By Terren Roloff, WSU Spokane
SPOKANE, Wash. – Women’s Funding Alliance has awarded WSU Health Sciences Spokane and Gonzaga University a $45,000 grant to host a summer institute to educate and encourage undergraduate women to become effective leaders in the civic and political arenas.
The WSU/GU National Education for Women’s Leadership (WSU/GU NEW Leadership) summer institute is a nonpartisan, six-day residential program modeled after the award-winning leadership program created by the Center for American Woman and Politics at Rutgers University. The institute is designed to address the problem of underrepresentation of women in American politics by educating, encouraging and enabling the next generation of women leaders. The WSU/GU NEW Leadership institute will take place July 12-17, 2018. The call for applications will go out in January 2018.
Students participating in the summer program will have the opportunity to develop and practice leadership skills through panel discussions, workshops and hands-on projects. Students will live on Gonzaga’s campus along with a select group of political women, offering undergraduates a unique opportunity for intensive guidance and mentoring by women serving in and working to influence government.
During the nearly week-long institute, students will be coached by past and present women officeholders, government staff members, business leaders, policy specialists, political activists and university faculty on both the GU and WSU’s Spokane campuses. The institute will culminate with student teams practicing their public speaking and leadership skills through a day-long legislative simulation enabling students to experience themselves as empowered leaders who can effectively participate in politics and public policy.
For more information, contact Veronica Puente at puentev@wsu.edu or 509-358-7522, or Cynthia Stavrianos at stavrianos@gonzaga.edu or 509-313-6585.
Media Contact:
- Terren Roloff, Communications Director, terren.roloff@wsu.edu, 509-358-7527