Women Out to Win is an advanced campaign training that includes personalized coaching through mentorship to discuss challenges specific to women candidates, such as imposter syndrome, sexism, and fundraising.
Through generous funding from The Ascend Fund, Victory Institute produced the first-of-its-kind report, “The Decision to Run: Uncovering the Barriers and Motivators for LGBTQ Women Running for Office,” exploring the barriers and motivators LGBTQ women experience when running for office.
One of the standout learnings was that LGBTQ women need more mentorship from elected officials who are also LGBTQ women. Representation continues to matter:
In regions where there was already LGBTQ representation, more LGBTQ women were likely to run and thought an LGBTQ woman was more likely to assume office. In areas where there was no LGBTQ representation, 83% of respondents were either very concerned or somewhat concerned that an LGBTQ person could not win a seat.
The Women Out to Win Mentorship Program provides LGBTQ women with supportive programming and mentorship from past and current LGBTQ women elected officials so that participants are equipped to face campaign challenges unique to women head-on.
Meet the Participants
Tara Beasley Stansberry (She/Her)
Vallejo, California
Tara Beasley-Stansberry, also known as the Transformation Coach, is a small business owner and Small Business & Life Coach. Tara began her journey by serving on various boards and commissions to better understand the challenges business owners face personally and professionally. Tara recently announced her campaign to run for Vallejo City Council. Tara has moved swiftly to address the issues citywide, specifically in her district by becoming a Board Chair of the Housing & Community Development Commission, Board Member of the Design Review Board, Chair of the Housing First Solano Board and Advisory Board member of Veterans Resource Program. Being a part of these organizations has given Tara the opportunity to interact with stakeholders and elected officials.
Her passion for the underserved community and small business owners is the reason she works tirelessly to support small businesses, creating a safe space for merchants to discuss ways to increase economic development in Vallejo.
Precious Brady Davis (She/Her)
Chicago, Illinois
Precious is a true renaissance woman for the ages. As a native Nebraskan she has never lost her Midwestern charm. Lauded internationally as an award-winning diversity advocate, communications professional, and public speaker she currently serves as the Regional Communications Manager for the Central Region of the Beyond Coal Campaign at Sierra Club.
With over 15 years of experience in nonprofit administration, leadership development, and public relations Precious is a dynamic speaker and panelist who has been featured at: University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Reed College, University of Michigan, The Chicago Community Trust, Hampshire College, James Madison University, and the University of Cambridge.
Davis finds deep meaning in finding the root of what proliferates bias, bigotry, and prejudice in our world. Through celebrating the beauty of coexistence, uplifting, and centering the stories of those who are most marginalized and seeing that all issues that damn the human condition are interconnected she invites all who encounter her to see the resilience that lives within us all.
She previously served for 3 years as the Assistant Director of Diversity Recruitment Initiatives at Columbia College Chicago, her alma mater from which she received a BA in Liberal Arts. Precious implemented the campus wide diversity initiative and under her tenure provided leadership and oversight of national diversity recruitment and strategic inclusion policy initiatives. Precious also served for 3 years as the Youth Outreach Coordinator at largest LGBT community center in the Midwest: Center on Halsted. Under Precious’ tenure she launched and coordinated a 1.6 million dollar CDC HIV prevention grant which provided outreach, education, youth programming and testing services to over 3000 young African American and Latino gay, bi, and trans youth between the ages of 13 and 24.
Precious is married to Myles Brady and is a resident of Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago.
Lynna Lan Do (She/Her)
Dublin, California
Lynna Do holds degrees from the University of San Francisco, Bachelor of Arts in Politics, and a minor in Business and Master’s in Public Administration. She has her Master of Philosophy in Research and is working on finishing her Ph.D. in Psychology from Walden University. Currently, she is serving on the State of California Board of Occupational Therapy Board, where she chairs the Fieldworks Communications Committee. She is also a member of the Advocacy and Legislative and the Practice Committee. She has always been active in her community throughout her life. Ms. Do is serving as an At-Large Director for the Association of Junior Leagues International Board of Directors. Ms. Do is a member of the International Governing Board for Delta Phi Epsilon International Sorority. Ms. Do also serves as a Board member of the Universal Human Rights Initiative, where she serves on their Program Committee.
Kristin Savage (She/Her)
Mount Holly, New Jersey
Kristin Savage is a lifelong public servant, proud union member of IUPAT DC35, and has successfully advanced work around women’s health, supports for people suffering poverty and clean energy as a passionate public policy nerd in two state legislatures. As a Legislative Director in the Pennsylvania Senate, she worked on a wide range of issues impacting constituents in her district and across the Commonwealth. She fights for working people daily as Executive Vice President of a skilled strategic communications team serving frontline workers in education, healthcare, and entertainment unions across the country in the U.S.’s only unionized labor and progressive movement communications agency. She has been elected delegate to the DNC, School Board Director, served on the first of its kind PA Governor’s Commission on LGBTQ Affairs, and is the Chair of the Mount Holly, NJ Environmental Advisory Committee. Kristin is running for Mount Holly Township Council in 2022.
Zooey Zephyr (She/Her)
Missoula, Montana
Zooey Zephyr is a progressive, bisexual trans woman who has spent her personal and professional life advocating for queer rights. Zooey was born in Billings, Montana, where she spent the first decade of her life. After graduating from the University of Washington, she returned to Montana to attend graduate school at the University of Montana, where she is working towards a double master’s in creative writing and literature. Over the last seven years, she has also worked as full-time staff at UM, first in the biology department, and more recently in the Office of the Provost.
Zooey has experience as a community advocate, helping people who have faced discrimination navigate the bureaucratic processes required to access justice. She has worked to help programs on the university’s campus integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion practices into their faculty requirements, and has worked with the city of Missoula, Montana to draft human rights legislation tailored towards making justice more accessible to people who have been discriminated against.
Zooey is running for office because she has seen firsthand the way the rights of marginalized communities are under attack in Montana. After testifying at the legislature on behalf of trans rights, Zooey worked in her city to draft human rights legislation, and through that process came to understand that the best way for her to fight for social and economic justice is to get into the room where the laws are being written.
