• Press Release

EMILYs List Accepts Applications for Second Ignite Change Fellowship Cohort

February 11, 2021

For Immediate Release
Thursday, February 11, 2021

EMILY's List Accepts Applications for Second 
Ignite Change Fellowship Cohort  
EMILYs List trains community leaders and activists to run for elected office. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, is now accepting applications for the second cohort of Ignite Change fellows following the success of its inaugural program last year. Applications can be submitted now through mid-March. 

The Ignite Change Fellowship is an eight-week virtual initiative that trains community leaders and advocates to develop their political skills and confidence in potentially running for office. This year’s fellowship will launch in April 2021 with 30 fellows. 

“Our inaugural Ignite Change Fellowship proved that women are more than capable of leading when given the tools and resources they need to do so,” said Johanna Silva Waki, vice president of training and community engagement at EMILYs List. 

“This year, we hope to continue recruiting a diverse group of women who have their ears to the ground in communities across the country and give these leaders the opportunity to give a voice to those who have been marginalized and underrepresented for far too long.”

One of the goals of the Ignite Change Fellowship is to encourage the leadership of the next generation of pro-choice Democratic women, especially of women from underrepresented communities. Not only was 78 percent of the inaugural class under age 35, but 75 percent of participants were people of color. 

Applications for the second Ignite Change Fellowship cohort are open until Friday, March 14. Click here to submit an application. 

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EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 157 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.