I was looking at running for local office, mostly out of curiosity in the beginning. When it comes to elections, it’s easy for people to dismiss the idea completely because nobody can see themselves running for president or being a big politician. But what I realized was that even at the most basic level, just having a voice and looking out for the people around you are enough. And for a seat on my county council, a voice was all that was promised.

I attended the Ready to Lead bootcamp, and what I found out was that these positions aren’t especially difficult to campaign for if you have an issue in mind and a direction established for how you want to solve it. Not only that, but local office can lead to more important positions if you work diligently and dedicate yourself to the role of a leader.

It greatly changed my perspective that all you really need to make the most of a leadership position is a desire to make life better for those around you. That’s something that people feel without ever considering running for office, but it makes a world of difference.

The Ready to Lead bootcamp was the closest attention I had paid to a course since finishing grad school. It’s obvious that their approach to curating civic leadership is unorthodox, but that’s what it takes to mobilize people who otherwise feel trapped in their socioeconomic positions. That feeling of being trapped keeps mouths closed and concerns unaddressed. Ready to Lead takes a different angle by showing people what they can do, right now, today.

I’ve worked in several Georgia departments over the years, yet I’ve never seen myself as much more than a manager, or coordinator. Realizing that I can leverage my position to lend others a voice was, frankly, eye-opening.

I have followed Rep GA and their programs for a few years, and I was able to get a 1-on-1 discussion with one of the Ready to Lead organizers to answer some questions I had about what kind of local offices would be worth campaigning for. They gave me a rundown of how to build a platform and use the support to give back to the community. When it came to getting elected for something meaningful, it was clear that I had a few misconceptions. The first was that “meaningful” applies to every level. In fact, it caused to me to set my sights on a school board position because I’m already extremely active in my son’s PTA. The second was that I would need access to campaigning resources, but this wasn’t as intimidating as it was in my mind. More than anything else, it was about building a network, which I was already doing by starting the conversation.

What I appreciated about Ready to Lead and their bootcamp is that their message exists to inspire normal people to take charge and lead. The thing that changed my mindset the most is the realization that everyone thinking they’re not cut out to lead, is the thing that prevents anyone from speaking up and guaranteeing our voices are heard.