Press Release
SC Women in Leadership (WIL) celebrates two years of informing, connecting, and engaging women in leadership with an event free and open to the public on April 8th at Boyd Plaza, Columbia Museum of Art. It's been two years since WIL launched and those two years have hardly been “normal”, but WIL's commitment to the mission of increasing race and gender diversity and the influence of women in appointed and elected office, as well as the private sector, remains constant.
Attendees are encouraged to wear purple and join WIL on Thursday, April 8th, 2021 at 11 am for remarks, cake, coffee, and a salute to a future with more women in leadership with a release of Painted Lady butterflies! This event will also be livestreamed on their Facebook page.
WIL would not exist but for the commitment of 100 Founders, women and men who demonstrated their commitment to consensus and involvement to build a better South Carolina by each contributing $1,000 to build WIL's foundation. WIL is also grateful for the support of corporate sponsors including Aflac, Bank of America, BlueCross BlueShield of SC, Dominion Energy, Hunt Alternatives and Verizon.
WIL's work is underpinned by three pillars: Fair Voting, Filling the Pipeline, and Reducing Polarization. In two short years of working to bring women together and to the table, WIL has formed partnerships with local and national allied organizations including South Carolina League of Women Voters, Urban League, Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP), All in Together, Lean In and the Wall Street Journal to bring resources and leadership training opportunities to women in South Carolina. WIL hosts the SpringBoard Conference annually to help women gain the confidence and knowledge to step forward and seek positions on local and statewide appointed boards and commissions that best suit their experience and interests.
WIL built and manages the only comprehensive online database of female candidates running for office in S.C. By providing simple facts about female candidacies, WIL amplifies their voices and builds the confidence of other women similarly inclined, but hesitant.
WIL also built and manages the single most comprehensive database of open seats on appointed public boards and commissions at the state, county, and municipal levels and has partnered with the South Carolina Association of Counties and South Carolina Municipal Association to develop MatchBoard, a software application launching in late 2021, to standardize city and county management of and public access to positions on public boards and commissions.
In year three, WIL's focus will include education around legislative redistricting in promotion of fair voting as well as growing Circles of Women, groups of geographically and professionally based women from diverse backgrounds, in partnership with Lean In.
