Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/54008
The Advocate: Eve Galanter Just skimming Eve Galanter's résumé can make you winded. The details of more than four decades of work as a reporter, elected alderman, political director and nonprofit leader make one thing clear: She's a wom- an with new projects perennially up her sleeve. At the top of 70-year-old Galanter's agenda today? Utilizing her role as chair of the Wisconsin Women's Network to launch the Wisconsin Women's Policy Institute. A nonpartisan program geared at increasing the number of women en- gaged in shaping and implementing public policy, it offers Galanter a chance to bring her work in communications, politics and leadership together with her passion for boosting the status of Wisconsin's women and girls in an entirely new way. Slated to welcome its first class in March, 42 BRAVA Magazine January 2012 Galanter is expecting a diverse group of women. While some may be enriching their advocacy careers, others may simply be looking to get involved in the political sphere. Whatever the personal goal, each will be given an education in the Wiscon- sin policy landscape and political process, while advocating for one particular issue. It's an opportunity Galanter says will empower women and give the WWN a chance to advance the causes they hold dear. The issues may change annually, but in the inaugural year the institute will ad- dress an issue Galanter has been shining a light on for years: aging justice. "Over the next 25 years, the population of adults 65 and over will grow faster than any other population," she explains. "In 2009, one in five in Wisconsin lived solely on social security. In 2010? One in four. We call them elders living on the edge." At the crux of the problem for many seniors is financial literacy, something Galanter and WWN have been striving to improve. It's a dilemma she describes with passion. "The way we look at seniors has to change," she asserts. "So our plan is to train between 10 to 15 fellows to be public policy advocates for issues affecting seniors." While this new focus may have Galanter behind the scenes rather than front and center, don't let that fool you into thinking she's taking a step back. With a group of policy students under her wing, Galanter is just getting started. And if her institute churns out anyone like her, those under the Capitol dome better be prepared to greet a group of women leaders ready to make their voices heard.