NEW HAVEN, Conn — The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) partnered with the Campaign School at Yale to create another free two-day training that will teach people of color the fundamentals to run for state office.
This year's virtual conference training theme is simple yet powerful: "Representation Matters: Are You Ready to Run for State Office?"
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"There is nobody better prepared to represent your issues than you," said Karen DuBois-Walton, who was a 2021 past participant with the training program.
The training consists of in-depth classes with elected and appointed state leaders to assist people of color with the skills and resources to run for public office. They take place on Saturday, March 12, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., and on Saturday, March 19, from 10 a.m.- 3 p.m.
"Day one is really teaching people how to get involved, and on day two, it's about how to tune in and be focused on how to be successful once you get there," explained CCM Executive Director Joe DeLong.
As a past participant, Dr. DuBois-Walton believes this is vital to have in Connecticut.
"We need to be those voices who are making those decisions if we want our communities to grow in the way that we need them to," said Dr. DuBois-Walton.
After last year's training, Dr. DuBois-Walton launched a campaign and said she eventually decided not to pursue it all the way. However, she's still proud of her journey and said the training helped.
She was recently appointed chairperson of the Connecticut state board of education.
"Every voice in our community brings a different perspective and different issues that we need to focus on," said Dr. DuBois-Walton. "So we need to make sure that the people in power making decisions reflect that."
DeLong emphasized that Dr. DuBois-Walton's journey is a testament to the training.
"We want to inspire people to get engaged and to serve and to serve at the most local, basic, bottom-up level that we can to really inspire positive change in our communities," said DeLong.
He explained that the CCM's free training is exciting and vital as we move forward as a state and nation.
"Going all the way back to the Gettysburg Address with President Lincoln, if we want a successful government, it has to be a representation of all of the people that are part of that government," said DeLong. " We want to make sure that that people are involved at every level, from every population, every race, every gender, that we have the voices of people in our communities that are that are lifted up as part of our government.”
CLICK HERE for more information about CCM's Free Two-Day Virtual Training.
Raquel Harrington is the race and culture reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at rharrington@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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