Tag Archives: politics

Tuesday Truths 2015 edition v2

We continue to see gloomy weather in DC and I think we’re still reeling from the announcement that Senator Boxer will not be running for re-election this cycle (coincidence?). I hope you’re having a good start to the work week wherever you’re situated!

  • The US Senate has always been considered an exclusive club. Can you believe that there have only been 44 women who have ever served? 44 – EVER in the history of the US Senate. With the recent announcement from Senator Boxer that she would not seek re-election to his Senate seat, is this a chance for another woman to take a place in HERstory? Reading this recent Politico article about the women who have served in this elected body was quite fascinating and I thank all of them for all of their work in making the Senate a more equal institution. We still have a long way to go but these women have certainly paved the way.
  • Most of you know that I advocate mentoring/championing those who are less experienced. As a woman of color, I especially believe that we need to support one another and teach those who would benefit from our experiences. Finding mentors within our communities shouldn’t be challenging yet this article shows that it can be quite a hurdle.
  • Although I’m no longer a young professional, I could heed some of these time management tips myself!

Thanks fore reading/sharing! If you don’t want to miss a post, remember to subscribe!

— Madalene

 

Tuesday Truths 2015 edition v1

goal digger

Photo credit: Goal Digger

Aiiiggghhhttt – time to hit it! I hope you had a cracking time during the holiday season but it’s time to put down the eggnog and get to business. I’m in the process of getting a new project started that should be announced shortly so I got a deadline to keep myself. In the meantime, get to reading those Tuesday Truths!

  • So I tell everyone who wants to be a campaign consultant, get working on some campaigns (outside of DC, of course!) because the camaraderie you share on those campaigns can forge life long friendships and business opportunities. There was a time in my life where I thought I would never date a colleague because I would just leave my work at work (well, was I ever wrong!). Now, making friends on the job is certainly different than dating, and having colleagues who have your back is like having a few extra aces up your sleeve.
  • Today is the start of the 114th Congress with newly elected members being sworn into office. This Congress is the most diverse EVER (yay!) which comprises of nearly 20% women and a little over 17% non-white.  So let’s do a little basic math = this means that the Congress is still comprised of 80% of men whereas the population is more than 50% female and white non-Hispanics comprise of 63% of the population. Nowhere near a true reflection of the population in representation. How can we take steps to have a more representative Congress in the future?
  • So happiness can produce success – ways that you can bring more happiness to your life. I like this strategy and it continues my way to #livinahappylife

Hit me up on the comments section and let me know how your 2015 goals are coming along!

Thanks for reading/sharing and don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already!

— Madalene

 

 

Tuesday Truths

thing worse than being blind

Photo credit: The Only Thing Worse Than Being Blind is Having Sight and No Vision

We’re heading into a short work week so it might be a good time to brush up on your resume, start making new goals for the new year (I’m too much of a planner) or maybe just bail out of work early to get in some holiday cocktails (is that more your speed??)? In the meantime, all you politicos looking for a new gig, you can read up!

  • Post election funk? It’s a good time as any to be reminded about an older post I wrote around this time last year (here). The day after Election Day, I put away about 8 weeks of dry cleaning that was sitting in my closet so laundry gets a lot of play post election! If you’re looking for the next opportunity and haven’t joined Democratic GAIN, then you should do so immediately. Looking to set yourself up for 2016? Then take the time to read this article from Democratic GAIN COO @lucyMWhall for Campaigns & Elections.
  • For those who are still nomadic political hacks, it’s the start of the Off Year election cycle and prepping for the crazy that is 2016. Have you ever wondered if our industry has gotten better in pay during the off years? If so, this article is just for you!
  • My friends over at the Campaign Workshop shared with me a fantastic info graphic on call time. As a person who lives and breathes call time all the time, this is really great to help those who need additional help to stay on track or just to get on track. Committing to call time is half the battle (right, fellow fundraisers?). Thanks so much to @joefuld for sharing & bringing it to my attention!
  • I remember the days when people would look at me and wonder if I was old enough to manage staff (the benefits of having good genes that make me look youthful!) and having to combat those questions by my actions. If you’re ever in want of respect and building good will then use these techniques because if you do it consistently then you would have earned it.
  • Everyone talks about will power or habits that successful people utilize or don’t participate in but how about some exercises to help improve your mental strength? @AmyMorinLCSW has a few tips to exercise the most important muscle you can ever have in life.

