5th Annual
Women’s Summit for Political Action
Too expansive for one weekend
Too inclusive for one location
Too much fun to miss
A Summit Like No Other
The Women’s Summit is an inclusive, all genders program organized by the badass women at Network NOVA.
Online Training
All training in 2021 was on the most requested topic: messaging.
TOPICS:
- Owning the Social Media Airwaves in Virginia (DemCast)
- Avoiding the Disinformation Rabbit Hole (DemCast
- Having Conversations about Race & Humanity (Monica Belton)
- Raising the Comfort Level: Talking about Reproductive Rights (Planned Parenthood Advocates of VA)
- Getting our Message out on Twitter (DemCast)
- Simplifying Your Message: How to Relate Any Topic to Any Audience (Kevin Boston-Hill)
- Relational Organizing: Messaging to Your Crew (SwingLeft)
- Making the Most out of Every Conversation (SwingLeft)
Candidate & Campaign Training
We offered special online training just for candidates and their campaign staff
Summer of Summits Tour Stop #3 – AUGUST 13-15, 2021
Virginia Beach
Friday Night
Mix & Mingle
The Virginia Beach Women’s Summit kicked off with a Mix & Mingle Friday night at the woman owned Garage Brewery. It was great to see everyone (even behind masks). The blazing heat couldn’t stop us from holding a short rally outside with special guest Senator Jennifer McClellan and candidates Nadarius Clark (HD79), Mark Downey (HD96), Jeffery Feld (HD81) , and Finale Norton (HD100).
Saturday
Power Breakfast
On Saturday we continued the tradition of hosting events at locally owned businesses. We met at Smartmouth Brewery in Virginia Beach for a Power Breakfast kickoff for our Day of Action.
The program opened with a panel of experts who combine their real-life experience and pragmatic problem-solving to advancing sustainable energy approaches with significant community impact.
Building Coastal Resilience
The Building Coastal Resilience panel highlighted their success in making real advances by identifying common ground between environmental protection, community-level impact, and business interests. This approach illustrates a roadmap for Democrats to accomplish policy objectives while establishing a reputation for supporting small businesses.
Panelists
- Andria McClellan, Norfolk City Council member, opened the session by emphasizing that a partnership between activism and commercial viability can result in an investment of businesses as a means to drive better and more sustainable solutions to protect the environment and to identify the means to mitigate the damage of climate change.
- Karen Campblin, Co-Chair of Green New Deal Virginia (GNDVA), highlighted environmental justice as both identifying ways to manage and reduce harmful infrastructure, such as pipelines, while ensuring that communities have access to public infrastructure investment, like health services, open spaces and transportation. Land use planning commissions are the key to making policy level impact and ensuring equity.
- Laura Habr, Co-founder of the Business Alliance for Protecting the Atlantic Coast (whose mission is to protect the Atlantic Coast from oil/gas, exploration, and drilling) and candidate for City Treasurer, believes that planning for infrastructure to manage the effects of climate change, such as flood water control, is hugely important. As a small business owner, Laura sees the significant advantages of involving the interests of local businesses (like those supported by tourism) with environmental policy in order to generate business support in protection and remediation solutions.
- Ruth McElroy Amundsen, a NASA engineer and founder of Virginia Solar Opportunity Zone Fund, outlined her organizations efforts to bring free solar power to residences and businesses in communities that fit within IRS’ defined qualified opportunity zones (QOZ). Through renewable energy tax incentives, this organization brings the power of third-party Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) into under-resourced communities.
- Eileen Woll, Sierra Club’s Offshore Wind lead, encouraged everyone to put pressure on Dominion Power to fulfill their diversity hiring investment, which will provide alternative energy and new good paying jobs into eastern shore communities.
What can we do?
- Help communities learn more about the money available to support renewable energy
- Install solar systems and use green methods to reduce and reuse rain run-off
- Buy an electric vehicle to encourage investment in e-power infrastructure in all communities
- Buy Dominion Energy stock so that more environmentally concerned shareholders can influence board decisions
- Maintain pressure on elected official to provide internet access to low-income families and communities
Sponsors & Partners
Our wonderful Women’s Summit Sponsors and Partners in attendance outlined their organization’s mission and how we can help.
