FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact CSG Media Relations
(859) 244-8246
Sept. 21, 2013
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.
###
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.