Shankland Selected for ‘Intellectual Boot Camp’
City-Times Staff
Wisconsin Rep. Katrina Shankland is one of 48 state policymakers from across the country selected as a Council of State Governments’ (CSG) Henry Toll Fellow for the Class of 2013.
The 48 Toll Fellows in the Class of 2013 represent 35 states and Puerto Rico, with 35 serving in the legislative branch, four serving in the judiciary and nine hailing from the executive. A 13-member committee of state leaders, many who are Toll Fellows themselves, reviewed a record number of applications to select the class.
“Individually, these leaders have a proven track record of accomplishing great things; collectively they represent the future leadership of the states,” said David Adkins, CSG’s executive director/CEO.
The Toll Fellowship Program, named for CSG founder Henry Wolcott Toll, is one of the nation’s premier leadership development programs for state government officials. Each year, Toll Fellows brings 48 of the nation’s top officials from all three branches of state government to Lexington, Ky., for an intensive six-day, five-night “intellectual boot camp.”
Shankland said the program will be helpful for her as a new state official.
“I believe early leadership training is critical for me as I grow as a leader, and this out-of-the-box, intellectual boot camp that awaits me will be both rewarding and edifying,” she said.
The program’s agenda includes a lineup of dynamic speakers and sessions designed to stimulate personal assessment and growth, while providing priceless networking and relationship-building opportunities. While each year’s program is unique, previous programs have included sessions on leadership personality assessment, media training, crisis management, appreciative inquiry, adaptive leadership and much more.
Shankland said she’s looking forward to working with peers from across the country at the program.
“A good leader constantly challenges her preconceived notions and seeks out new perspectives,” she said. “In learning from my peers across the nation, especially those of different experience levels and ideologies, I will grow my working relationships in the legislature and edify my thought processes.”
This year’s program will be held Aug. 16-21.
“Serving as a state legislator is a great honor and I take my job very seriously,” said Shankland. “I will leverage any opportunity for personal and professional growth to directly benefit my constituents. Considering the political climate in Wisconsin, I especially look forward to learning more about building coalitions and growing consensus, both of which are skills I believe would best serve my constituency.”