The Stanford chapter of IGNITE, a nationwide nonprofit that aims to help realize the political power in every young woman, put on its first event, “Women in Civic Leadership,” on Jan. 19, featuring guest speakers like Palo Alto City Councilwoman Liz Kniss, East Palo Alto Mayor Lisa Yarbrough and former East Palo Alto Mayor Laura Martinez. The Daily sat down with the three co-founders of Stanford IGNITE, Julianne Dones ’18, Blanca Diaz ’18 and Anika Benons ’18, to discuss the event and their time leading Stanford’s chapter of the organization.
The Stanford Daily (TSD): Can you briefly introduce yourselves and how you became interested in starting an IGNITE chapter at Stanford?
Blanca Diaz (BD): I actually was a part of IGNITE in high school — they have chapters at both education levels — and actually brought it from high school into college. So I knew that it was a great organization and that it empowered me to pursue a leadership role as a woman. I wanted to share that on campus.
Julianne Dones (JD): So we heard about it through Blanca when we all lived in the same freshman dorm. I’ve always been interested in political issues, and hearing from Blanca’s experience, it seemed like this organization could bring a lot of opportunities and exciting events to Stanford.
Anika Benons (AB): I’ve also always been interested in political issues, and I thought IGNITE would offer a good learning experience with leadership roles. Even though I don’t necessarily want to run for office myself, I’ve found support in the group.
TSD: Why do you think having a group like IGNITE on campus is so important?
AB: I feel like there is a lack of women’s perspectives in political leadership, so having this group encouraging women to engage is really important.
JD: It’s currently around 25 percent women in elected offices, significantly lower than half. If we want a truly representative government, that’s something we should strive toward. Plus a more diverse government is better because it offers the skills and experiences of a diverse populace to make the best outcome for all.
TSD: How does IGNITE differ from other groups on campus?
JD: Although there are many groups on campus that address political leadership, IGNITE is the only national organization. There’s a different dimension of learning from other universities and their approach to getting women in leadership as well as a lot of networking through the IGNITE name that brings leaders to campus.
TSD: What are your goals for the Stanford chapter of IGNITE?
BD: Right now we are all about growing the group and getting more students on campus to join. We are hoping to hold more workshops on things like public speaking, campaigning and all these steps in running for office, and we want to make sure that these resources are available to anyone who wants to join.
TSD: What are some of your upcoming events?
AB: Tuesday we had an event co-sponsored with Stanford in Government (SIG) that brought in two speakers who discussed their experience as leaders. Unfortunately we aren’t an officially, technically recognized student group yet so we don’t have concrete plans.
JD: But we are planning on creating a base and having weekly meetings.
BD: Additionally, there is the upcoming annual IGNITE conference coming up for anyone who wants to join. That will be in San Francisco on March 4 with the Chief Justice of [the Supreme Court of California] Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye as a guest speaker.
TSD: And how did your first event go?
BD: Overall [it] went well. A lot of people came up to the speakers after and asked them questions, and it did manage to stay non-partisan, which is always our goal.
Contact Ada Throckmorton at adastat ‘at’ stanford.edu.