hosting public speakers from local and state government along with having professional development sessions.
The organization is open to all UW-Madison undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of gender, with good academic standing. However, Sweet said the organization is geared toward women.
“There are things that bar women in particular from getting involved politically,” Sweet said. “I think it’s really important to let women know that there is an opportunity for them to break into the political field if they haven’t otherwise been encouraged to do so.”
Sweet said there are no membership fees for LWT so as not to exclude any students on campus.
“There is untapped potential in low-income students, and they could benefit from this opportunity the most, making connections they might not otherwise have made and
With 92.9 percent turnout of pre-registered voters in Madison during the 2018 gubernatorial election, Sweet thinks UW-Madison students are already relatively politically active. This, along with the fact that LWT is a nonpartisan organization, could help foster an atmosphere where students feel comfortable participating in a political discussion.
“In today’s political climate there is such polarization, and I think there is a lot of frustration around that,” Sweet said. “We want women who are conservative, liberal and centrist, and that makes this organization unique.”
The first meeting of LWT will be held in early December.
