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WTNH interviews aspiring U.S. Rep. Janissa Vidal after event.
DeLauro holds court at Manjares.
A New Haven high school student with an eye toward a future in Congress heard a woman who’s already there tell her to jump in — even though she might be scared.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro told that Monday morning to Metropolitan Business Academy junior Janissa Vidal and seven of her female schoolmates at a breakfast roundtable discussion at Westville Village’s woman-run Manjares Bistro.
DeLauro brought the students — among them an aspiring doctor, lawyer, and hedge-fund manager— together with female New Haven business and community leaders for a Women’s History Month discussion about “challenges facing women in the workplace.” Seventeen adult and teen women spent an hour around the table talking while six male reporters and photographers circled and recorded the discussion.
Just 5 percent of the CEOs of Forbes 500 companies are women, DeLauro noted. Women earn 79 cents on the dollar that men earn for the same jobs. Of 535 U.S. senators and representatives, 104 are women. Those numbers have risen in recent years — and need to rise a lot more, she said.
Hence Monday’s event. There, adult after adult urged the young women present to embrace rather than avoid risk, the same way men are encouraged to do in our society.
Yale-New Haven Administrative Director for Community and Government Relations Kyle Ballou, Gateway Community College President Dorsey Kendrick, and Metro Academy’s Asia Johnson-CLark and Janaisha Twyne.
That’s what DeLauro did 25 years ago when she first ran for New Haven’s U.S. Congressional seat, which had always been occupied by men.
“I had never run for office before,” she recalled. Before that she had worked behind the scenes for politicians, running their offices or campaigns.
“I was scared to death. Why? I knew politics. I know how to organize campaigns. I could give advice. But [being a candidate herself] was not my experience. I felt I needed to know everything about everything before I ran for office.”
She dived in anyway.
“I took it on as a course of study. You do need to be conscientious. You do need to learn. But it’s about taking a chance. It’s jumping off the cliff. What you accomplish will surpass your expectations.”
“You can take something on,” seconded Mary J. Barneby, executive director of the Girl Scouts of Connecticut. “You don’t need to be perfect.”
Before the discussion began, DeLauro asked the students to describe their career goals. Janissa noted that she is in Metro’s law and politics track.
“Are you going to run for office one day?” DeLauro asked her.
“Hopefully,” Janissa replied. DeLauro encouraged her to.
Folk-rock legend eavesdrops from side wall.
Afterwards, Janissa said she does aspire to a Congressional seat one day. And she said Monday’s event, including DeLauro’s story, inspired her.
“It was real empowering to hear from” successful women, she said. “I’m definitely scared, going into politics, into law. It was inspiring to hear about women taking the first steps.”
DeLauro spoke of taking the long view. She first introduced a version of the Paycheck Fairness Act, seeking parity in men’s and women’s wages, back in 1997, she noted. She’s still introducing and building support for it. Under a “new president” next year — perhaps the woman whom DeLauro has endorsed— that act might finally pass, DeLauro predicted.
If not, another aspiring Congresswoman is waiting in the wings to take up the fight.