State legislators invite female business owners, students to spend day at Capitol
April 6th, 2010 Posted by adminState legislators invite female business owners, students to spend day at Capitol
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – APRIL 6, 2010 – Oklahoma female lawmakers will host Oklahoma City women business owners and inner-city entrepreneurial students April 13 for “Take Your Constituent to Work Day” at the state Capitol.
“Take Your Constituent to Work Day” is part of the “I Educate and Empower Women” campaign, and a pilot project from the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW). The program is designed to teach and engage Oklahoma City businesswomen and high school students in public policy, and connect them with state legislators. Fifteen female lawmakers are participating in the project; each legislator will be matched with a business owner and student to form mentor teams, who together will shadow their legislator for a full day at the Capitol.
Rep. Leslie Osborn (R-Tuttle) is one of the 15 legislators participating in the program.
“This kind of opportunity to connect elected officials with our constituents is not only innovative on behalf of IEEW, but it’s filling a need,” Osborn said. “It is essential that all citizens know how important it is to be involved in their local governments to ensure that our democracy is running the way it should be.”
All members of the media are invited to attend a press conference on April 13 at 11 a.m. at the Capitol press room.
Terry Neese, founder and CEO of IEEW, says that getting the public involved in public policy has always been a passion. She says that the project is based on her business mantra.
“If you run a business and aren’t involved in politics, then politics will run your business,” Neese said. “We designed this program to help Oklahoma women and students understand this principle and apply it through engagement.”
The 15 participating students attend Advanced Science and Technology Education Charter (ASTEC) High School, Oklahoma’s first “start-up” charter school. The school curriculum focuses on integrating science and technology with the liberal arts and is currently developing a new entrepreneurial class to begin in fall 2010.
“One of the core values we try to instill in our students is the importance of responsible citizenship,” said Dr. Freda Deskin, founder and CEO of ASTEC. “We feel that it is vital our students have a chance to discover and participate in the evolving world around them. They are our future leaders.”
