Maine NEW Leadership Accepting Applications from College-age Women
Contact: Rebekah Smith, 542-6015 (media inquiries only)
Maine NEW Leadership, a University of Maine initiative that aims to educate and empower women to become civic and political leaders, is accepting applications for its inaugural class. The program will take place at UMaine from June 11 to 16; applications are due March 20.
Twenty-five college-age women from Maine will have the opportunity to participate in a weeklong intensive residential training program targeting the next generation of leaders. The nonpartisan program is offered through the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. It is provided at no cost to participants.
NEW Leadership began in 1991 at the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey. UMaine is the newest partner in the program’s 17-member national network, and the curriculum has been altered to reflect Maine’s unique political culture and climate.
“Participants in this program will experience an intensive, interactive training, taught by women leaders from all over the state, that will educate, engage, and empower them to be civic and political leaders,” says Rebekah Smith, Co-Director of the program.
Maine NEW Leadership is designed to address the historic and contemporary under-representation of women in politics. Over the course of a week, participants will take part in interactive sessions on leadership development, networking, diversity training and the realities of holding public office. In addition, a trip to the State House — with a stop at Margaret Chase Smith’s home and library in Skowhegan — is on the agenda.
Participants must be from Maine, attending college elsewhere, or must attend college in Maine. Women of color, nontraditional students and students majoring in fields outside policy science are strongly encouraged to apply.
Those interested in applying should visit http://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu to download informational pamphlets and application forms. For more information, contact Eva McLaughlin, program coordinator, at 581-1646.