Members of The White House Project will visit Iowa on Thursday to help buoy efforts to create a five-year plan to elect more Iowa women into political office.

The meeting will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 22 in Building 7, Oak and Maple rooms, Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny.

Two Minnesota staffers from the project will discuss the non-profit, non-partisan group’s national goal to help increase the number of women into elected positions including the U.S. presidency. They’ll also discuss Iowa’s needs and the creation of a five-year plan to increase women political leaders in Iowa, among other things.

The Iowa Commission on the Status of Women is leading efforts to encourage more women to run for political office. The project, which is based in New York and has regional offices in Minnesota and elsewhere, will help buoy existing Iowa efforts.

The presidential race between Democratic rivals Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has heightened issues of race and gender in politics.