IGNITE's Blog

Emily brings five years of nonprofit fundraising experience to IGNITE. She has worked primarily for arts organizations and holds a BA in Theater from Connecticut...

Jocelyn Yow with her son, Kayden, when she served as Mayor in Eastvale, Ca, in 2020. 

Why Are IGNITE Alumni Running for Office Right Now? 

Want to create a better future for everyone in your city? Feel strongly about a local issue, and want to make sure the decision-makers reflect your views?

It’s hard to believe that it has been just over a year since I first started as IGNITE’s CEO. I feel incredibly lucky to have marked this milestone alongside hundreds of passionate young women in Washington, D.C. for our first 3-day, in-person Young Women Run national conference since 2019. For so many reasons, this conference looked and felt different than its predecessors, from the daily Covid-19 testing and masking, to the barricades around the Supreme Court and U.S. Capitol as a result of protests erupting across the city.

Washington, D.C. - Today, the United States Supreme Court released its decision on the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The decision is expected to trigger abortion bans across twenty-six states, and has put in peril other constitutional rights founded on Roe v. Wade, including same-sex marriage. The decision comes at the end of a week of disheartening decisions directly impacting some of the most important issues for Gen Z, including yesterday’s landmark decision broadly expanding gun rights.

Representation matters, because if you can see it, you can be it. When Marvel’s Doctor Strange 2 premiered earlier this year, it featured the debut of America Chavez, a Latina LGBTQ+ character. Despite the movie being censored in some countries, fans said they felt empowered and inspired because they saw themselves in the character. That’s the power of representation. And as more people identify as LGBTQ+, we should see even more LGBTQ+ representation across the board, including in politics. 

(Images used with permission from Bob Karp)

Why Are IGNITE Alumni Running for Office Right Now? 

Want to create a better future for everyone in your city? Feel strongly about a local issue, and want to make sure the decision-makers reflect your views? 

This month is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Each May, we celebrate the diverse cultures that comprise the AAPI community. Currently, there are over 20 million Asians in the U.S. That number is expected to double by 2060, making them the fastest-growing demographic (and fastest-growing electorate of the major racial and ethnic groups) in the country. Despite making up a sizable portion of the population, there is a lack of AAPI representation from Hollywood to Capitol Hill. The lack of representation is especially significant for AAPI women. 

19 students and two teachers were murdered in Uvalde, Texas yesterday. The deadliest school shooting in Texas history and the third deadliest in U.S. history. The layers of devastation our country is witnessing and experiencing each day feel insurmountable. Limiting our response to coded and politicized language to describe these attacks does a disservice to the individuals and communities continually harmed.

The mass shooting this weekend in Buffalo, New York, was a horrific public lynching that once again exposes the pervasive hatred against and dehumanization of our Black communities.

Running for office remains the most fulfilling experience of my life. It gave me an opportunity to build deep connections across the community through canvassing. I built a pipeline of budding leaders and reshaped people’s perceptions of what a leader looks like in our community.