News
Helping women become future leaders
Women wanting to know what it takes to be a strong leader gathered on campus in June for an intensive weeklong workshop. The nearly 40 Oregon college women, ranging in age from 20 to 50, came with one purpose but very different aspirations: elected official; Peace Corps volunteer; medical researcher; police officer; and advocate for women, children and the elderly.
Ready to show them the way was an impressive group of proven, Oregon women leaders.
The women students were drawn to PSU’s inaugural session of National Education for Women’s Leadership Oregon program—an affiliate of a nationally recognized program at Rutgers University. The program is designed to educate and encourage college women to become politically active and take on leadership roles on their campuses and in their communities, says its director, Melody Rose, a PSU political science professor.
This year’s mentors included former Gov. Barbara Roberts; House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village; Vanessa Gaston, president and CEO of the Urban League of Portland; and Gretchen Kafoury, former Oregon legislator, and Multnomah County and Portland city commissioner. Roberts and Kafoury teach in the PSU Hatfield School of Government.
Oregon ranks fifth in the nation for the proportion of women serving in state legislatures, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers. But nationally, the political gains that women achieved in the 1980s and early 1990s have slowed. In 1995, women held 84 of 315 statewide positions around the nation, according to the Rutgers’ center. This year, they hold 80.
Tina Gentzkow, a student who helped organized the workshop, says the speakers shared many inspiring stories, including a favorite from Jo Ann Bowman, a former Oregon legislator who is now directing a voter expansion project for Oregon Action.
“Jo Ann had been a community activist but never considered herself a political person before becoming a legislator,” says Gentzkow. “Her lesson was that women should not wait to be asked, but start viewing themselves as political leaders because of the work they already do.”
Ready to show them the way was an impressive group of proven, Oregon women leaders.
The women students were drawn to PSU’s inaugural session of National Education for Women’s Leadership Oregon program—an affiliate of a nationally recognized program at Rutgers University. The program is designed to educate and encourage college women to become politically active and take on leadership roles on their campuses and in their communities, says its director, Melody Rose, a PSU political science professor.
This year’s mentors included former Gov. Barbara Roberts; House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village; Vanessa Gaston, president and CEO of the Urban League of Portland; and Gretchen Kafoury, former Oregon legislator, and Multnomah County and Portland city commissioner. Roberts and Kafoury teach in the PSU Hatfield School of Government.
Oregon ranks fifth in the nation for the proportion of women serving in state legislatures, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers. But nationally, the political gains that women achieved in the 1980s and early 1990s have slowed. In 1995, women held 84 of 315 statewide positions around the nation, according to the Rutgers’ center. This year, they hold 80.
Tina Gentzkow, a student who helped organized the workshop, says the speakers shared many inspiring stories, including a favorite from Jo Ann Bowman, a former Oregon legislator who is now directing a voter expansion project for Oregon Action.
“Jo Ann had been a community activist but never considered herself a political person before becoming a legislator,” says Gentzkow. “Her lesson was that women should not wait to be asked, but start viewing themselves as political leaders because of the work they already do.”