Women's Campaign Forum

WCF Foundation is dedicated to helping women build the skills and infrastructure they need to become more effective leaders in public life.

WCF Programs

  • She Should Run

    Building the pipelines of women running for office. She Should Run provides the opportunity for talented pro-choice women to be nominated to run for public office. We then give them the encouragement, information and connections they need.

  • Candidate Endorsements

    WCF endorses qualified pro-choice women candidates running for all levels of office, nationwide. WCF supports our endorsed candidates in a variety of ways, including promotion on our website, in our newsletters, and in other communication to our members.

  • Semester Fellowships

    Providing young women and men the opportunity to gain firsthand experience within a national political organization.

  • Next Generation

    This program offers an opportunity for young women students and professionals between the ages of 21-35 to attend WCF events through donor sponsorship.

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Appoint Her

Advancing Women's Appointments

WCF Foundation set out to understand the status of women in the most influential state-level appointed roles with the launch of our research, "Unlocking the Cabinet: Where Women Stand in State Appointments and Where We Need Them to Go."

The results revealed that gender equity in appointments is attainable-but requires a firm commitment from governors and their staff, partner organizations and women seeking appointments.


The Problem

  • State-appointed officials shape the governor's agenda, exert significant rule-making authority and manage large portions of the state's budget-at the cabinet level in the average state, appointed leaders collectively manage an average $12.5 billion.

  • Yet women hold just under 30 percent of appointed policy positions in the states, with little net improvement in the last 10 years

  • At the state cabinet level, men outnumber women 2 to 1.  In some states, women hold no cabinet seats at all


Our Solution 


WCF Foundation swiftly turned insight into action-and launched the Appoint Her program to redress this imbalance.

The Goals of Appoint Her

  • Help more women obtain state-level appointed positions

  • Build a broader, more diverse candidate pool for state-level appointed positions

  • Create a commitment to gender parity among gubernatorial candidates

  • Increase public awareness of the importance and impact of appointed roles

Local Commitment...National Change

Within the next two years, 36 of our nation's governors will be up for election. This turnover creates a tremendous opportunity to build a firm commitment to gender equity among gubernatorial candidates. And it opens the door to real advancement in women's appointments as a result.

Download the full report


Appointments-Related News 

Click on any of the following links to keep up to date with the latest news:

Politico, Will Men Dominate Obama's Cabinet?, November 15, 2008

Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics, Obama Can Break Record for Appointing Women to Cabinet, November 13, 2008 

Appoint Her is a program of the WCF Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. 

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