WEPOWER St. Louis | Chisholm's Chair Fellowship

"If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair."

- Shirley Chisholm

The Chisholm's Chair Fellowship (CCF) is a training initiative designed to support Black and Latinx women along their public leadership development journey as they explore and consider pursuing publicly elected and appointed office.

St. Louis has an unprecedented opportunity to cultivate a new generation of leaders who are accountable to the community, collaborative, committed to transformational policy and systems change, and driven by a vision larger than themselves to usher our region towards a day where all communities prosper and thrive.

Who These Seats Are For

Chisholm's Chair is for women that identify as champions of equity. Women that are unbought, unbossed, bold and unapologetic leaders, remaining connected to and inspired by a transformative vision for their communities, para la gente. We’re especially looking to support women that want to leverage their decision making power to transform the early childhood education or economic systems in the Greater St. Louis region.

It's for women that are ready to work hard and fight systems of oppression in the St. Louis region so that their community's most vulnerable can no longer just survive - but thrive. It's for women that see elected and appointed office as a lever for effecting policy change - a means to an end, not the end in and of itself. Chisholm's Chair is for women that are willing to work across lines of difference, listen deeply to others, and lead with humility and love.

What To Expect

The Fellowship supports a cohort of 10 Fellows over the course of four (4) months. Throughout this time, Fellows will access monthly training sessions, guest experts, connections to vendors and consultants, community-building experiences, peer coaching groups, and healing sessions.

As a collective, we begin our journey by going inward and taking stock of our individual strengths and areas for growth. We will reach out to our peers, colleagues, friends, and family to provide us with the gift of feedback as we kick-off a 360 degree review process that will serve as the baseline for how we’d like to grow throughout the Fellowship. Additionally, we’ll get clearer about the visions of change we have for ourselves and the region as we engage in a visioning exercise that centers our story of self. From there, we’ll take a deeper dive into the leadership opportunities that will allow us to actualize the visions we’ve built together.

Next, we’ll deepen our relationships with one another as we begin working in peer coaching groups to further refine our stories of self and messaging while also learning best practices for connecting with and listening to our beloved community.

Finally, we’ll conclude the Fellowship with an immersive, bootcamp style experience that simulates the realities of an electoral campaign, equipping Fellows with the nuts and bolts of how to put a well thought-out, well resources campaign together from beginning to end.

Goals for Chisholm’s Chair Fellow Development:

Gain clarity on which position of regional power you are interested in pursuing and establish a timeline for going after it.
Articulate a clear story-of-self that communicates a vision for change and identifies policy solutions to address systemic issues.
Build the knowledge and connections to run a well resourced and strategic campaign for local elected/appointed office.

At the Chisholm's Chair Graduation in May 2023, we will celebrate

Your successful completion of WEPOWER’s second Chisholm’s Chair Fellowship.
Your individual and collective growth as leaders across the Greater St. Louis region.
Completion of a Public Leadership Development Plan, a Personal Website that articulates which policies we care the most about, and a Campaign Plan.
Leveraging of your expanded network of supporters, cheerleaders, donors, advisors, and sister-friends to seek publicly appointed and elected leadership positions.

About the Opportunity

The Commitment

Four Months (February - May 2023)
Up to 20 hours per month (16 hours in person, up to 4 hours of pre-work/readings)
In person convenings will take place one weekend per month. We’re asking participants to be available Friday evening from 6 to 9pm, Saturday from 9am to 5pm and Sunday from 1 to 6pm
Some pre-work and extension assignments that will require you to work in groups and engage in learning experiences beyond the monthly convenings.

A Note about COVID-19

Please do not come if you are feeling sick in any way.
The space we are meeting in holds a vax-or-test mandate as their COVID-19 policy. We would request that you honor it, although you will not be required to submit anything to their portal.
We strongly encourage all participants to be vaccinated.
We will keep hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies on hand.
If we believe it is too dangerous to continue in person, we will pivot to meeting virtually.

Who Should Apply?

Identity + Qualifications

You self-identify as Black/African-American and/or Hispanic/Latinx.
You self-identify as a woman.
You will be at least 18 years of age or older by the start of the cohort (September 30, 2022).
You are a City of St. Louis, St. Louis County or East St. Louis resident.

Mindsets, Beliefs + Skills

Vision + Values. You “get it.” Chisholm’s Chair is for women who understand that the way things are, isn’t okay. To borrow the words of Fannie Lou Hamer, "you're sick and tired of being sick and tired." You see that the systems that are supposed to make our lives better are often hurting the most vulnerable people in our communities. And you want to, have to, do something about it!
Movement. You are deeply rooted in your community or the St. Louis region at large, demonstrated by active involvement or participation in community groups, civic organizations, school networks, religious groups, etc.
Identity Development + Commitment to Equity. You are committed to equity and comfortable talking about race, class, gender, and the various intersections with a variety of stakeholders.
Coachability. You recognize that you're not perfect and welcome constructive feedback to help you flourish.
Story of... You, like all of us, have a story to share. You've thought about your story, how you've gotten to where you are, and are ready to engage others, using your story to build collective power in the pursuit of transformative change.