Rep. Jodi Hack selected for fellowship program
The Council of State Governments announced last week that State Representative Jodi Hack will be among 48 representatives taking part in the 2016 Henry Toll Fellowship program.
Those 48 participants hail from 29 states, Puerto Rico and Guam. The group is comprised of representatives from all three branches of government.
Hack represents Oregon House District 19, which includes Aumsville, Turner and parts of south and east Salem.
The Toll Fellowship program is purportedly a “six-day, five-night intellectual boot camp,” according to CSG reports. Its agenda includes speakers and sessions designed to stimulate personal assessment and growth, while providing networking and relationship building opportunities.
Previous versions of the 30-year fellowship have included sessions on leadership personality assessment, media training, crisis management, appreciative inquiry and adaptive leadership.
“The Toll Fellowship program provides elected officials with an invaluable and incomparable leadership development experience,” said David Adkins, CSG's executive director/CEO. “In addition, the program fosters lasting friendships among a diverse group of elected officials with a like-minded passion for public service.”
Adkins was a 1993 Toll Fellow when he served as a Kansas state representative.
The 2016 program attendees were selected by a 12-member panel of state leaders who reviewed the applications. Many on that panel were Toll Fellows.
Toll Fellows alumni include Oregon Gov. Kate Brown; U.S. Rep. John Carney, a former Delaware lieutenant governor; Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey; Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap; Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett; Delaware Gov. Jack Markell; Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin; Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill; Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate; U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, a former Indiana secretary of state; and former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.
“I am humbled to have the opportunity to work with leaders from all three branches of government,” Hack said. “The Toll Fellowship program will give me an opportunity to learn, self-reflect, evaluate and be pushed outside my comfort zone.”
Hack said she believes the value in this opportunity lies, in part, through interaction with other representatives and the trading of ideas.
“Leadership development training is important for state officials because it drives personal leadership skill assessments, which drives new growth—identifying strengths and weaknesses to improve upon,” Hack said. “It provides priceless networking, relationship building and learning opportunities that are the building blocks of leadership.”
The program is scheduled for Aug. 26-31 in Lexington, Kentucky.
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About CSG
The Council of State Governments is a region-based forum that fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy. CSG is the nation’s only organization that serves all three branches of state government.
For information, visit www.csg.org or www.csgwest.org.