Forum encourages women to take the lead
Cheryle Robinson Jackson ran for U.S. Senate in 2010 and knew her gender made an already difficult race even harder for her.
She knew it not only because of her life experiences, but because of a speaking engagement she'd once had at the Chicago Finance Exchange.
All the members of the exchange are chief financial officers for some of the largest companies in the nation. When she asked if any of the 200 women in the crowd had ever thought about running for elected office, not a single hand was raised. When she asked if any of the women had ever supported, written a check or worked for a campaign, two hands stretched into the air.
But when Jackson asked how many of the women wanted to be CEOs someday, every single hand in the room reached for the sky.
“The problem is they did not see the connection between their ability to be a CEO and run a business and having a voice in government,” Jackson told attendees of a Women in Government forum in St. Charles Thursday. “The two are very connected.”
The forum featured multiple women with political backgrounds or history of serving as an elected official.
Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon said she believes women have yet to come to the realization that they don't need to ask permission to lead or be invited to run for office.
“Speaking in generalizations, women don't have that confidence that, 'Yes, I'm the right person to do the job,' and, “Yes, I can do a better job than someone else who's thinking about running,'” Simon said.
It wasn't until a neighbor concerned about local schools suggested Simon should run for city council that she even considered it, she said.
“We often need to be asked to run,” Simon said. “We're not going to stand up on our own.”
That must change so women can have more of a say in the many laws that impact them specifically as women, participants said.
Sigi Psimenos, president of the Elgin League of Women Voters, said women need better access to financial circles to secure the kind of campaign contributions they need to get their messages out and win seats in office.
Psimenos' said her group took a close look at the issue of women running for office and found frustrating and petty obstacles particular to female candidacies.
“Did you see what she was wearing?” Psimenos said as an example. “What's up with her hair? You don't hear that with men.”
Jackson said men shouldn't be suspicious or threatened by women who want to be active in politics and have their voices heard.
“We've got to make certain women are leading right alongside men,” Jackson said. “I'm not saying men, we don't want you. We love you. We need you. We don't want to be out in front of you, but we don't want to be behind you either.”