Members of the 2025 cohort will be notified by Friday, May 2! 

NEW Leadership Oregon 2023 Cohort

NEW Leadership® Oregon (NLO) is an annual multi-session, six month program curated for Oregon college students. NLO is open to any student enrolled at a college or university in Oregon. NLO is an inclusive, intersectional feminist leadership program designed to inspire participants to identify and hone the skills they need to lead in any context — in their community, within the nonprofit sector, in the boardroom, in politics, at home, as activists, and anywhere else their leadership is needed (which is everywhere!)

At NLO we believe there are many different paths toward leadership, and we collaborate with facilitators, speakers, and mentors with a wide range of lived leadership experiences. NEW Leadership® Oregon is modeled after National Education for Women’s Leadership®, the award-winning leadership program designed by the renowned Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

2025 Programming Information

2025 Program Dates:

Opening Retreat: June 19-22 2025 (in-person, Salem Oregon)

Leadership Coaching: one-on-one or group (Virtual, TBD)

Mid-Way Retreat: October 16-18 (in-person, location TBD)

Leadership Coaching: one-on-one or group (Virtual, TBD)

Closing Retreat: December 12-13  (in-person, location TBD)

Location: Hybrid (Virtual & In Person sessions in Salem, Oregon & Portland, Oregon)

In our 2025 program, we’ll explore approaches that catalyze learning and growth around leadership practices that are explicitly anti-racist; grounded in intersectional feminist and queer ways of thinking, feeling, and doing; embracing of radical imagination; and dedicated to creating a culture of relationality and care among participants and in our communities. Participants will be supported to do the radical work of practicing critical self-reflection for transformational leadership as they become and build community together, for the good of us all.

Key Themes:

  • Understanding Systems Change – understanding who holds power, how decisions are made, and what barriers prevent progress.
  • Equity & Intersectionality in Policymaking – Integrating diverse perspectives into leadership and decision-making.
  • Career Development & Transitions – Navigating the shift from academia to full-time professional work.
  • Networking, Interdependence & Collaboration – Building strategic relationships and collective power.
  • Leadership Skills & Tools – Cultivating human-centered leadership approaches.
  • Reflection & Learning Practices – Encouraging personal growth through art, journaling, and mindfulness.

2025 Application Dates:

Application Opens: February 14, 2025

Application Deadline: April 13, 2025

Cohort Announced:  May 2, 2025

Eligibility: NLO is open to students at all higher education institutions in Oregon. Eligible applicants must be registered for the 2024-2025 academic year at a two-year or four-year institution.   

CWL welcomes participants of diverse gender, racial and ethnic identities, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We strongly encourage students who are BIPOC, first-in-family college-educated, and transgender and gender nonbinary to apply, along with students from any and every major.

Accessibility: The Center for Women’s Leadership’s top priority is to ensure that NLO is an equitable and inclusive space for all cohort members. We invite you to share your needs and desires around accessibility in the application, and we will actively engage with participants to ensure the accessibility of the platforms and spaces we’ll use in the program. 

 

Our Sponsors:

 

Oregon State Capitol Foundation Logo

 

Are you interested in sponsoring NEW Leadership Oregon 2025?

Contact Jessica Mole Heilman, CWL Co-Director at jmole@pdx.edu