On June 10, Iowa State University will host a one-day workshop giving people, namely women, the opportunity to follow one of two tracks that deal with either running for office or getting more involved in politics and public service.

Ready to Run is a program that began at Rutgers University in New Jersey as a way to encourage and train women to run for office at many different levels. From its start in 1998 until now, New Jersey has climbed from the bottom third in the nation for electing women to the legislature to number 11.

In 2007, Ready to Run went national, and Iowa State’s Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women in Politics was offered a grant to start their own program because of Iowa’s low ranking among the nation.

Iowa, along with only Mississippi, Vermont and Delaware, has never sent a woman to the U.S. Congress, but both Vermont and Delaware have elected a woman governor, which Iowa has yet to do. Women are also highly underrepresented in Iowa’s own legislature.

Ready to Run is open to both women and men, from high school students to senior citizens, who are either interested in running for office or just want to become more politically active.

“We really have a big push in ours that if you don’t want to run for office, then get involved with a local or county board or commission,” said Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women in Politics.

Many of the goals set for Ready to Run come from Rutgers, but Iowa has tweaked those goals a little to better fit Iowa.

“One of the things that we are really concerned about in Iowa is that we really target all levels of office,” Bystrom said. “Other campaign schools are concerned really with just the state legislature and U.S. Congress, but we kind of feel in Iowa that we want to be very broad in our approach, and so we also have sessions for people who might be interested in school board.”

Some topics that are covered include message development, fundraising and developing a campaign, but with the changing times come new topics that need covering. This year the workshop will be adding the topic of issue-advocacy as well as an emphasis on social media.

But some goals have not been fully realized in the past two workshops.

“I would really like to get more students involved,” Bystrom said.

In 2009, there were only five ISU students out of 60 and between 10 to 15 students overall.

This year, the Catt Center has added a new incentive for students to participate. When the students pay and show up to the workshop, they will be guaranteed a $50 scholarship.

The workshop costs $75 for those who register by May 28th and $100 for any forms turned in after the initial date. The registration form can be found online on the Catt Center’s website.