Maine NEW Leadership

Educate Engage Empower

Maine NEW Leadership is a six-day, non-partisan, residential training program, provided at no cost, to undergraduate college women from a variety of public and private, four- and two-year institutions throughout Maine.

The inaugural session of Maine NEW Leadership, held June 2009, was an astounding success. The program brought 26 undergraduate women from a variety of backgrounds, ages, races and majors to the University of Maine campus.

The 2010 curriculum will be posted soon. In the meantime, check out last year's curriculum for an idea of what the 2010 program will entail. For information on course credit, see below.

                                   2010 Application:    Download pdf
                                   2010 Brochure:       Download pdf
                                   2009 Curriculum:     Download pdf
                                   2009 Participants:    Download pdf
                                   2009 Photos:            Download pdf

Applications are due March 19, 2010

Course Credit: CHF 409 - Independent Study in Human Development. Students may earn academic credit (through the University of Maine) for participation in Maine NEW Leadership. Contact Sandra Caron, Professor of Family Relations, 220 Merrill Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04269, 581-3138, sandy.caron@umit.maine.edu
WST 399 - Topics in Women & Gender Studies 0001-LEC (2613) Students may earn academic credit (through the University of Southern Maine) for participation in Maine NEW Leadership. If you are interested, please contact: Professor Susan Feiner, Women's & Gender Studies, & Economics, University of Southern Maine, 94 Bedford Street, Portland, ME 04104, 780-4862 sffein@usm.maine.edu.

     In 2008, The Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center was selected to become the seventeenth member of a national network of Development Partners in the National Education for Women (NEW) Leadership^TM program, initiated in 1991 by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University. With its focus on helping to build leaders within Maine communities, University of Maine Cooperative Extension became a co-sponsor of NEW Leadership in 2008. UMaine Extension has supported UMaine's land-grant public education role for over 90 years by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

      By participating in the program, a diverse group of college women from Maine will gain a greater awareness of their leadership potential, skills, and opportunities in civic life and public office. NEW Leadership will ensure that new generations of Maine leaders understand the importance of running for office, taking part in campaigns, and engaging in public policy development. With the skills they have learned and the networks they have developed, participants will be empowered and energized to emerge as political leaders.
       As one graduate of the CAWP NEW Leadership^TM program concluded, “NEW Leadership has had a huge impact on my life. It changed my career goals and opened up new options and opportunities for me.” Further, whether they engage at the campus, local, or state level, students are then less likely to migrate out of state when they graduate.
      NEW Leadership^TM addresses the historic as well as contemporary under-representation of women in American politics. Maine NEW Leadership will provide women college students in Maine with the opportunity to learn about women’s voices, perspectives, and contributions in all political arenas, through the application of a broad, inclusive definition of politics and the engagement of speakers from a variety of political offices and organizations. By bringing NEW Leadership to Maine, we will continue a tradition of strong female political leadership while empowering a new generation of women capable of leading Maine politics.

Hon. Mary Cathcart, Co-Director
mary.cathcart@umit.maine.edu

Rebekah Smith, Esq., Co-Director
rebekah.smith@umit.maine.edu

Eva McLaughlin, Program Coordinator
eva.mclaughlin@umit.maine.edu
(207) 581-1646

By participating in the program, a diverse group of college women from Maine will gain a greater awareness of their leadership potential, skills, and opportunities in civic life and public office. NEW Leadership will ensure that new generations of Maine leaders understand the importance of running for office, taking part in campaigns, and engaging in public policy development. With the skills they have learned and the networks they have developed, participants will be empowered and energized to emerge as political leaders. As one graduate of the CAWP NEW Leadership^TM program concluded, “NEW Leadership has had a huge impact on my life. It changed my career goals and opened up new options and opportunities for me.” Further, whether they engage at the campus, local, or state level, students are then less likely to migrate out of state when they graduate.	NEW Leadership^TM addresses the historic as well as contemporary under-representation of women in American politics. Maine NEW Leadership will provide women college students in Maine with the opportunity to learn about women’s voices, perspectives, and contributions in all political arenas, through the application of a broad, inclusive definition of politics and the engagement of speakers from a variety of political offices and organizations. By bringing NEW Leadership to Maine, we will continue a tradition of strong female political leadership while empowering a new generation of women capable of leading Maine politics. Hon. Mary Cathcart, Co-Director mary.cathcart@umit.maine.edu Rebekah Smith, Esq., Co-Director rebekah.smith@umit.maine.edu Eva McLaughlin, Program Coordinator eva.mclaughlin@umit.maine.edu (207) 581-1646

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Maine NEW Leadership