Courtesy Saratoga County (2021)
Saratoga County is piloting a program to help young women engage in local government and maybe enter public service themselves. Leaders will announce the new “Women in Government Leadership Program” at a press conference tomorrow, a press release said today.
The six-week program is aimed at high school girls in Saratoga County. Applications will be accepted starting tomorrow, April 20, and the first class of members will be announced at the May Saratoga County Board of Supervisors meeting. The program will begin in June.
“We hope to get more young women involved and engaged with their local government, whether they enter public service themselves or simply have a better understanding of how it works and how they can affect change,” Saratoga Springs Supervisor Tara Gaston wrote in an email. She will be on hand during the event tomorrow. “We hope that some will decide to enter public service, where women are often underrepresented.”
The program goals include general leadership, goal-setting, and presentation skills. Participants will also have a mentor in the program, and will complete a capstone project applying some of the lessons learned, Gaston wrote.
The county developed the program with the New York State Association of Counties and Soroptimist International of Saratoga County, a service organization aimed at improving women's economic power.
NYSAC’s Women’s Leadership Council may expand this to counties across the state.
Participants will be selected through an application process by their respective Supervisor. Saratoga County is working alongside local schools and organizations to make certain the program reaches young women who may not recognize leadership potential in themselves, the press release says.
The event at 10 a.m. Tuesday April 20, will launch the program from the Board of Supervisors Chamber, Saratoga County Office Building, 40 McMaster Street, Ballston Spa, N.Y. It will be live-streamed via Facebook.
Supervisors including Gaston, Jean Raymond of Edinburg and Sandra Winney of Providence will be on hand, as will the board chair, Theodore Kusnierz of Moreau and others.