Mar302010
Holyoke Mayor Pluta at Leadership Kick-off
Filed under Uncategorized by admin at 12:04 pm on Mar 30 2010
“You are all leaders, or you wouldn’t be sitting in this room,” Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts CEO Carla Oleska told attendees as she welcomed them to the last Saturday’s kick-off of the Fund’s Leadership Institute for Political Impact. Over 100 women were gathered at Holyoke Community College (HCC) for the event, which featured keynote speaker Jennifer Lawless, director of American University’s Women and Politics Institute, and panel presentations by political veterans and newly elected officials.
Holyoke Mayor Elaine Pluta welcomed participants to the city, noting that this was her first women’s event as mayor, although she has been involved in politics for decades. Politics has been largely a male-dominated world, Pluta said, and until recently, most advocacy for women has happened behind the scenes.
Pluta encouraged the attendees to get involved in politics, citing her own rise through the ranks from campaign volunteer to the city councilor to mayor. Despite degrees from HCC and Mt. Holyoke College (the latter in politics), she was clear to point out that “no school can prepare you for the day-to-day of being in politics.”
Nevertheless, she noted, “Women are an integral part of the process and will transform the way we govern ourselves.”
