Emerge Ca event was hosted by Deepka Lalwani in Milpitas on May 9.

Please click here for photos.

Three speakers were Congressman Honda, former Vice Mayor Cindy Chevez, and Emerge executive director Gretchen Schoenstein (www.emergeca.org)

Other public officials who attended were:

County supervisor Liz Kniss,
Palo Alto councilwoman Yoriko kishimoto,
Santa Clara councilwoman Jamie McLeod,
Sunnyvale councilwoman Melinda Hamilton,
San Jose councilman Ash Kalra
Saratoga school board member Pragati Grover
Assemblyman Paul Fong's rep. Noelani Sailings,
County supervisor Dave Cortese's rep Lisa McCabe

Committee was formed by
Liliana Li - executive director http://www.visionnewamerica.org
Zeya Mohsin- treasurer http://www.MilpitasDemocraticClub.org
Carol Garvey, former President of DAWN (http://www.SCCDawn.org)
Deepka Lalwani - Founder President of Indian Business & Professional Women

Article by Priya Talreja

On Saturday, Emerge California put on an event at Deepka Lalwani house in order to expose young women of color to the idea of running for public office and to break some of society's barriers that many women of color are help in by. There were a variety of local politicians eager to share their support and advice about why to run for office and how to approach the idea. Their advice was candid and encouraging. Spokeswomen from Emerge also spoke enthusiastically about the program. It seems to be a great opportunity for women of color to even the playing field, and get the mentoring, training and encouragement that their while male peers might be privy too because of their predisposed status in society.

Since I am a high school teacher in San Jose, I always looking out for opportunities for my students. This meeting was primarily helpful for me to find out what is available for them, I was able request visits from local politicians as speakers in a speakers series I am creating at Pioneer High School. I also was able to meet with Liliana Li, a representative from Vision New America. She shared with me this amazing program that helps high school and college students gain experience working in government organizations. I look forward to working with her as we encourage more youth to take what they learn in the classroom and put it into practice through an internship.

Article by Rahul Lodhavia, Bellarmine College Prep Class of 2012

On May 9th, 2009, Congressman Mike Honda, Cindy Chavez, and Gretchen Schoenstein all arrived at Deepka Lalwani’s house to encourage minority women of all ages to become a part of America’s political system.

What these political figures began to talk about was what they wished to see in those who wish to run for office. Congressman Honda and Cindy Chavez, former Vice-Mayor of San Jose, spoke about how it is important for woman as well as aspiring politicians to have core values. Individuals wishing to run for office must have the passion to become a part of the justice system and not only want to “give back to the community” but to integrate their core values into the way they run, fix, and become a part of that community. The Emerge program educates and encourages women who wish to pursue elective office at the local and state-level. The Executive Director of Emerge California, Gretchen Schoenstein, strongly advocated the program. The Emerge program is currently in 8 states and offers training courses in fields such as public speaking, networking, and ethics in politics. Many alumni of the program stood up to speak about the program and all had positive feelings towards the program. I believe that Emerge is a wonderful program that really encourages women to break the sexist barrier and become involved in their justice system. More and more women are becoming elected into office, giving reason for many aspiring women politicians to run for office.

Congressman Honda, Cindy Chavez, Gretchen Schoenstein, and all those who participated in this event took the time to inform and encourage women to become an integral part of the community. I enjoyed listening to the many speeches and understood how much these men and women cared to take the time to speak shows how much they care about the community by helping women to run for an elective official.