Coronavirus update: Virtual trainings and more

We hope this finds you and your family healthy and safe.                                             

Like you, we are all worried about how the coronavirus pandemic will play out for the people we love, for our state, and for our country. It's a scary time. No one can predict what will happen.                                             

But here's one thing we do know: Leadership matters.                                             

And helping fiercely compassionate women leaders run for office is what Carol's List does.

So when the coronavirus threw us all a curveball last month, we quickly shifted *how* we're helping women candidates in Montana.

In the past three weeks, your support has made it possible for us to: 

• Check in electronically with almost all the first-time candidates

• Replace the all-day, in-person candidate training we'd been putting together for April with a new training program to both serve our candidates and fit the times we're living in: for example, instead of trainings on knocking doors or event planning, we're providing training on effectively using digital platforms and phones

• Organize the technology and the volunteers to actually do the online trainings

So far, we've served dozens of women candidates over email, Google Hangouts, and Zoom since mid-March.

And here's what we've heard from candidates:  

Carol's List has been such a great resource. Sometimes it's good to have a woman to talk to -- the way we think is different.

                                                    -- First-time candidate, central Montana

I was inspired by the Zoom meeting last evening!

                                                    -- First-time candidate, Billings area

This is wonderful. Thank you so much for this email and for thinking about how you can support your candidates.

                                                    -- First-time candidate, southwest Montana

We're still here, and still serving candidates, and it's all thanks to you and your support of Carol's List.

Women leaders around the world are handling this crisis with competence *and* compassion. The pandemic shows that leadership -- and elections -- both matter more than ever.                                      

Thanks to you, Carol's List is training and supporting dozens of first-time and incumbent Montana women candidates. These fiercely compassionate women will fight for choice, healthcare, solid public schools, and equal opportunity for all.

Thank you for supporting our work. Carol, Christine, the rest of the board, and I look forward to sharing our 2020 endorsements with you soon. We hope you are staying healthy and safe.   

-- Beth Kampschror, executive director