- Center for Common Ground – Andrea Miller & Frank Moseley
- Clean Virginia – Diane Williams & Kendl Kobbervig
- Family Friendly Economy Virginia – Kristina Hagen
- Green New Deal VA – Karen Campblin
- Moms Demand Action – Pat Gadzinsky
- Planned Parenthood of Virginia – Jamie Lockhart
- RASR – Melissa Hartman
- Swing Left – Jennifer Hutz and Matt Caffrey
- VA Justice Democrats – Johanna Gusman
Delegates & Candidates
Delegates and candidates from the Tidewater and central Virginia rallied the crowd with their conviction to affect positive change for all Virginians. Click here for the candidate highlights video.
Candidates for Delegate included: Delegate Dawn Adams HD68; Delegate Kelly Fowler HD21; Delegate Alex Askew HD85; Delegate Nancy Guy HD83; Melanie Cornelisse HD78; Kecia Evans HD88; Jeffrey Feld HD81; Nadarius Clark HD79; Scott Flax HD82; and Finale Norton HD100.
And we cannot forget local candidates who are running for offices that affect the everyday lives of their community: Phil Kellam, VA Beach Commissioner of the Revenue; Laura Habr, VA Beach Treasurer; VA Beach Sheriff Antonio Passaro; and Corrie Cring Chesapeake Treasurer.
Afternoon of Action
Once we were all fired up and ready to go, the afternoon of action got underway. Everyone was excited to get to work for the candidates. One contingent of volunteers went out canvassing to talk directly to Virginia Beach voters. Another crew stayed at the Smartmouth Brewery for a postcard writing party.
Afternoon of Action
Once we were all fired up and ready to go, the afternoon of action got underway. Everyone was excited to get to work for the candidates. One contingent of volunteers went out canvassing to talk directly to Virginia Beach voters. Another crew stayed at the Smartmouth Brewery for a postcard writing party.
Thank You
That’s a wrap! Thank you to everyone who attended and supported Women’s Summit 2021 Summer of Summits.
Highlights from the Summit are on the Network NOVA website, click here. You can also watch videos of our workshops and events on our YouTube channel, click here.
Summer of Summits Tour Stop #2 – JULY 23-24, 2021
Harrisonburg
Who better to kick-off this event than the Mayor of Harrisonburg Deanna Reed and City Council member Laura Dent. Mayor Reed, the first black woman to hold her position, spoke of the importance of young girls seeing themselves in their leadership. She stressed that women are unrepresented as elected officials and, when women are elected, they pass more bills and are more transparent.
Sam Rasoul, a delegate from southwestern Virginia, led a session on making a “little more justice” by summoning up a “whole lot of GRIT”. Emphasizing his point, he showcased four influential and gritty women: Frances Perkins who championed worker’s rights and became the first woman to hold a cabinet position as the Secretary of Labor; Edith Wilson who secretly assumed the helm of the Presidency when her husband Woodrow Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke; Ada Lovelace, a 19th century British mathematician, often referred to as the first computer programmer; and Fannie Lou Hamer, a victim of forced sterilization and a powerful voice for civil and voting rights, who famously pledged “If I fall, I’ll fall five feet four inches forward in the fight for freedom. Applying the lessons of grit to winning elections, Sam pointed out that issues rarely win elections, voting is an emotional issue. We need grit to define our clear direction and fight for it. Sam outlined his four key components: Understand your “why”; be self-aware; build coalitions (choosing goals together and working toward them together); and build relationships (find understanding and be there to lean on).
Candidates and campaign representatives from all over southwest Virginia attended and spoke about their drive to make change, including (Left to right in photo): Bill Helsley HD26; Tina Russell (West Virginia) Wendy Rowden HD19; Caitlin Coakley HD65; Randall Wolf HD20; Sara Ratcliffe HD58; and Stephen Kaplan for Bridgette Craighead HD9. Not in the photo but also at the event were Annette Hyde HD30, Jennifer Kitchen HD26, Paul Siker HD33, and Sam Soghor HD24. Caitlin Coakley reminded us that rural races can be won: “We have better ideas, we have more at stake, and there are more of us than the old guard.”
Click here for a 3 min. video of our rural candidates.
The formal agenda ended with a motivational and thought-provoking panel on rural elections led by Meredith Dean, Director of “Appalachian Women of Action.” (Photo from left to right: Meredith Dean, Tina Russell, Lynlee Thorne, Diane Weiss, and Denise Hale Blakeney).
