May 20-21, 2007
Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza
Tampa, Florida

CARRIE MEEK RECEIVED THE 2007 LINDY BOGGS AWARD

Laura Bush spoke via video. Carrie Meek, the first African American elected to Congress from Florida since Reconstruction, received the Lindy Boggs Award. Alex Sink, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer and the only female statewide elected official in the state; Judy Genshaft, president of the University of South Florida (USF); and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio all delivered addresses. The dynamic mother-daughter duo of former United States Senate candidate, USF President and Education Commissioner Betty Castor and Congresswoman Kathy Castor spoke at the conference on Monday morning, May 21.  

See the full agenda.

Opportunities and Dilemmas for Women in Public Leadership
Elizabeth Sherman, Executive Director, Presidential Classroom

15 Rules for the Road
Deb Sofield, Executive Speech Coach

Emotional Intelligence: Leadership From the Inside Out
Shawn Baldwin, Director, Certified Public Manager Program, Florida Center for Public Management, Florida State University

How Public Opinion Research Affects What Politicians Think, Say and Do
Chris Ingram, President, 411 Communications

It’s A Roller Coaster Ride, But You’re In Control
Thelma V. Crump, Commissioner, Florida Commission on the Status of Women

Machiavelli for Women
Carol C. Darr, Director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, George Washington University

Taking Charge of Your Own Leadership Development: Do You Know Where You’re Going?
Carole Leland, national leadership consultant

Targeting Political Influencers
Carol C. Darr, Director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, George Washington University

When Under Pressure: How to Present the Issues and Field Questions
Anne Voss, Vice President of Strategic Solutions and Senior Vice President of the Women’s Political Network
Judith Albertelli, Co-founder and President, Tillie Fowler Series
Judy Arranz, Executive Director, Tillie Fowler Series

2006 Conference Highlights from Nashville

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao  addressed the 2006 conference at lunch on Monday, May 8. Karenna Gore Schiff spoke on Monday morning, May 8, about her new book, Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America.  U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke at the banquet on Sunday night, May 7.  The conference opened with Vice Admiral Ann Rondeau, the highest ranking woman officer in the U.S. Navy and Command Master Chief Jacqueline DiRosa, the highest ranking enlisted woman in the U.S. Navy. 

Dolly Parton was the winner of the 2006 Lindy Boggs Award.  Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen presented the award on Tuesday, May 9, at the closing session of the conference in Nashville.

Praise for Dolly Parton, winner of the 2006 Lindy Boggs Award:
"In a hundred years, there will likely be few present-day Volunteer State power brokers remembered by the masses for their impact on the state of Tennessee.  A building here, perhaps, a presidential home there, but people will still be talking about Dolly Parton.  Even with Parton's considerable successes as an entertainer set aside, her literacy initiatives could help transform the future business climate of the state of Tennessee." - Tennessee Business Magazine, April 2006

See Dolly Parton's award ceremony here. View a news clip of Dolly here.

Conference Description

The Southern Women in Public Service:  Coming Together to Make a Difference conference began in 1991 as an effort to promote women in government leadership in the South.  This conference is unique because it brings together women leaders from both political parties, all levels and branches of government, along with women leaders in business and academia.  They are united behind the idea that women are making a difference in the quality and character of government and that more women need to be involved as leaders in American politics.  

The conference features workshops to improve leadership skills and has developed a reputation for outstanding speakers such as Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Mary Landrieu, and Janet Reno to name only a few.  Nearly every Congresswoman from the South has attended.  “As a first time attendee, I was simply overwhelmed with the quality of workshops and keynote speakers,” said one participant. 

Yvonne Miller, who has the distinction of being the first black woman elected to both the Virginia House of Delegates and later State Senate, has attended every conference since 1998.  “I never miss this event,” she says, “because it recharges my public service batteries.  The Stennis Center ’s women’s conference is the best one for women in politics.  They do a good job of attracting a diverse group of women leaders as both attendees and as presenters.”

Kay Cobb, a former state legislator and the only female justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, says, “It just keeps getting better and better.”  She adds, “I think one of the reasons for the success of this conference year after year is its bipartisanship.  Regardless of political ideology, the women at this conference come together in a spirit of unity.”

Carole Wells, another former legislator who later became the first woman to chair the South Carolina Employment Security Commission, likes the unique networking opportunities.  “I always enjoy meeting people not only from other Southern states, but I like the mix of mayors, judges, legislators, commissioners, board members, business executives, professors and others who are there.”

Jimmie Lou Fisher, who served as Arkansas State Treasurer for 20 years, remembers, “When I came to the first conference back in 1991, women were just beginning to make inroads in the South.  The success of this event mirrors the unprecedented progress women have made.  Still, the overall number of women leaders in political positions in the South is low.  We need conferences like this to encourage women to run and seek appointments and to strengthen the women there now.”

Participants say this conference reinvigorates them to pursue their goals in public service.  The conference is also characterized by a bipartisan unity centered in the shared belief that bringing more women into public service leadership is a way to improve the quality and character of government leadership at all levels.

STATISTICAL UPDATE
Only eight of the nation's 50 governors are women.  Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana is the only female governor in the South. Five of the 15 women lieutenant governors are from the South. 

Four women from the South are among the 14 female U.S. Senators, and all of them have spoken at the Southern Women in Public Service (SWIPS) conference. They are Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR).  Fifteen of the 67 women in the U.S. House of Representatives are from the South. Nine have spoken at the SWIPS conference, including  Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Debbie Wasserman Schulz (D-FL) in 2006.

RESOURCES
Center for the American Woman and Politics - best site for up-to-date statistics on women in politics

CONTACT US

Stennis Center for Public Service
Box 9629, Mississippi State, MS 39762-9629
662-325-8409 • FAX: 662-325-8623
swips@stennis.gov