47 State Leaders Graduate from CSG Toll Fellow Program
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Forty-seven state policymakers from across the country graduated today from The Council of State Governments’ Henry Toll Fellows program during CSG’s 2013 National Conference.
The Toll Fellows in the Class of 2013 represent 34 states and Puerto Rico, with 35 serving in the legislative branch, four serving in the judiciary and eight hailing from the executive. They participated in the program in August in Lexington, Ky., home of CSG’s national headquarters.
The Toll Fellows Class of '13 and others attending the National Conference in Kansas City had the opportunity to hear from Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough, who offered this tip on leadership:
“I think one of the best tests for who's going to make a good leader, how do they handle failure?” McCullough, the author of Truman noted during a keynote address. “We don’t want to face this idea of failure. … Truman would not lie there and complain or blame other people. You can’t be that way if you’re a leader; you have to get up and keep trying to achieve what you aim for.”
Members of the 2013 CSG Toll Fellows Class by state are:
Alaska: House Majority Leader Lance Pruitt
Arkansas: Sen. Bill Sample
California: Brian Ebbert,
assistant chief clerk/parliamentarian, State Assembly
Colorado: Sen. Linda Newell
Connecticut: Rep. James Albis; Teresa Younger, executive director, Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women
Delaware: Meaghan Brennan,
director, Budget Development, Planning and Administration, Office of Management and Budget; Sean Finnigan,
chief of staff, House Majority Caucus; Sen. Bryan Townsend
Florida: Rep. Heather Dawes Fitzenhagen
Georgia: Judge Stephen Goss, Dougherty Judicial Circuit; Rep. Jay Neal; Chief Judge Steven Teske,
Juvenile Court of Clayton County
Hawaii: Rep. Isaac Choy
Idaho: Senate President Pro Tempore H. Brent Hill; Rep. Jeffrey Thompson
Illinois: Tim Mapes,
chief of staff, Illinois House Speaker
Indiana: Sen. Philip Boots; James Holden,
chief deputy and general counsel, Indiana State Treasurer
Kansas: Rep. Valdenia Winn
Kentucky: House Majority Caucus Chair Sannie Overly; Sen. Whitney Westerfield
Massachusetts: Sen. Marc Pacheco
Michigan: Rep. Philip Cavanagh
Minnesota: Supreme Court Associate Justice Grant Barry Anderson; Rep. Rena Moran
Mississippi: Sen. Will Longwitz
Nevada: Senate Majority Floor Leader Mo Denis; Sen. Tick Segerblom
New Hampshire: Sen. Sharon Carson, House Majority Leader Steve Shurtleff
New Mexico: Rep. Georgene Louis
North Dakota: Rep. Scot Kelsh
Ohio: Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mary Elizabeth Gill
Oregon: Presiding Judge Nan Waller, Multnomah County Circuit Court
Pennsylvania: Rep. Pamela DeLissio
Puerto Rico: José Negrón-Fernández, Correction and Rehabilitation
Secretary
South Dakota: Revenue
Secretary Andrew Gerlach; Senate Majority Whip Dan Lederman
Tennessee: House Democratic Floor Leader Karen Camper; Sen. Doug Overbey
Vermont: Alyson Richards
director of special projects and intergovernmental affairs, Office of the Governor
Virginia: State Treasurer Manju Ganeriwala
Washington: Rep. Sharon Wylie
West Virginia: Jann Hoke,
director, Equal Employment Opportunity Office
Wisconsin: Rep. Katrina Shankland
Wyoming: House Minority Floor Leader Mary Throne
The Toll Fellowship Program, named for CSG founder Henry Wolcott Toll, is one of the nation’s premier leadership development programs for state government officials. Each year, the program brings 48 of the nation’s top officials from all three branches of state government to Lexington, Ky., for an intensive six-day, five-night “intellectual boot camp.”
Toll Fellows alumni include U.S. Rep. John Carney, a former Delaware lieutenant governor; U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, a former Hawaii state Senate president; U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, a former Indiana secretary of state; former North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue and former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.
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The Council of State Governments is our nation’s only organization serving all three branches of state government. CSG is a region-based forum that fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy. This offers unparalleled regional, national and international opportunities to network, develop leaders, collaborate and create problem-solving partnerships.