Mission

“1st Amendment-1st Vote, Inc. offers non-partisan civic engagement and leadership development opportunities to teen girls in the effort to create a ‘pipeline or bench’ of young women ready, willing and able to run for office or seek professional government-related positions. As a result, we expect to achieve gender parity in US elected offices at local, state and national levels.”

Melina Carnicelli, Founder & President

2021

Read an Interview with Melina Here.

It’s been over 100 years since passage of the US Constitution’s Amendment XIX when women won the decades-long struggle for the right to vote. Women make up 51% of the current US population, yet continue to be substantially underrepresented in elected office, across-the-board, at an approximate 3:1 ratio of men to women. The 2018, 2019, 2020 Congressional elections in America marked an unprecedented time regarding the number of women running for and elected to national office. However, there’s still a long way to go to close the almost 24% gap necessary to achieve gender parity in elected office at the local, state and national levels. 1st Amendment-1st Vote, Inc is an innovative educational offering addressing this gender gap. While the program is politically 

non-partisan, it IS an early opportunity for high school girls to begin to seriously imagine themselves as candidates for elected office, and to begin their engagement in the American political process. In doing so, teen girls ensure, that in their not-too-distant future, more and more women will be ready, willing, able to run for office, win, and hold an equal number of seats as their male counterparts at these all-important leadership tables.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident; 

that all men and women are created equal…” 

Declaration of Sentiments, 1848, Seneca Falls, New York