Name: Congresswoman Elise Stefanik: How to get women into public office
Uploaded: 2015-10-13
Duration: 6 min 19 s
Description: The youngest congresswoman ever to be voted into office shares three lessons that helped her achieve her goals.

[ MUSIC ] Thank you so much for that warm welcome. It is truly humbling and empowering at the same time to be here today. But I wanna let you in on a little secret, I had no idea I would be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress when I first started my campaign. And I only found out about this historic fact after I won one of the toughest primaries in the country last election cycle and an amazing thing started happening as the media covered my campaign. Moms and dads started bringing their young daughters to campaign events. These were republicans, democrats, independence, families that had never been to a political rally before. But their parents would introduce me to their elementary school age children to say to them, we want them to see an example of what they too can achieve. That was one of the most humbling things that ever happened to me. And I'd remember that every day while in office in Congress and it still happens. Every single week, women from New York State, young women from across this country reach out to my office to get advice about how they can make a difference in their communities. I wanted to share three lessons today. I'm sure many of you in this room constantly have young women approach you to learn from you, learn how to achieve the work- life balance, to ask how you were able to crack glass ceilings in your industries. So I thought I would share my lessons today. The first is the power of fearlessness. No one thought I could win my election. The odds were 100 to one against me. When I first started to think about running for congress I was 28 years old and I was 29 when I announced my candidacy. I had the courage to step in the race to challenge a three term, popular incumbant who was quite well liked in the district. But I wasn't running against him, I was running for the reason that I think we need a new generation of leadership in Washington. And I talked about how we need more women representing our perspective. The experts told me- [ APPLAUSE ] Every political expert or consultant I spoke with said, you're not gonna win. You have to be something you're not. But that early courage and that fearlessness and that willingness to lose, The courage to step into the arena was so important and it's why I'm here today. The second lesson which I think is very important is embrace your authenticity and embrace your unique perspective as a woman. Again, the advice was be a typical candidate. An average member of congress is fifty- eight years old and they're a man. [ LAUGH ] People wanted me to dress differently, to sound differently, to speak differently. I even was criticized for wearing patterned tights because that's not what a congressional candidate does, although that's pretty normal for a 29, 30 year- old young, professional woman. Instead of that, I embraced the fact that I was a young woman. I talked about how we need new demographics represented In the house of congress. And you know what? It worked, my first poll I was down by 30 points and by the end of my primary general election. I won by over 20 points by getting the support from republican and democrats and independent. This is what people are looking for. [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] And then my last lesson is, nothing replaces hard work. And this is something that I was taught as a young girl. One of the mottos my dad used to share with me is, Elise, don't tell me how smart you are, tell me how hard you work. And as each of us meet with young women I think it's important to be honest with them. Women have to work harder. We have to juggle different aspects of our lives. We have different challenges that men may not face. And I always tell young women, you have to be willing to put in the hours and you have to be willing to work harder. For me, I travel over 100, 000 miles in a truck. In one of the biggest congressional districts on the East Coast. I would travel three hours to meet with five people, get stuck in a blizzard along the way. But that hard work was what helped me win in the end by such an overwhelming 20 %. I've been in Congress a little over nine months, and it's been quite a rollercoaster this past year, to say the least. And I want to leave you all with a call to action. In the history of our country, approximately 10, 000 individuals have served in the United States Congress. And of those 10, 000 individuals, only 300 have been women. And of those 300, 100 are currently serving today. 300 out of 10, 000. That is 0. 03 %. Women are not a coalition group We are the majority of voters in this country. Every single issue that we face, whether it's economic policy, foreign policy, healthcare issues, veterans' issues, all of them have a unique impact on women. And we need to do whatever we can to encourage more young women to run for office because . 03 per cent is not acceptable. So, I implore you, talk to your friends and neighbors, and share my story. Share stories like that of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand that we're gonna hear today to show them examples of young women who can step up to the plate. Show that fearlessness, work harder than the person next to you or your opponent and embrace your authenticity and embrace the fact that you bring a unique perspective as a young woman. Thank you so much. It's my first time at this conference and I'm thrilled and humbled to be here. [ APPLAUSE ]

The youngest congresswoman ever to be voted into office shares three lessons that helped her achieve her goals.