Cheyenne, Wyoming – As 93 legislators begin work in January, Wyoming welcomes 44 incumbents and 34 new legislators to the Capitol, of which 21.5% percent are women, compared to 17 percent in 2022. Although we are seeing a slight increase in women’s representation, this number is still quite low, especially considering that Wyoming is the “Equality State.”
Expanding opportunities for women to be more involved in local government is the mission of the Wyoming Women’s Legislative Caucus, which will host the 16th annual leadership conference, February 22-23, 2023.
The Leap into Leadership Conference offers leadership development training and discussions targeted for women, provides an opportunity to meet with statewide leaders and policymakers, and encourages women to create the change they want to see on the local and statewide levels.
According to the Center for American Women and Politics, Wyoming is among the 10 states in the nation with the lowest percentage of female legislators, despite the fact that it will be 21.5% this year. “It is our hope that we can continue to change this statistic through offering opportunities for Wyoming women to be part of the leadership conversation and increase the number of leadership roles women hold in future years, states WyWLC Board Member, Representative Sandy Newsome.
“This will be the sixteenth year the Wyoming Women’s Legislative Caucus has organized the Leap into Leadership Conference. Each year we build a stronger event to support our mission of fostering female leadership in our great state,” said WyoWLC Board Member, Senator Affie Ellis.
The event will open on Wednesday afternoon at the Wyoming Capitol Complex with wellness and leadership workshops followed by the Leap into Leadership Legislative Reception and Banquet where guests will hear from former Wyoming Legislators, Bernadine Craft, Elaine Harvey, Jayne Mockler and Barabara Cubin.
Workshops will resume on Thursday, Feb. 23 in the Capitol Complex where topics will cover campaign planning, finance, and strategies for communicating with the press.
The conference will conclude with attendees having the opportunity to visit the Wyoming House and Senate to observe Wyoming legislators at work.
Registration information can be found at https://wyowlc.org/leap-into-leadership/. The cost for attending the entire program is $95. Cost for just the banquet and reception is $50. For more information, contact Annie Wood at 307-630-8940 or info@wyowlc.org.
The Wyoming Women’s Legislative Caucus is a non-partisan organization that advocates for greater participation of women in leadership roles across the state of Wyoming. The Caucus founded the Leap into Leadership Conference to inform, educate and engage Wyoming women in leadership roles in both the public and private sector.
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