Elect Her and COSLA are partnering to reach out to women in local government across Scotland, and provide you with a place to come together and to feel supported in your work.
We are inviting all women serving as councillors to switch off from regular work for an hour and a half and come together with other women, from across the political spectrum, to share your challenges, experiences, resources and advice.
The sessions will be lightly facilitated by Executive Coach Julie Drybrough who will help guide the time, which otherwise will remain an open and informal discussion.
There will be two sessions on this date, 10-11:30am and 7-8:30pm.
Tell us that you’re a councillor in Scotland below and we will ensure you receive an invite to this session, and every future session afterwards. You will also have the option to sign up for Elect Her’s wider programme of support for women in elected office.
COSLA and Elect Her have collaborated closely on policy and research for the last few years, across a range of forums including the COSLA Barriers to Elected Office Special Interest Group.
Retention of women in elected office is a key concern for both organisations, and an informal networking space has been identified as a tool to support women in elected office. This space is a result of our policy work but is not aimed at providing space for policy change. Instead, this is an open space with light facilitation for women in elected office to build connections and community, sharing experiences, resources, and advice.
COSLA and Elect Her team members will be present in the sessions but will not be gathering outputs, providing guidance or policy updates. Sessions will be confidential and while your lived experiences might influence the direction of wider work, this is not the focus or aim of these sessions.
If you wish COSLA or Elect Her to take action on a particular issue or discuss it in more detail, please contact corporatepolicyteam@cosla.gov.uk or community@elect-her.org.uk
Elect Her is committed to hosting inclusive, accessible support that enable all women to engage fully in our conversations. We will make reasonable adjustments throughout the sessions, so there is universal access. Throughout our programme of support, we anticipate what is needed in advance and respond to needs as they emerge. If you require any further accommodations to access the session, please email community@elect-her.org.uk. Requests must be made at least 2 working days before the scheduled event in order to enable us time to make arrangements.