The Public Leadership Education Network
As highlighted in the HWS 2014 Middle States Commission Self-Study report, William Smith is an institutional member of the nationally recognized Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN). In 2010, William Smith was invited to join PLEN, a prestigious consortium of colleges (including Mount Holyoke, Smith College and St. Lawrence University) as an institutional member. PLEN is the only national organization with the sole focus of preparing college women for leadership in the public policy arena. Through exposing college students to role models, career paths and skills training before they enter the workforce, PLEN’s mission is to increase the number of women in top leadership positions in the nation’s public policy process.
All HWS students are welcome to participate in this organization. HWS' Non-Discrimination Statement and Policy.
Each year, PLEN brings hundreds of students across the country to Washington, D.C. They experience firsthand how public policy is shaped and implemented at the national level. Students engage with and learn from female leaders who are currently making and influencing public policy at the highest levels in Congress, the courts, federal agencies, the private sector, policy research and advocacy organizations, and the media. These leaders serve as teachers and mentors for PLEN students. In addition to learning how systems work at the policy level, PLEN seminars also provide education on important skills, like salary negotiation, professionalism and networking. The seminars are a great opportunity for students to start building their own networks.
Many PLEN attendees from HWS now work in offices at the Washington Post, The American Federation of Teachers, The Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, and the U.S. House of Representatives, to name only a few. All HWS students who have attended PLEN can attest to the transformative experience of this networking opportunity available to them through their access to PLEN while students at HWS.