This Conference was made possible through the generous support of our Lead Sponsor St. Paul Travelers (Insert Travelers logo) Conference Mission:

The Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame, an educational outreach organization dedicated to providing programs that explore women's history and culture, is proud to offer a program on civic engagement to high school sophomores and juniors. This day-long program at the State Capitol, honoring the legacy of the nation's first woman Governor, Ella Grasso, introduced Connecticut students to the inner workings of civic action at all levels. Students examined, firsthand, the tools and resources necessary for community involvement and how to utilize these tools to develop an action plan to address a current issue.

Though women continue to be underrepresented in positions of political leadership, Connecticut is a fitting place to encourage civic engagement in young people regardless of gender – we live in a state that currently boasts its second female governor, 5 of 6 constitutional officers are women, and the percentage of women who serve as state senators and representatives is higher than in many other states. Over the course of the day, young people learned that our future depends upon the intelligence, creativity, leadership, and energy of all of its citizens, men and women alike.

This year's conference was a huge success with 150 students from different areas around the state attending. Armed with feedback from students and teachers who attended last year's event, our efforts were concentrated on making this year's conference more interactive for both the students and community leaders.

Highlights of the Day included:

• Meeting the Leaders of Today: students had the opportunity to meet the State Constitutional Officers and Connecticut State Legislators throughout the day's events.
• Exploring Tools of Action with panel of community leaders. The panel outlined important tools necessary for civic engagement. Specifically the students learned more about lobbying, editorial writing and internet organizing.
• Discussion of Potential Legislative Issues surrounding MySpace.com such as: freedom of speech, hate crimes, privacy and child protection.
• Creating an Action Plan by applying tools of action in groups facilitated by leaders in the community.

Conference Specifics:

• Over thirty schools were invited to participate in the conference.
• Small groups of civic minded young people were selected by their teachers to attend.
• Special attention was paid to collaborating with under-served youth in Connecticut 's urban schools.
• Bus service (to and from the State Capitol) as well as food and conference materials were provided by the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame
• Participating teachers received pre-visit educational packets that aided them in preparing their students for the conference.

Please visit our website in the future as we begin planning and preparing for the 3rd Annual Ella Grasso Youth Action Conference which will be held in the Spring of 2008.

For more information about this exciting and powerful educational event, please email egyac@cwhf.org