Ladies, Get into Politics, New Fund Urges – and Spends 4 Million Bucks on It

A new philanthropist fund has launched this month in the United States, in a drive to support more women running for office – and to fight the gender stereotypes that undermine women’s potential in politics.

The Ascend Fund aims at working with 70 nonprofit organizations that help tackle women’s struggles in running for elected office – including stereotypes against female candidates and attacks on candidates instigated through social media.

“This is really about getting more women into the pipeline earlier,” says Gabrielle Fitzgerald of Panorama Global, a Seattle-based nonprofit running the fund. “We’re hoping that with this increase of resources, we will be able to make measurable progress on getting to gender equity in elected office this decade.”

The Ascend Fund has already given $4 million grants to groups including New American Leaders, which trains immigrants to become candidates, and Vote Run Lead, which supports women running for office whatever their previous experience.