Profile: The White House Project

When it comes to helping women become leaders, it's not just about electing them. It's also about how they get to the top. The White House Project equips women who want to lead with the skill set they need to be effective - from public speaking training to teaching them how to talk about national security.

The White House Project was founded in 1998 by writer and women's advocate Marie Wilson. It was created as an effort to build a truly representative democracy, one in which a richly diverse, critical mass of women lead alongside men in all spheres. The organization is a national, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization, 501(c)(3), which aims to advance women's leadership in all communities and sectors, including the U.S. Presidency.

The White House Project also exists at a time where it's not about maintaining the status quo, but pushing the envelope. Even today, women continue to be underrepresented in government, business and higher education positions. Out of 180 countries worldwide, only eleven have elected female heads of state; Saudi Arabia has yet to allow women the right to vote; and in the United States, women make up only 14 percent of Congress and 16 percent of the Senate, despite being over 50 percent of the population.

The White House Project believes that when women leaders bring their voices, vision and leadership to the table alongside men, the debate is more robust and the policy is more inclusive and sustainable. By supporting women and the values that allow women to succeed-creating health options, security platforms that utilize every resource, economic stability for all- the White House Project strives to create an equitable culture.

"A lesson I learned in business school is this: the best vetted and most resilient, long term decisions happen with a broad cross-section of representative voices around the table. We are failing in this regard, and our country will continue to fall backward unless we achieve much more inclusive representation," says Lorelei Kelly, a trainer for the WHP who teaches women how to compete with men on the topic of national security.

Kelly recently co-authored a book with Lt. Col Dana Eyre from the USAR called A Woman's Guide to Talking About War and Peace which offers a women's guide to civil-military relations and also tips for progressives who want to shift the public discussion on national security-specifically approaching the role of the military in American democracy from a perspective that includes women. In it, she discusses how, "What were once considered "women's issues" (read: not as important as guns and bombs) are now squarely in the middle of domestic and international debates on security."

According to Kelly, some of the biggest hurdles she faces in training women on national security are the "toxic political environment where old obsolete stereotypes still dominate the rhetoric despite being meaningless in today's threat environment." Additionally, she says that women are often uncomfortable with talking about national security, lack a sense of permission to address military or defense issues in general, and lack the awareness that American citizens have both the right and the obligation to participate in conversations about national security. These are the types of issues that the White House Project addresses in its trainings.

One of the major projects of the White House Project is "Vote, Run, Lead" which is designed to engage women in the political process as voters, activists and candidates through trainings and networking. "Go Run" provides the nuts and bolts of running for office. "Go Vote" consists half-day and evening trainings designed to give women the skills and confidence needed to be effective participants in the political process during the election season. "Go Lead" aims to improve women's leadership skills by offering debate trainings, fundraising workshops and education sessions.

The White House Project is inspired by the accomplishments of one Marie Wilson, who became the first woman elected to the Des Moines City Council as a member-at-large in 1983. She also co-authored the Mother Daughter Revolution and served as an official government delegate to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China in 1995.

The White House Project measures success in terms of numbers of women trained the representative composition of income, age and racial background, and numbers of women elected.It is headquartered in New York City, and has four regional offices. Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota.