Government officials from all branches of state government will participate in the national leadership development program
The Council of State Governments selected 49 state leaders representing 34 states and U.S. territories and all three branches of government as members of the 2024 CSG Henry Toll Fellowship. The 37th Toll Fellowship class will converge on Lexington, Kentucky, Sept. 6-10 to participate in the nation’s premier leadership development program for state government officials.
Since 1986, CSG has annually convened a new class of CSG Henry Toll Fellows for an intensive leadership boot camp. The program’s sessions are designed to stimulate personal assessment and growth, empower leaders to collaborate and communicate more effectively, and provide nonpartisan networking and relationship-building opportunities.
“While the CSG Henry Toll Fellows come from every region of our nation, from both political parties and all three branches of state government, they share one thing in common — they are all committed to improving the lives of the people they serve,” said CSG Executive Director/CEO David Adkins, a former Kansas state senator and 1993 CSG Henry Toll Fellow alumnus. “Toll Fellows are selected based on their demonstrated commitment to solve problems, to work collaboratively, to get things done, and their belief that state government can and must be a force for good.”
Toll Fellows are nominated by their peers and selected by alumni of the program.
“The selection committee looks for leaders who have already demonstrated excellence in public service but who also show promise for continuing to make a difference in the future,” Adkins said.
There are over 1,400 graduates of the Toll Fellowship, including four sitting state/territorial house speakers, eight sitting state supreme court justices, 10 sitting members of Congress, three sitting governors and more than 200 Toll alumni currently serving as state/territorial legislators.
The Toll Fellowship honors the founder of CSG, Henry Wolcott Toll, who, as a former state senator from Colorado, was the driving force behind the creation of CSG in 1933.
“The Toll Fellows program brings together leading voices from across the country for conversation and shared experiences. While each cohort begins their journey with us in Lexington, the relationships and connections are forged for life,” said Lorna Patches, director of leadership development at CSG. “We’re looking forward to growing the Toll Fellowship community.”
The following leaders have been selected for the 2024 CSG Henry Toll Fellowship:
East Region Tolls
- Rep. Jana Brown, Vermont
- Debra Childs, House Deputy Chief of Staff,
New Hampshire - Rep. Michael Chippendale, Minority Leader,
Rhode Island - Sen. Maria Collett, Pennsylvania
- Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, Connecticut
- Joan Goldstein, Commissioner, Department of Economic Development, Vermont
- Rep. Jim Kofalt, Deputy Majority Leader,
New Hampshire - Carolyn Martin-Pettaway, Administrative Assistant, Senate Majority Leadership, Delaware
- House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, Maine
- Rebecca Schwartz, Deputy Chief of Staff, 38th Legislative District, New Jersey
- Opeoluwa Sotonwa, Commissioner, Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Massachusetts
- Assemblyman Sterley Stanley, New Jersey
Midwest Region Tolls
- Sen. Scott Alexander, Indiana
- Marie Castetter, Commissioner,
Securities Division, Indiana - Sen. John Fredrickson, Nebraska
- Jennifer Garrett, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Department of Safety and Professional Services, Wisconsin
- Rep. Dontavius Jarrells, Assistant Minority Leader, Ohio
- Sen. Liz Larson, Minority Whip, South Dakota
- Sen. Alice Mann, Minnesota
- Rep. Donavan McKinney, Michigan
- Adam Miller, Deputy General Counsel and
Director of Judicial Appointments, Minnesota - Rep. Anna Moeller, Illinois
- Sen. Michele Reynolds, Ohio
- Kendra Ringstmeyer, Director of
Workforce Development, South Dakota - Sen. Kelda Roys, Wisconsin
South Region Tolls
- Rep. Terry Brown Jr., Minority Whip, North Carolina
- Rep. Beth Camp, Georgia
- Rep. Vincent Dixie, Tennessee
- Rep. Barbara Freiberg, Louisiana
- Sen. Carri Hicks, Minority Caucus Vice Chair, Oklahoma
- Sen. Andrew Jones, Alabama
- Rep. Vanessa Caston LaFleur, Louisiana
- Sen. Michael Lazzara, North Carolina
- Constanzia Nizza, Chief of Staff, Office of
Juvenile Affairs, Oklahoma - Rep. Jay Richardson, Arkansas
- Jennifer Scutchfield, Deputy Secretary of State, Kentucky
West Region Tolls
- Assemblymember Mike Gipson, California
- Heidi Hedberg, Commissioner, Department of Health, Alaska
- Rep. Joshua Hernandez, New Mexico
- Rep. Greggor Ilagan, House Vice Speaker, Hawaii
- Sen. Lorraine Inouye, Majority Whip, Hawaii
- Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, Colorado
- Sen. Wendy McKamey, Montana
- Rep. Candice Pierucci, Utah
- Rep. Lisa Reynolds, Assistant Majority Leader, Oregon
- Stephanie Garcia Richard, Commissioner of
Public Lands, New Mexico - Rebecca Rockwell, Commissioner,
State Tax Commission, Utah - Sen. Janeen Sollman, Deputy Majority Leader, Oregon
- Sen. Claire Wilson, Assistant Majority Whip, Washington
For more information on the CSG Henry Toll Fellowship, visit: csgovts.info/tolls24 or email [email protected].
