IUSA Week: 20 – 25 May
‘Politics: Woman’s Work?
A Discussion on Women’s Underrepresentation in Political Life’
with Jessica Grounds, Founder & CEO, Running Start
Monday, 20 May 2013
IUSA Week got off to a ‘Running Start’ with Jessica Grounds, Founder & CEO of this unique organization. Presenting at both a masterclass for U.S. Embassy Youth Council members and at an evening seminar for a wider audience of alumni, political leaders and youth organization leaders, Jessica impressed the audience with her first-hand knowledge and experience fromWashington.
Jessica Grounds has devoted her life to empowering women to become political leaders. She helped to found Running Start in 2007, serving as one of the organization’s first board members and now serves as the Executive Director. By educating young women and girls about the importance of politics, and imbuing them with the skills they need to be leaders, they give women the “running start” they need to achieve greater political power. Jessica is also the founder and principal strategist for Solid Grounds Strategy, a firm she created to consult women candidates who have never run for office before. In 2010, she co-founded Women’s Campaign Consortium, a collaboration of female campaign consultants dedicated to serving women candidates.
Jessica is visiting Ireland and Northern Ireland this week as a return visitor for the Boston College, Irish Institute 
“Women in the Workplace” exchange program, supported by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.