Session Date: August 17, 2005
Annual Meeting Session Summary: Power Plays: Leadership Lessons from Women Legislators and Executives
This summary is provided for information purposes only. NCSL does not endorse any views it contains.
By Katy Johansson
Communications Specialist, Washington Senate Democratic Caucus
SEATTLE - After spending a day with her Brownies troop at the state capitol when she was 8 years old, Michigan Senate Majority Floor Leader Bev Hammerstrom knew she would someday be a politician.
President and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), Sally Jewell went to college to become a dental hygienist, and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.
And Washington Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown thrilled her parents when she announced she would major in economics. They thought she meant home economics.
These women shared the secrets of their success with a packed room of legislators and legislative staff from around the country at the National Conference of State Legislatures' 2005 Annual Meeting.
"The reason I became a legislator is because someone asked me to run," said Brown, who was teaching economics at a college in Spokane at the time. "I was even more motivated after I went to Olympia to testify before a committee on welfare issues. I didn't like the way I was treated, and I decided I wanted to be on the other side of things."
Brown ran for and won her first seat in the House of Representatives in 1992 and hasn't looked back since.
Hammerstrom fondly recalled the year her family got their first television set. "It was 1952, the year of the Republican National Convention," she said.
That was the same year she served as a page for a day with her Legislature. The combination of events hooked her on politics. Throughout her childhood, her father volunteered her to work on campaigns. She knew after she had won her first seat in the House of Representatives in 1993 that her political career had only begun.
Jewell, who worked as an engineer for Mobil Oil Corporation and in the banking industry before joining REI, attributed her volunteer work in the nonprofit world as most helpful in preparing her for her career in the corporate world.
"I learned that you have to work through influence ... and I learned to really listen," she said.
All three cautioned their audience to pace themselves, and to take time out for themselves and their families.
The luncheon, titled, "Power Plays: Leadership Lessons from Women Legislators and Executives," was put on by the Women's Legislative Network of NCSL, an organization dedicated to serving the needs of women legislators in 50 states. Today, women comprise 22 percent of lawmakers throughout the United States, representing some 5.5 million constituents.
NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the states, commonwealths and territories. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system.
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