Alright folks, hit me up in the comments section or tweet at me @madalenemielke. If you found the articles interesting, please feel free to subscribe so that you don’t miss a post and share the post with your network! Thanks for reading!

— Madalene

Tuesday Truths

there is only now

  • Getting wisdom from Hillary Clinton – “Women standing up for each other is critically important” – read excerpts from her recent interview with Glamour magazine.
  • People never believe me when I say that I’m a procrastinator – the fact is I’m a work in progress so trying to get something done without a deadline for me is bad news bears. Here are more tips to stop putting it off.

Tuesday Truths

Capitol_Dome_Washington_DC

I often get asked for career advice and I always say that I’m not a career counselor but I can usually help with getting you from Point A to Point B. Here are great tips for people who are starting out in their preferred industry.

The dreaded word: networking. How you can overcome the forced feeling of making a connection.

What if you’re already established in your career and want to move to the next level? Check out these resume tips for the mid-level employee.

No matter what stage you are in your career, a mentor can certainly help you up your game as well as provide an objective view of your future. Don’t know what a relationship with a mentor entails? Well we got that covered.

I had a young woman of color ask my opinion on this piece and while I’ve not worked in a highly corporate arena, I’ve been fortunate to work in an industry that values diversity. I hope that others see that having a variety of perspectives provides a deeper understanding of your community and helps to educate your opinions.

With so much talk about who is going to be the nominees for the Ds & Rs, it’s funny (or not) to know that Darth Vader is pretty popular!

Photo: By Mary Ann Reitano (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Thanks for reading! Enjoy getting your comments below!

— Madalene

 

 

Sharing the Headlines

APAICS

This week kicked off #APAHAM2014 so we had a flurry of activity celebrating and reflecting on what the AAPI community has done and what it will continue to do in serving our country. It’s a reunion of sorts – people from across the country collaborating on ways that will better serve our constituency and catching up with people that you may only communicate with via email and phone. Being together IRL brings that personal connection that only weeks like these can provide. It’s been AAPI 24/7 so I’ve collected quite a few things to read!

  • In case you missed the Vice President Joe Biden at the Opening Ceremony for the start of APAHM2014, you can read about it.
  • Are you preparing to be a great leader for the 21st century? Here are a few thoughts about it from a Ted talk by Roselinde Torres.
  • In watching Mika Brzenzinksi on Morning Joe, she talks about her mom, Emilie Brzezinksi’s work as an artist, mother & wife while balancing life in DC and there’s an opportunity on June 2nd to see them in DC at Politics and Prose.

Happy Friday!

Sharing the Headlines

cherry blossoms 2014 jefferson memorial

Since we last Shared the Headlines, we finished the 1st quarter of the election year and we’re barreling through the 2nd. Spring has finally arrived to DC and with that everyone’s more than fair share of allergies. So while everyone is making fundraising calls and trying not to sneeze on one another, here are the headlines!

In the beginning of the year, my colleague, Alvina Yeh and I organized a training for AAPI elected officials and candidates. One of the sessions was on “Leadership”. Fortunately for all of us, former President William Jefferson Clinton recently shared his views on the subject. Words to live by!

The fine folks over at The Campaign Workshop did an awesome job organizing a list of questions/criteria that people should consider when making the decision to run for office. Thanks for sharing your knowledge – so practical and real!

Thanks @richardlui for the article on how Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are moving left. The Center for American Progress did a recent study where they identified the group (my group!) to be more progressive than ever, but don’t celebrate yet Democrats (still my group!) because the Pew Research Center recently published a report that out of all of the constituency groups, AAPIs have the lowest turnout rate. What does that mean? It means we (the political establishment/community) have a lot of work to do to communicate with this group (my group) in engagement.

Which leads me to how the young(er) generation is taking the initiative to train their colleagues within the AAPI community to learn the basics of digital strategy. Although the amazing folks of The Brain Trust met their goal of raising the funds that they needed for the training, they want to give SCHOLARSHIPS to the participants. So get on over there and put in a few bucks ($10 contributions add up – ask the folks who did the grassroots fundraising for the Obama campaign).

Gird your loins, Asian Heritage Month is around the corner (the entire month of May!) so  we’ll have some fun posts on what’s happening with the numerous celebrations.

Happy Friday!

 

Campaign Season has Officially Begun!

