Resources

Local and California Based Organizations

League of Women Voters volunteers work in committees on issues of local importance, such as housing, the environment, and criminal justice reform. LWVSB often collaborates with other community organizations on issues of mutual concern. At all levels, the League is committed to “Empowering Voters and Defending Democracy.” In election years, LWVSB’s voter service teams are involved in registering new voters and efforts to get out the vote. They help inform voters about candidates and ballot measures by organizing forums, distributing Easy Voter Guides prepared by the State League, and collecting election information for our monthly newsletter, the Channel Voter.   https://www.lwvsantabarbara.org/

Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee is a non-partisan political action committee that endorses candidates who support its positions and promote a feminist agenda. http://sbwpc.org

Santa Barbara County Democratic Women promotes Democratic principles, issues and candidates by educating the public, increasing voter participation, and ensuring election integrity, while collaborating with other Democratic organizations at the local, state and national level. https://demwomensb.com/

Emerge CA identifies and trains Democratic women to run for office.  Training programs are held annually in both southern and northern California. http://www.emergeca.org

close the gap CA is a statewide recruiting campaign to find progressive women to run for seats in the California legislature in efforts to close the gender gap by 2028.  http://closethegapca.org

Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) is a nonpartisan organization committed to ensuring political and economic equality for Latinas through leadership, advocacy, and education.  http://www.latinas.org

Women’s Policy Institute (WPI) part of the Women’s Foundation of California, trains women to initiate and pass legislation that affect low-income women and enables them to achieve economic security.  https://womensfoundca.org/wpi

More information

“What should governments do? They need to recognize that women’s rights are not secondary but integral to addressing the Covid-19 pandemic, looming economic recession, armed conflict, elections, and climate change. Addressing the gender impact of these issues, promoting women’s leadership, and backing up commitments with real economic resources and political will at all levels are essential.”

Counting both the House of Representatives and the Senate, 144 of 539 seats – or 27% – are held by women. Jan 2021

In 2015 104 or 19.4% of the 114 U.S. Congress were women

Though progress has been made in some areas, today we’re still debating women’s rights and gender equality, trying to convince disparate communities and governments of all levels that women play a critical and necessary part of the world, and should be considered as such.

Click here to continue reading the article published in Women’s eNews titled, “World Leaders Should Champion Gender Equality” by Nisha Varia, a women’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.