Center 1968 is on a mission to train and elect more Black women in politics and policy
Created by Jasmine Sessoms in Pennsylvania, the center aims to place more Black women in positions of influence in public policy.
When Jasmine Sessoms observed the political landscape, she was disheartened to see that practically no Black women worked in public policy. After successfully training Black women to run for political office in her home state of Pennsylvania through her “She Can Run” program—resulting in graduates like Cherelle Parker, who went on to be elected Philadelphia’s first female mayor—Sessoms decided she needed to go a step further.
“Without training us, investing in us, and connecting us, we really are struggling,” said Sessoms, a longtime political fundraiser who has served in various roles in government relations and higher education. “I was like, ‘You know what? I want to do something bigger than just training women to run for office because there are so many other facets.”
That’s where Center 1968 comes in. The center, named after the year Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress, builds on the work of “She Can Run,” expanding beyond getting Black women to run for office to include training in policy to become staffers in political offices. The center even honors iconic Black women in politics with a fellowship named after former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan and a staffer program named after Valerie Jarrett, the former senior advisor to President Barack Obama. To date, 13 women have graduated from the center, and a handful of them have been placed in jobs as policy experts.
Sessoms told theGrio that the center primarily seeks out women who are not necessarily politically connected. “We look for the community leader, the single mom that just is a block captain or a ward leader or a committee person…we put them into the system that was not designed for them.” She continued, “There’s a lot of nervousness and trepidation because everything they know about politics is just scary, bad…we make it more friendly.”
For those who are politically connected, Center 1968 provides a needed community. “Our elected officials come to us for upskilling [but] a lot of it is just plain loneliness,” said Sessom of electeds who are often the only Black women in their spaces. Challenges they face include cultural issues like hair politics. The center is now organizing with other Black women-led groups to lobby for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to pass the Crown Act, which would prohibit hair discrimination in the state.
The center, which celebrated its first anniversary, also caught the attention of political heavyweights like former Vice President Kamala Harris and Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. During the 2024 election, Harris—intrigued by the center’s inspiration of Shirley Chisholm—paid a visit while on the campaign trail.
“It was life-changing for me to see young, Black girls, college age and above, screaming and just trying to claw at her and get to her,” Sessoms recalled. “She shook everybody’s hand, took pictures, and she leaned in.” The then-Democratic presidential nominee left the group of Black women with a simple but hopeful message: “Keep going.”
Admittedly, the loss of Kamala Harris to now-President Donald Trump was disappointing for Sessoms, to say the least.
“It felt like a death. It changed me in a way that I can’t even really describe, and I think I’m still processing,” said Sessoms, who served as state chairwoman of Black Women for Kamala Harris and co-chair of the Pennsylvania Women for Kamala Harris Committee. “No matter how qualified we are, no matter how hard we work, no matter how hard we try, the mediocrity of a white man will always win.”
Though Center 1968, for now, services Black women in Pennsylvania, Sessoms told theGrio that her hope is to nationalize the center to ensure that Black women’s voices are being heard in politics and policy all across the country. The Morgan State University graduate said she wants to partner with HBCUs and other college campuses to make the center’s services more accessible and drive change throughout every level of government in every state.
“There needs to be parity in state houses, city councils, local governments, and the federal government, and that’s what the center wants to address. Black women’s issues need to be raised to the top because they are the issue of America,” Sessoms explained.
However, she made it clear that Center 1968 needs more funding to achieve that goal. During election season, Sessoms said, “We were on a roll” during last year’s election. Since President Trump returned to the White House—focusing a lot of his presidency on combating diversity and racial equity programs—funding has slowed down.
“People are nervous about saying Black women and DEI and those initiatives,” she lamented, adding, “We need donations…We have all the framework. We just need money and willing participants to come along on the journey.”
As for what lies ahead, Sessoms said there are lessons to be taken from Center 1968’s inspiration, Shirley Chisholm, who became the first African-American presidential candidate to run for a major party nomination.
“As bad as it is now trying to erect a center for Black women, I can’t even imagine what it was to be the first Black woman in a majority white male Congress, championing Black issues,” she reflected. “I always tell our participants, embrace that. Embrace who you are unapologetically…because she was so good, they could not deny her.”
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