Welcome to Part 2 of “Jane Goodall’s Life is a Lesson in Political Preparation” 

Don’t Wait for the Credentials–Start Building the Resume

Goodall revolutionized primatology before any formal scientific training or “serious precedent, established preconception or standard method” in research. After almost three months hiking alone, living off canned beans, sleeping on the ground, and battling malaria alongside her mother, she frustratingly wrote she had “learned nothing”. Two weeks after her mother left Gombe, however, Jane observed one chimpanzee, which she later named David Greybeard, using a grass stem as a tool to fish termites from a mound, then watched him strip leaves from a twig to fashion an even better tool. These observations—tool use and toolmaking—shattered the prevailing belief that such behaviors were exclusively human. When she reported her findings, Leakey responded in the now-legendary telegram, “Now we must redefine…man.”

Goodall didn’t earn her PhD from Cambridge until five years after her groundbreaking research—and notably, she did so without first acquiring an undergraduate degree (Leakey had pulled strings and submitted her field notes to substantiate her legitimacy).

The parallel to women in politics is striking. Study after study confirms the same pattern: Women delay running for office until they possess every conceivable qualification. Men run with significantly less preparation. Female candidates typically hold more advanced degrees and possess more relevant experience than their male counterparts, yet report feeling insufficiently prepared at substantially higher rates.

But Goodall’s trajectory offers a different model. Authority emerged from observation. Expertise developed through engagement. Credibility came not from credentials but from contribution.

Consider what this means for political participation. The parent who’s attended every school board meeting for three years understands education policy through lived experience. The community organizer who’s registered voters in underserved neighborhoods possess knowledge no political science degree can confer. The advocate who’s navigated bureaucracies to secure services for a disabled sibling has expertise in healthcare policy that transcends academic study.

Goodall proved that revolutionary insights can precede formal recognition. The lesson for women considering political engagement is clear: doing the work matters more than almost anything.

The Work Itself Builds Authority

Established primatologists were horrified by Goodall’s work.

She was naming the chimpanzees. David Graybeard. Fifi. Flo. Passion. Not Subject #1. Not Specimen A-47. Names. Like they were individuals with personalities.

The scientific community’s response? Swift and dismissive. This is what happens when you let untrained amateurs into the field! Where is the objectivity? The professional distance? The proper methodology? One Cambridge professor told her she had done everything wrong. Animals didn’t have personalities, he told her. That was anthropomorphism–a cardinal sin of scientific research.

But here’s what Goodall’s “unprofessional” approach revealed: Chimpanzees had distinct personalities. They formed complex alliances. They showed grief, altruism, and multi-generational family bonds. Every “mistake” she made by not knowing the “proper” way became the foundation for how primatology is practiced today.

Her lack of formal training wasn’t a limitation. It was liberation from forty years of scientific orthodoxy that had missed what was right in front of them.

This matters profoundly for women considering political careers.

The political establishment has its own orthodoxies about who’s “electable.” The proper resume includes: law degree (ideally Ivy League), previous elected experience (starting young), major donor connections (inherited or married into), and a particular way of speaking that signals insider status.

But consider who’s actually transformed American politics recently.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Twenty-eight years old. Bartender. Running against a ten-term incumbent with a campaign budget that wouldn’t cover his catering bills. She named the reality her constituents lived and flipped New York’s 14th district.

Ayanna Pressley. No political dynasty. No inherited connections. Raised by a single mother who struggled with addiction. First woman of color elected to Boston City Council. Now reshaping Congress’s understanding of criminal justice because she’s lived the impact of these systems.

These women brought “unconventional” backgrounds to politics. Working-class roots. Service industry experience. Immigrant families. Single motherhood. The very experiences that made them “unelectable” by traditional metrics made them indispensable voices in government.

Your non-traditional background isn’t a deficit to overcome. It’s your qualification.

The political establishment’s narrow definition of “electable” has never served women, especially women of color. What might we revolutionize if we stop apologizing for not fitting the mold and start recognizing that breaking it is exactly the point?

Redefine What “Ready” Looks Like

Jane Goodall’s qualifications for revolutionizing science: obsession, stamina, and absolute certainty that this was her work to do.

For months, she woke before dawn in the Gombe forest. Crawled through twelve-foot elephant grass in crushing heat. Tracked animals that could literally tear her apart. Lived with the knowledge that one black mamba snake encounter meant fifteen minutes until respiratory failure. And, she did all of this by herself.

Most days? Nothing. No sightings. No breakthrough observations. Just sweat, thorns, and canned beans. But Goodall showed up every single day until the chimpanzees finally decided she wasn’t a threat.

The jungle didn’t care about her credentials and the chimps didn’t review her resume. Her discoveries came from showing up everyday and doing work that others considered impossible, inappropriate, or not worth the time.

Your community doesn’t need you to be perfectly prepared. It needs you to show up.

Jane was enough and so are you.