In November,  at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Governor Janet Mills and former Senator Olympia Snowe opened the Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute’s annual Fall Forum with a question and answer session, taking questions from Maine high school girls.

 

The Fall Forum event is a day-long conference for more than 500 young women participating from high schools statewide. More than 200 trained volunteer mentors, who deliver the program over three years with the girls, as well as 200 guests from the community, also attended to speak, facilitate, or participate.

 

All girls submitted questions leading up to the event, and there were hundreds of them, said Alison Bromski , community and communications manager, at the Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute. “The Institute sorted them by theme and asked the most popular questions.”

 

The Olympia Snowe Women's Leadership Institute is a nonprofit dedicated to raising the confidence and aspirations of high school girls by helping them develop the skills required to be leaders in their lives, families, careers, and communities. The Institute was founded by Senator Olympia J. Snowe in 2015 to address the decreasing confidence levels of young women in Maine. For more information, visit www.snoweleadershipinstitute.org/.

 

“Olympia’s Leaders,” as participating high school students are known, submitted questions for both Governor Mills and Senator Snowe to answer during the opening session. Most questions posed were about leadership inspiration and strategy. The answers shed light on how two of Maine’s most notable female leaders developed their personal confidence and professional vision.

 

“We are in different parties but have always been friends and admirers of each other’s accomplishments—in my view, the way public service should be,” said Senator Snowe in her welcoming remarks. “[Janet’s] many successes and firsts serve as a phenomenal example to our Olympia’s Leaders—and to all girls across Maine—that in our state, you truly can be whatever you want to be.”

 

The Institute’s evidence-based program—rooted in the themes: “My Values” (10th grade), “My Voice” (11th grade), and “My Vision” (12th grade)—is designed to raise the confidence and aspirations of high school girls by helping them develop the skills required to be leaders in their lives, families, careers, and communities.

 

“Senator Snowe served with distinction for nearly 40 years in public office, and now, through her Leadership Institute, she is inspiring young women to believe in themselves, to challenge themselves, and to reach for the stars,” said Governor Janet Mills. “It was a privilege to join the Senator today to share my thoughts and experiences with such an impressive group of young women. The Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute is providing invaluable encouragement and support to these young leaders; and based on what I heard from them today, I have great hope for our future.”

 

Each year since the program launched in 2015, the Institute has expanded—growing from 49 Olympia’s Leaders at seven schools serving one county to more than 500 Olympia’s Leaders at 36 partner schools across all 16 Maine counties. Two classes have since graduated, and 96% of alumnae are now pursuing degree-seeking programs and training. The remaining four percent have taken gap years or entered the workforce. Within the class of 2019, more than 60% of Olympia’s Leaders matriculating to higher education enrolled at Maine institutions.