Being a woman in politics is not easy. It requires constant work, strategy and support. Since its first edition in 2016, the European Women’s Academy has been guiding talented and ambitious women towards success. In 2018, the European Liberal Forum, the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation, NEOS Lab have joined forces once again in this third edition of the European Women’s Academy – EWA West.
The second session of EWA 2018 was held in Potsdam, Germany, from the 8th to the 11th of June 2018. A group of 30 female politicians from Western Europe came together to experience three intense and productive days of training. With the precious support of first-class trainers and speakers, the participants improved their campaigning skills and gained the confidence necessary to make them stand out.
The workshop covered a wide range of topics from canvassing and building scripts, tools and data maps (Laura Laussade, Max Sundermann, ALDE Party) to public speaking (Simon Bucknall, High Impact Speaking Expert) and storytelling techniques (Grace Pardy, made2matter). Extremely fruitful was the input of Katrien Van den broek, Communication Advisor to the Prime Minister of Belgium, on the importance of social media, as well as that of ALDE Party’s Vice President Annelou van Egmond on the difficulties of navigating politics as a woman. Particularily motivating were the speeches of Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Chair of the Finance Committee in the German Bundestag and EWA alumna of 2016 as well as of Ria Schröder, Federal Chair of the FDP Young Liberals.
To conclude, the passion and commitment demonstrated by everyone in working together towards a common goal made the second session of EWA 2018 an extremely positive experience.
