BE READY LAUNCHES AS FIRST NEW JERSEY POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE DEDICATED TO ELECTING BLACK WOMEN IN THE STATE

Organization will Also Advocate to Advance a Black Women’s Policy Agenda

NEWARK, NJ –– Be Ready, the first political action committee dedicated to disrupting inequity in New Jersey by increasing the number of Black women in elected office in the state, has launched.

Led by a group of Black women with proven experience in organizing, managing campaigns, and advancing issues at the state and local levels, Be Ready will also work to advance a policy agenda centered on the issues most closely affecting Black women, largely inspired by the results of a poll of Black women in New Jersey recently commissioned by the organization’s sister non-profit Project Ready. The poll found that Black women under 40 felt largely disconnected and discouraged about their economic prospects and are less likely to vote in the upcoming midterm congressional elections than their older peers.

“We started Be Ready because for all the national talk about trusting in and supporting Black women, we don’t see the rubber meeting the road when it comes to advancing their agenda or electing Black women to positions of power,” said Be Ready Executive Director, Shennell McCloud. “Realizing the gaps that exist among Black women in politics, this organization is all about taking matters into our own hands and opening channels of opportunity for more Black women to succeed.”

The PAC builds explicitly on the lived experiences and issues directly facing New Jersey’s Black women, including education, economic justice, child care, and health. Be Ready’s work will focus on two areas: advancing a Black women’s policy agenda and electing Black women to office. Understanding that the two issues are linked and dually challenging in the fight for Black women in political leadership, the PAC aims to work alongside elected officials to advance a policy agenda that centers the needs of Black women.