EMILY's List

Former Tampa City Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena and Stephanie Schriock

“Early money is like yeast,” EMILY's List president Stephanie Schriock told me Sunday, explaining the organization's acronym and their theory on fundraising, which is basically that it takes money to make even more money. 


EMILY's List began in 1985, a basement full of  women in Washington D.C., pooling their resources and address books to raise money for pro-choice Democratic candidates. 


According to their website they've raised over $82,705,257 for candidates since they started. Schriock was in town raising money for their training & recruitment programs, open to women in local, state and national politics or aspiring to be. 


Despite growing into one of the biggest political action committees, women make up only 17% of Congress. (While women make up 50.7% of this country, according to a 2009 Census estimate.) How can politicians represent the public if they don't resemble the public? 


I had such a great conversation with Stephanie about the work she does at EMILY's List that I produced an extended interview as well as a short radio version that aired Monday on 88.5 WMNF.