What Can You Do?

Register to Vote and Vote
Determine which issues are important to you
Find additional resources to bolster your position (see Tracking Issues).
Involve friends, family and neighbors
Lobby Your Elected Officials
Consider running for elected office

First Step: Register to Vote

Registering to vote and voting are extremely important, especially if you want to have an impact on particular issues. Elected officials at all levels of government respond to constituents, mainly because constituents have the power to elect them to office; therefore, being registered to vote and being an informed constituent will help in moving your issues forward. See voter registration.

Second Step: What is your issue?

What issue or issues do you care about? Whether it's job security, equal pay, child care, public education, ending violence, electing more women to public office, or reducing mercury emissions from power plants - whatever the issue - we want to hear from you. Please take a look at the issues listed in a Pennsylvania Women's Agenda to see if any of the issues listed resonate with you, and if you don't see your issue, please let us know.

Third Step: Learn more about your issue

Find out which groups or advocacy organizations support your issue. These organizations may have helpful information that you can use for talking points when educating others, including legislators, about your issue. Also check the Tracking Issues section and A Women's Agenda for links to additional sources.

Fourth Step: Involving friends, family and neighbors

It's important to work locally, and to engage your friends, family and neighbors in discussions about your issue. Consider hosting a meeting in your house, local community center or room at the public library. WomenVote PA will help you with materials to lead discussions.

Fifth Step: Lobby Your Elected Official

WomenVote PA will also work with you and your group to learn how to lobby elected officials. We conduct workshops on lobbying and we also role play to help you become more comfortable with the talking points and with lobbying in general. Additionally, WomenVote PA will also help schedule appointments with your legislators. We believe it is important for women to meet their elected officials, so that women's voices are heard about a whole host of issues.

Sixth Step: Consider Running for Elected Office

We believe that once you become proficient at steps 1 through 5, you may want to run for office. Of course not everyone will want to take that step, but we do need more women ro run for public office to ensure that women's voices are present helping to shape public policy and priorities.

WVPA Meetings in Your County!

Over the next year, WomenVote PA will be looking for volunteers to host local meetings to discuss the status of women in many of Pennsylvania's counties. We will use the county profiles and other information to talk about the key issues facing women and their families, and we want to listen to what issues may be emerging locally. If you are interested in hosting a local meeting, please send an email to info@womenvotepa.org.

See organizing strategies.