The Women's Campaign School is an independent, nonpartisan, issue-neutral political campaign training and leadership program hosted at Yale University by the Yale Law School. The WCS was founded in 1993 by author and scholar Andrée Aelion Brooks. Their mission is to provide the best training in the world for women who want to run for office, want to move up to higher elective office or public service, run political campaigns, or to advance their careers in public life in political environments. WCS trains women leaders who are capable of building relationships regardless of political point of view. At a time of intense political divisions, WCS draws women who will step up to lead when others walk away.
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Summer program
Every July a highly selective group of women are chosen to gather from around the United States and other parts of the world to learn the necessary skills and strategies to run successful political campaigns. For five days participants are put through an intensive 60-hour political immersion program designed to teach political skills, strategic assessment, and improvisation. Experienced operatives and media experts are brought in to teach and to share their experiences in a more reflective way to provide perspective.
This unique curriculum is designed by and for women to address the particular cultural challenges faced by women in politics. The instructors are the best and most experienced in the business, and they come from both political parties. The focus is on teaching advanced campaign skills keeping in mind the common needs and experiences of political women, not the differences of political partisans. Some WCS alumnae already sit across the aisle from one another in state legislatures around the country and in Washington.
WCS has a competitive admissions process. Due to the rigorous nature of the program and the schedule, participants are advised to apply after they have already had some political campaign experience. WCS is a small-group setting designed to increase opportunities for networking among students. All classes are held at Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut.
People
In 2011, the WCS Board of Directors was led by President Patricia Russo and also included Kate Stith.
Notable alumnae include class of 1999's Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ, and class of 2003's Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY.
Past Presidents of the Women's Campaign School include the Hon. Denise W. Merrill and the Hon. Nancy Wyman.