Utah Women Run has recently partnered with the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. This collaboration was formed due to the alignment of each initiative’s “nonpartisan” mission to encourage civic engagement, with Utah Women Run already working to get female students involved at the U.

Utah Women Run, which started as Real Women Run, is a collaborative effort from women leaders around the state to provide resources for women looking to become more politically involved, said Morgan Lyon Cotti, associate director of the Hinckley Institute.

“Whether that’s running for office, joining an advocacy campaign, applying for a border commission role, Utah Women Run is a nonpartisan effort to encourage women to be more fully engaged in politics and government,” Lyon Cotti said.

The Hinckley Institute was one of the founding members of what is now Utah Women Run and the institute has many resources to reach students, the main reason why the partnership was formed, Lyon Cotti said.

“During COVID and with some other factors, we realized that we needed to find a different home for Utah Women Run, and the Hinckley Institute just made a lot of sense with the efforts and the work that we already do to engage students and the community,” Lyon Cotti said.

Now that Utah Women Run and the Hinckley Institute have joined forces, they want to focus on encouraging more women to hold elected positions throughout the state and show them how to run different leadership opportunities, said Becky Edwards, former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate and former Utah State Legislator.

“[We want to] broaden the perspective of what it means to be a female leader,” Edwards said. “Certainly elected office is one of those, but other ways of making your voice heard in the political realm also matters tremendously.”

Women are able to provide different perspectives and solutions to political issues, Edwards said, and it is important to show and teach these women the importance of their voice in politics and the power they have.

“That sense of empowering women’s voices I think in that realm is tremendously important because, for so many women, that becomes a springboard to running for office,” Edwards said.

This empowerment is especially important for college students and college women who are preparing to enter their careers and looking towards the future, especially if they hope to be involved in politics after college, Edwards said. 

“College is a place where people are seeing their potential and their future,” Edwards said. “We want to make sure that all people and especially women know because this organization is founded on this belief, that women really matter regardless of what their backgrounds may be.”

It is vital that women become involved in politics and hold more elected positions to help represent a more diverse population, and without this representation, the policies and legislature passed may not work as well, Lyon Cotti said.

“Politics works better and we have better policy because when we have a greater array of voices at the table, we have different life experiences, and if we don’t have women in the room, there is a lack of that voice and those experiences,” Lyon Cotti said.

For people who are interested in gaining experience on how to run campaigns, hold elected positions and more, Utah Women Run is holding a training on Jan. 21 at the Hinckley Institute, and all are welcome to attend, Edwards said.

“Quite honestly, we need [young peoples’] perspective and those voices as well,” Edwards said. “I just really encourage your readers to attend.”

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