College of Western Idaho (CWI) students, C’line Duff and Eliza Walton, had an opportunity in July to participate in New Leadership Idaho!
This program is a political “boot camp” designed to encourage more women to become leaders in their community and to run for political office. Boise State hosted the residential workshop, with students living on campus and attending workshops for 10 hours a day, then returning to the dorms for independent and group work.
Both Duff and Walton expressed a strong desire to run for political office prior to entering the program. “This week has changed how willing I am to work behind the scenes to enact change,” said Walton.
Nearly two dozen women, representing six Idaho colleges and universities, spent a week in Boise attending New Leadership Idaho. CWI has participated in the program since its debut in 2014
Lori Hausegger, director of New Leadership Idaho, points to signs that the program is beginning to show results. “One of our students was recently hired as Senate Minority Chief of Staff, another is working as a Program Specialist in a nonprofit, and a former student was in Washington DC, where a team she was on, won a national campaign to ‘Innovate Against Hate.’”
Collaboration and civility are common themes throughout the week. Not only do students participate in workshops designed to teach them these skills but that message is reinforced through the choice of guest speakers. Representatives Ilana Rubel (D) and Christy Perry (R) have been involved with New Leadership Idaho every year since its creation in Idaho and made a joint appeal for support at New Leadership’s Mentoring Reception.
About New Leadership Idaho:
National Education for Women’s (NEW) Leadership is an award-winning program designed to educate and empower the next generation of women leaders. The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, developed the innovative program in 1991 and branched out to invite other universities into its Development Network.
The first Idaho program was held in 2014. NEW Leadership Idaho is administered by Boise State’s School of Public Service, which allows program participant’s close proximity to our state legislature. However, to fulfill its mission and be successful, New Leadership requires widespread student participation from all of Idaho’s Colleges and Universities. Learn more at https://sps.boisestate.edu/new-leadership/.
About the College of Western Idaho:
The College of Western Idaho is a public, open-access, and comprehensive community college committed to providing affordable access to quality teaching and learning opportunities to the residents of its service area in western Idaho. CWI has seven campus locations throughout Southwest Idaho providing higher education and 21st Century technical skills acquisition. The college is dedicated to improving the community’s economic well-being by responding with highly-educated and productive graduates. The foundation for the area’s only community college was created by a supermajority of voters in Ada and Canyon counties on May 22, 2007. CWI is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). For more information about the college, visit cwi.edu or call 208.562.3000.