Young women learn the ropes about world of politics

Jennifer Knight

Monday, June 23, 2003 | 8:58 a.m.

In a small corner of UNLV's campus, Nevada's female politicians spent the weekend teaching a younger generation of women how to lead.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and some former state lawmakers were taking part in a six-day mentoring program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to teach others about the challenges and unique opportunities that women in politics face.

"It's so exciting to see young women who are willing to carry the torch," said former state Sen. Lori Lipman Brown, D-Las Vegas. "We can't go on forever."

The 24 women who signed up for the National Education for Women's Leadership program came from all over the state to make contacts, learn orating skills and gain knowledge about what it takes to run a campaign, start a grass-roots organization or become a community leader.

"The people here are definitely an inspiration and you realize if they can do this so can you," said Laura Wade, a 21-year-old economics major at UNLV who wants to eventually serve on the Clark County School Board.

"When you look at people in politics, you just see all of these faces and most of them are mostly white men,"said Tya Mathis, a 21-year-old political science major from the University of Nevada, Reno. "For me, I came to meet other women (in politics)."

The NEW Leadership program was created by people at Rutgers University after a study found that there was a disproportionate amount of men in politics.

Former Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, said when she came to the Legislature in 2001 she had more to prove because she is a woman.

"I felt I had to come earlier, stay later and work harder than anyone else," Smith said. "You bet (it is different)."

The advice that is doled out during the seminar aims to help those who might eventually navigate the same waters.

"We had no problem getting speakers," said the program's manager, Venicia Considine. "When we explained what this was, we had so many women in politics who wanted to participate."

The program came about after UNLV received a $10,000 grant from the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers, making it the ninth institution in the country to offer the seminar.

Students will be checked up on throughout the year to make sure they are utilizing the contacts they made at the seminar and will receive a phone list with important contacts for networking.

"This program makes it so much easier by having someone there showing you how to do it and saying, 'I'll help you,' instead of having to reinvent the wheel," Considine said.