AT&T Donation to Support UMaine Program Aimed at Cultivating the Next Generation of Women Civic Leaders; Details to be Announced Wednesday
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Officials from AT&T and the University of Maine will announce a donation that will provide support for Maine NEW Leadership, a University of Maine-based program for college women interested in careers in politics and public service.
Owen Smith, regional vice president for AT&T will be at UMaine’s Buchanan Alumni House at 11 a.m. Wednesday March 2 to announce the gift. Mary Cathcart, a senior policy fellow at UMaine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and Maine NEW Leadership co-director, will join Smith in speaking at a brief news event. Cathcart, along with two UMaine students who are program alumni, will describe Maine NEW Leadership in more detail while providing perspectives on its impact.
“We are excited to be supporting the great work being done the Maine NEW Leadership program,” Smith says. “We hope our support will help make this year the most successful and inspiring in the program’s history.”
Maine NEW Leadership is part of a national network that started at Rutgers University. The Maine program, co-sponsored by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and University of Maine Cooperative Extension, has been in place since 2008. A six-day residential June event, it brings a group of Maine college women — from two-year and four-year institutions — to the university and other locations, including the State House, for intensive programming related to public policy, politics and leadership.
“Maine has a proud tradition of women in leadership roles, and this program is helping set the stage for those who will follow in those footsteps,” Cathcart says. “AT&T’s support, which is much-appreciated, will be instrumental in helping us meet the high expectations of those students who will participate in Maine NEW Leadership for years to come.”
The 2011 program is scheduled for June 2-7. The registration deadline is March 17. More information for those interested in participating is online at http://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/?q=NEWLeadership.