BGM busy getting money

I hope everyone had a great holiday season! With the start of 2014, we’ve switched the “on” button for Election 2014. Every campaign season is different and as I’ve gotten older, I fondly remember some really great moments and the enthusiasm for being on the road.

These days as a consultant, I get to stay in the comforts of my home and that makes me (momentarily) forget that life in DC isn’t certainly life beyond the Beltway. I used to spend the last 6 weeks out on the road doing GOTV because I started doing professional politics in field. One of my favorite moments was when I worked in Pittsburgh as the Deputy GOTV Director. My office was located in one of the tallest buildings in downtown in a law firm. I had an office where 3 key volunteers helped me everyday to organize the GOTV activity for all of Pittsburgh. This little secluded oasis was away from the frenzy of the main headquarters office, which was always brimming with activity. At night, the space was used for phone banking so volunteers would do phone calls. The space was so chic that they used the space for surrogate phone banking so as we were getting closer to Election Day, surrogates would file in and make calls urging people to vote. So while sitting in my office on the phone dealing with what was a crisis at the time, the Pittsburgh Director walks in my office and tries to introduce me to actor, Martin Sheen aka President Bartlett of The West Wing. I’m awkwardly looking at the phone while I see mouths moving in introduction and hello’s and thanks for all that you do while trying to handle the person on the phone and saying hello to the fictional POTUS. Classic moment.

Let the fun begin! What are your favorite campaign moments?

#WomenRule

rosie the riveter

I’ve had strong women in my life as role models. Of course, the 1st person who comes to mind is my own mother. In my professional life, I like to credit 2 women who took a chance on me and let me flourish because they saw that I had skills that would benefit the team.

In the political arena, Emily’s List has been there to support pro-choice Democratic women; the Women’s Information Network (of which, I’m a proud Advisory Board member) will be celebrating 25 years of connecting women in DC to one another for professional and personal growth; and of course, there is Running Start, an organization that helps young women see the possibilities of themselves running for elected office (I’m proud to say that I’m also a mentor to their Running Start Fellows and that my current associate, Fiona Zhu, went through their high school program). These organizations along with many others have been instrumental in helping young women achieve their goals in public service. If you haven’t taken a look at their portfolio, you should take the time to see how an investment in these organizations is also an investment into our future.

As a woman of color, I’m always interested in supporting our female Democratic candidates, especially those who are of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage. One of the trailblazers for women and for my community is the late Congresswoman Patsy Mink. Here is a great essay from current US Senator Mazie Hirono of how Rep. Mink paved the way for all those after her. Much thanks to Politico, the Tory Burch Foundation and Google for making these Women Rule profiles possible.

 

It’s Post Election – Time to Catch up on Sleep, Laundry, and Getting a Job (not necessarily in that order)

arum group campaign buttons

As the analysis continues on Election 2013, one of my most vivid memories of wrapping up my previous campaigns was trying to clean up the office to shut it down. It was a little more euphoric if we were the winning campaign and complete drudgery if we lost. So many things that you held near and dear during campaign season lost their value the moment it was all over…”all that data that we meticulously tracked….whoosh….into the shredder!”.

alvina 2012 CO end of election

Photo used by permission: Alvina Yeh

Now’s the time to get your life back together because for real, your life was basically on pause for however many months. Probably first and foremost: getting sleep! You’ve probably been running on adrenaline and you’re about to run out. How many people got sick after the election? I’ve been fortunate to have a strong immune system so I never fell prey to the post election sniffles but one remedy is definitely getting sleep. Maybe even plan a vacation where you can get sleep!

lets do coffee

If you’re like me and you’re a worrywart about landing your next gig, getting a job interview is probably a priority on that post election list too. I give a lot of informational interviews and I am supposed to schedule coffee hours through my role with Democratic GAIN (sorry guys, I know that I haven’t done it yet but I promise I will!). I have suffered through many coffees (which I don’t even drink!) because the person who requested the interview was ill prepared. So let me give you tip – brush up on your networking skills because now you’re the campaign. The only candidate is you because you’re looking for a job and that itself is a job. Here’s a great article on how you can make the most of your informational interviews. Every one of the tips will make a great impression.

The aforementioned Democratic GAIN is a great resource to get tips on building a stronger resume as well as learning about trainings where you can increase your value as an operative. Check them out and most importantly, JOIN!

Now go get some sleep – you deserve it!