With all eyes on the 2016 election, it was the perfect time to spark a conversation and encourage women to envision themselves in elected office. We used the ground swell of election buzz to draw attention to the gender gap by writing a book (based on the classic “Fun with Dick and Jane”) that featured a humorous, yet important truism about the state of American politics— “there are a lot of Dicks in office!” It is time to See Joan Run.

We penned a parody of the classic children's book “Fun with Dick & Jane”, featuring a humorous, yet important truism about the state of American politics: “there are a lot of Dicks in office." “See Joan Run” chronicles the campaign of the titular Joan in a world full of Dicks—Congressman Dick, Alderman Dick, Councilman Dick. Readers were encouraged to join the movement sharing videos or photos of themselves reading See Joan Run to their social media platforms using @SheShouldRun and #SeeJoanRun— and nominating their own “Joan”— propelling the movement. The book debuted on International Women’s Day and quickly caught the eye of press, celebs and politicians alike, including Shonda Rhimes and Madeline Albright.

Our little book created a big impact. See Joan Run debuted at #22 on Amazon. It was immediately picked up as an exclusive with popular online publication Refinery 29. Adweek, Glamour and the Chicago Tribune quickly jumped on board. Shonda Rhimes from Scandal, a top political thriller, tweeted out the book. Even political influencers promoted “See Joan Run” like MomsRising.org and original Joan herself, first female Secretary of State Madeline Albright. We generated 63 million impressions across paid, owned and earned media, reaching 3 million people on Twitter and stretching a $13,000 budget to over a $1.1 million dollar value. Most importantly we saw a 300% lift in nominations for new “Joans” to pipeline into political office— proving that people were not just talking about diversity in politics, they were doing something about it.