Category Archives: Close the Gap California

Close the Gap California, Gender parity, Susannah Delano

Benicia is proud of Susannah Delano and Close the Gap California

R & MS

[Note from Benicia Independent contributor Roger Straw – We’re feeling pretty proud of our daughter Susannah Delano these days! See the article below. Close the Gap California is doing a great job under Susannah’s leadership, and the nod from highly influential Capitol Weekly is well deserved. We love the descriptive phrase “no wavering or vacillating” and the illustration by punk artist Chris Shary.  – Roger and Mary Susan]

Capitol Weekly’s Top 100

Each year, Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 names the most powerful movers and shakers in California politics. We don’t include elected officials. Instead, we look at those who devote their professional lives to fighting for – or against – issues of state politics and policy, including lobbyists, bureaucrats, activists, trade group leaders, Capitol staffers and even journalists.  >> Capitol Weekly is a nonpartisan news publication covering California government and politics.

Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Susannah Delano

CAPITOLWEEKLY Top 100 – 99. Susannah Delano, 08.15.2023

You might have noticed there are more women serving in the Legislature right now than in previous years. A lot more. And Susannah Delano and Close the Gap California are a big reason why.

Twenty of the 50 women in office right now came through the Close the Gap recruiting process, including 10 from last November’s record class of 11. To be clear, there are other recruiting organizations out there, such as Emerge and California Women Lead. We chose Delano because her group’s main goal from its inception in 2013 has not been just to elect more women, but to achieve gender parity in the Legislature by 2028, and there’s been no wavering or vacillating.

Given their success last year, what once seemed to be a lofty goal now seems more than realistic. Delano has been instrumental in that success streak since coming on board as executive director in 2018. And, though most folks don’t know it, she’s been CTG’s sole full-time staffer for most of her time with the organization.

Close the Gap California, Gender parity, Susannah Delano

AAUW to host candidate outreach & recruitment event at Benicia Library, May 3

The Benicia-Vallejo Chapter of the American Association of University Women Presents:

Closing the Gap — For Women in Solano County

How to recruit viable candidates for winnable districts

Wednesday, May 3rd at 7:00 P.M.
Dona Benicia Room, Benicia Public Library
(150 East L Street, Benicia)

— FREE & OPEN TO ALL —

Program

The program will describe how Close the Gap applies strategic targeting of legislative districts. The effort starts with a detailed analysis of legislative districts to determine open or winnable seats. Close the Gap develops district profiles based on demographic information, voting data and legislative priorities. Then the search starts for progressive women leaders that best fit the district.

Guest Speaker

Susannah Delano, Close the Gap California, Exec Dir

Susannah Delano joined Close the Gap CA as Executive Director in January 2018. She has worked for over 15 years to promote the good health and empowerment of women and challenged communities throughout California. She is grounded in a commitment to move the needle on issues of racial justice, gender equity, and larger inclusivity.

Close the Gap California is a statewide campaign to achieve gender balance in the California Legislature by recruiting progressive women to run. The organization recruits accomplished women in targeted districts and prepares them to launch competitive campaigns. Recruits are pro-choice, pro-public school funding and support paths out of poverty.

AAUW Flyer for Close the Gap event
Click the image to enlarge.

For more information: bvaauw@gmail.com – https://beniciavallejo-ca.aauw.net/

AAUW does not support or oppose any political party or candidate.

California legislature, Close the Gap California, Susannah Delano, Women, Women's equality

Former Benician Susannah Delano on California’s ‘Great Resignation’

BenIndy Editor: Full (and prideful) disclosure: Susannah Delano is my beloved – and highly talented – daughter.  🙂  – R.S.

Legislature’s ‘Great Resignation’ provides great opportunity for women

By Susannah Delano, Special to CalMatters, February 15, 2022 Susannah Delano is executive director of Close the Gap California, a nonprofit organization that recruits and prepares progressive women to run for state Legislature.

We’re witnessing the “Great Resignation, Capitol Edition,” with more than a quarter of California’s 120 legislators exiting the building in 2022.

Why are we losing so many legislators in one year? It’s a combination of factors – redistricting, which left many incumbents with no place to run; a domino effect of open seats as members seek new roles; and the reckoning of term limit reform passed in 2012.

Where some might see chaos, we see opportunity.

The 2022 election marks the start of California’s “Great Opportunity” to elect a Legislature that truly reflects the people it serves.

California has a reputation for leading the nation forward on critical issues including climate change, equal pay, reproductive health access, long-term care, minimum wage, family leave, early education and more.

But when it comes to women’s representation – California falls short.

Only 37 legislators – less than a third – are women. Of the 37 women serving, 28 are Democrats and 9 are Republicans. California ranks 28rd in the nation for our percentage of women legislators.

Our goal is nothing short of parity for women in the California Legislature, this decade. When I briefed political insiders on that audacious goal years ago, many of them gave me a virtual pat on the head and wished me luck. But in 2022, that audacious dream is starting to look a lot more real.

In my 20 years of working to elect more racially representative, progressive women to office, I’ve never witnessed a higher caliber of candidates step up to run at the state level. As we’ve worked with the majority of these women, I can tell you they are experienced, savvy, and ready to win.

In the fight for equal representation, we are all too used to incremental progress at best. But this year, the hard work of identifying, encouraging and preparing women to run is paying off at an unprecedented scale.

With musical chairs ensuring the Legislature will lose at least eight of its women incumbents by year’s end, this historically robust wave of reinforcements is exactly what might ensure women’s numbers continue to climb in 2022.

Common sense and research tell us that running for an open seat is the likeliest path to victory for a newcomer. What’s unprecedented about 2022 is the volume of open seats, and the number of accomplished women who are ready to win.

In the 35 legislative seats open so far in 2022, an astounding 45 female candidates with the capacity to run competitive campaigns have launched so far. In nine districts, both of the top two contenders are women.

These women arrive with impressive backgrounds and track records of service to their communities. They’re nonprofit directors, nurses, labor and tech leaders, small business owners and entrepreneurs. They’ve served on city councils, school boards, and local and state commissions.

The women running for open seats in 2022 are overwhelmingly Democratic, and also present historic levels of diversity. More than 70% are women of color, and many are LGBTQ+.

In this time of legislative turnover, who comes next will determine what comes next. The nation will look to the pipeline of leaders and innovative policy solutions we battle-test here in the years to come.

While we are losing some extremely effective legislators in 2022, as long as well-prepared women keep stepping up, and stakeholders are brave enough to put their resources where their values align, voters will have the opportunity to elect new voices and transform the Capitol’s decision-making tables.

The women of 2022 are the future many of us have dreamed of for decades.

They will need to overcome a disproportionate number of barriers along their paths to election. But today, their sheer number, talent and determination should inspire us to look beyond the Capitol’s Great Resignation, and recognize this moment for what it is: California’s Great Opportunity to put the world’s fifth largest economy on a fast-track to reflective democracy.