Meredith Dean highlighted the history of activism by women in Appalachian communities. She outlined her organization’s dedication to support “all things voting”, breaking down white supremacy culture and institutional racism; and cultivating conversations.
Tina Russell, West Virginia State House candidate running in a very red district, had no illusions about her district and the difficulty for people like her to run. Tina believes that you need to start where the voters are. Listen more and talk less. She candidly pointed out that West Virginia was lost because voters have lost faith in what Democrats deliver to the people. To win them back, Tina cited Mother Jones, “pray for the dead but fight like hell for the living”. Tina acknowledged that the road will be hard, but we need to stay fast. She reminded us of Maya Angelou’s advice, “you may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.”
Lynlee Thorne, Director of Rural Ground Game, outlined the challenges faced in the current toxic environment for rural candidates, not the least of which were physical threats. These courageous candidates need support: “we need to preserve the work of those who have stepped up to fight behind enemy lines.” She pointed out that we need to be able to measure, track, and preserve the legacy of progress and invest in the tools needed for messaging and research. Lynne stressed: “There is no lack of willingness but there is a sense of isolation.” Lynlee is working to develop a strategy to capitalize on the work underway and see tangible results to maintain momentum.
Diane Weiss, Chair of Giles County Democrats, underscored the challenges of shrinking population that are making rural districts redder and the potential impact of the upcoming redistricting. While daunting, she believes that progress can be made: “We are knocking on doors for everyone not just ourselves”.
Denise Hale Blakeney, Vice Chair of Giles County Democrats, emphasized the need for Democrats to be demonstrably working within the communities, individual by individual. She finished out the session leading us in song with the her rendition of “when we vote, we win”.
Their stories full of information and conviction inspired us to think more deeply on how we can lend a hand. We were reminded that a little goes a long way in rural races.
“Every race is winnable. But rural Democrats understand that sometimes victory isn’t necessarily an immediate seat in the legislature. There’s victory in building a bridge that someone else gets to cross. That work deserves both gratitude and investment.” Lynlee Thorne, Rural Ground Game.
Summer of Summits Tour Stop #1 – JUNE 26, 2021
Northern Virginia
Summit Swag
Our Sponsors
Rep. Don Beyer |Rep. Gerry Connolly | Del. Sam Rasoul
Jill Caiazzo | Harriet Hirsch | Susan Kaufman |Del. Mark Keam
Andria McClellan | Carol Rogers | Del. Mark Keam | Pat Wirth
Robert Haley, 11th CDDC Chair | 11th CD Democratic Committee
Become a Sponsor
Be a sponsor and show your support for this important grassroots event.
We have three sponsorship levels for this year’s event:
- Fired Up ($250)
- Super Charged ($500)
- Unstoppable ($1000 and above) [Contact Katherine White at katherineagwhite64@gmail.com for this higher level option]
Sponsors receive acknowledgement on all promotional material. Fired Up sponsors are listed by name and Super Charged sponsors can have their logo displayed on the following material:
- Eventbrite/ Registration Page
- Women’s Summit web page
- Opening screen for virtual events
- Banner at live events
- Emails promoting Women’s Summit
- Programmatic Emails to participants
You can sign up to be a sponsor online or mail a check to Network NOVA (email networkvirginia@gmail.com to get the snailmail addresses).
Friday Power Lunch
Weekly live Zoom show produced by the unstoppable women of Network NOVA to amplify the voices and issues of the Virginia grassroots. Click here to watch past shows.
The show started as an offshoot of our annual Women’s Summit. We realized that Zoom allowed us to bring together voices from around the state and around the country on an ongoing basis. So, we kept the conversation going. Before we knew it, our lunchtime conversations blossomed into a well attended, fun, fast paced, and informative weekly live show.
NETWORK NOVA
Our mission is to connect with others in Virginia and beyond for the purpose of promoting the democratic values of equality, justice, and human rights by creating opportunities for political engagement and civic participation to educate, engage, and empower voters, candidates, and elected officials. We strive to strengthen partnerships and build broad coalitions to continues the progress of winning back electoral power. We do not endorse candidates in the primary process unless the candidate is unopposed. We produce the annual Women’s Summit, the weekly Friday Power Lunches, and more
Get Connected
