Our Mission
To create a growing pool of donors in support of women candidates running for Senate and governorships with the goal of increasing the number of women in elected office.
About Us
Electing Women Bay Area is a community of like-minded donors who come together in support of Democratic women running for US Senate and governorships. We have giving circles in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, East Bay, and Wine Country.
Members gather regularly to meet with women candidates – incumbents and non-incumbents – in small, intimate settings to discuss politics and policy and to exchange ideas. Our goal is to support women candidates more robustly while creating intention and meaning around individual political giving. Women make up only 19 percent of Congress, which puts the US at 104th in the world in the number of women in elected office.
EWBA is a member of the Electing Women Alliance, a national network of giving circles in cities around the country, including Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, DC, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Sonoma and Vail. Circles are forming in Cleveland, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, and Phoenix, among others.
Our History
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2000
The Beginning
The first Electing Women giving circle was launched in 2000 in Denver, Colo., by two visionary businesswomen who believed that women candidates needed more support and women donors needed more meaningful ways to get involved.
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2000-2014
The Next Years
Electing Women Denver grew and expanded and became practically a mandatory stop on any candidate’s fundraising schedule. Over the years, members of the giving circle built relationships not only with each other but with the candidates they supported.
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2015
Kirsten Gillibrand
Beginning in 2015, with the support and encouragement of New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the Denver model was replicated in cities around the country. Electing Women San Francisco and Electing Women Silicon Valley were among the earliest new giving circles, along with Boston, Philadelphia, Vail, and Los Angeles.
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2016
The 2016 Election Cycle
Our national network, the Electing Women Alliance, was officially launched. In the 2016 election cycle, EWA raised over $1 million for candidates around the country. More than 25 Senate candidates and incumbents attended a rousing EWA event in Philadelphia during the Democratic National Convention.
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2020
The Future
New giving circles have launched or are forming now in Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Texas, Santa Fe, Sonoma, and the East Bay. The goal is to have 20 giving circles by 2020.
Our Leadership
- Alexandra Acker-Lyons
- Political Director
- Kara Baysinger
- Founding member, Electing Women San Francisco
- Nina Blackwell
- Steering Committee
- Sara Brody
- Founding member, Electing Women San Francisco
- Suzanne Cole Kohlberg
- Steering Committee
- Emily Conn
- Steering Committee
- Kristen Garlinghouse
- Steering Committee
- Shannon Hunt-Scott
- Steering Committee
- JoAnn Loulan
- Co-founder, Electing Women Silicon Valley; Steering Committee
- Stacy Mason
- Executive Director; Co-founder, Electing Women San Francisco; Steering Committee
- Jillian McNerney
- Co-founder, Electing Women Silicon Valley
- Amy Pearl
- Co-founder, Electing Women Silicon Valley
- Ellie Phipps Price
- Founding member, Electing Women San Francisco
- Mary Powell
- Steering Committee
- Amy Rao
- Co-founder, Electing Women Silicon Valley
- Dale Schroedel
- Founding member, Electing Women San Francisco
- Sheila Schroeder
- Co-founder, Electing Women San Francisco; Steering Committee
- Karen Silverman
- Founding member, Electing Women San Francisco; Steering Committee