By Sumedha Garud

The 2nd annual Emerge/IBPW Event was held on April 24, 2010. It was hosted in Milpitas by IBPW founder and President Deepka Lalwani, Emerge California Executive Director Kimberly Ellis, and DAWN (Democratic Activist for Women Now). The event brought together women and men from a variety of backgrounds for an informal, informational, and inspirational afternoon party.

Evan Low, Mayor of Campbell and one of the youngest Asian American mayors in the country, started off the program by introducing Assembly Member Paul Fong (District 22). Fong has spoken before at a past IBPW event, as a panelist for their 2007 annual conference. At this Emerge event, he spoke with a theme later echoed by other speakers in the program: minority women face multiple sets of oppression. These sets of oppression include racial discrimination, sexual discrimination, as well as discrimination from the "old guard" with political power. Fong showed his support for those facing these sets of oppression, saying, “I see myself as a feminist” and that “the women's movement is part of the civil rights movement."

Following Fong’s speech, Fremont Councilmember Anu Natarajan offered her own insights. Like Fong, she was also a past IBPW panelist in 2007. In her Emerge event speech, Natarajan referred to the discrimination by the “old male guard,” however she also invited the audience to consider other factors at play. She stated that women do not always demand recognition, and that “we need to come out of our comfort zone and demand it.” She also referenced the adage ‘Women have to work twice as hard to be considered half as good’ – but she asserted that, “Women need to make sure we are not sidelined by it…challenge it.”

San Jose City Councilmember Madison Nguyen spoke after Natarajan to relate her experiences and the challenges she has overcome in her political career. Nguyen grew up in California as an immigrant from Vietnam, and she talked about the importance of the support she received from the Vietnamese American community when running for San Jose City Council in 2005. However, she then went on to describe a backlash of this support during the controversy surrounding the naming of a San Jose neighborhood with a preponderance of Vietnamese-owned businesses. Nguyen offered advice to the audience, reminding them that, “You need to branch over appeal to other ethnic communities, not just your own” and that there is “a responsibility to everyone you represent, not just the ethnic community that propels you to that position.”

The final speaker of the program was Kimberly Ellis, Executive Director for Emerge California. Ellis outlined how women are underrepresented in political positions, and gave many reasons why this must change, especially highlighting the different perspective women bring to policy discourse, and that “we check our egos at the door.” She went on to describe details about the Emerge training program for Democratic women to run for office, and related that the weekend sessions were designed with working women in mind. Ellis announced that the 6th annual Emerge Fundraiser will be held on June 17, 2010 in San Francisco, and she also answered questions from audience members about the Emerge application process. Event host Deepka Lalwani concluded the program by thanking the speakers, and also rallied the audience to action, stating, “All the complaints you have you can make them right by getting involved.”

After the speeches were done, the sunny spring weather, bountiful buffet, and eco-friendly "green" water mixed beautifully to inspire mingling. Speakers and guests stayed well after the program was over to share stories and network. The hosting groups were very pleased about the event turnout, and were excited about holding more events in the future.

For further information about the Emerge and IBPW organizations, please visit EmergeCA.org and IBPW.net.