The Women in Public Service Project

Mills College is pleased to participate with leading women's colleges across the country and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Women in Public Service Project (WPSP). This global initiative, co-founded by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was designed to build a generation of women leaders who will invest in their countries and communities, provide leadership in their governments, and change the way global solutions are forged. WPSP will convene a series of global conversations and launch partnerships to educate and train a new generation of women to enter the public sector with the strategic leadership skills, energy, and commitment required to tackle today's global challenges. For more information, visit: http://womeninpublicservice.wilsoncenter.org/.

Institute for Women's Leadership in Latin America

Five Mills College students attended the Women in Public Service Project's (WPSP) Institute for Women's Leadership in Latin America at Scripps College. Mills College, Scripps College, and Mount St. Mary's College joined forces to plan the Institute as a way to facilitate discourse and dialogue between women political leaders. As part of the Institute, 30 women from 16 countries came together for discussions, networking, and policy work groups. Expert panelists led group discussions and networking activities with the goal of promoting WPSP's objective of having a world in which political and civic leadership is at least 50 percent female by 2050.

Opening ceremonies featured a keynote address by Maria Echaveste and Josefina Vázquez Mota with a special video message from Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile and current under-secretary-general and executive director of UN Women. Maria Echaveste is the former deputy chief of staff for President Bill Clinton and the co-founder of the Nueva Vista Group. Josefina Vázquez Mota was a 2012 presidential candidate in Mexico and formerly served as Mexico's secretary of public education.

Students from each college participated in a guided study and had the opportunity to engage with participants and speakers at select sessions and events. Mills students selected to attend the Institute were Alheli Cuenca, Laurel James, Natalie Diaz, Claudia Hernandez, and Patricia Black. The Institute ran from March 12–21, 2013.

In 2015, Mills will host its own WPSP Institute focused on women from Latin America, working in collaboration with other women's colleges and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to engage and inspire future generations of women leaders in the United States and around the world.

Mills Student Speaks at United Nations Event for the Women in Public Service Project

On September 24, 2012, Mills senior Ava Anderson '13 participated in a panel at Barnard College in New York City, presented by the Women in Public Service Project and the Woodrow Wilson Center. Anderson was one of eight students representing the country's preeminent women's colleges in a discussion on post-conflict and transitional justice in conjunction with the United Nations' 67th annual General Assembly. The event opened with remarks by women leaders Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of Thailand and President Atifete Jahjaga of Kosovo.

Barnard President Debora Spar introduced the student panelists as having "already distinguished themselves as the next generation of global women leaders." Anderson, an international public policy major, is focusing her studies on the ways public–private partnerships can support women, and believes transitional justice and the elimination of gender-based violence requires creating access for women within legal institutions.

On stage at Barnard, Anderson discussed her work with nonprofits, local government, and business leaders in Oakland, and asked fellow panelist and former Congresswoman Jane Harmon what women could do "to create environments that foster relationships between the public and private sector and also between women." Harmon applauded Anderson's experience and went on to emphasize the importance of two-way mentoring, saying, "It's occurred to me over the years that I have a lot more to learn from the person asking the question and even critiquing the way I've done something than that person has to learn from me."

Reflecting on her experience on the panel, Anderson said, "I am so glad Mills is a part of the Women in Public Service Project because it provides an opportunity for Mills students to connect with women at other colleges and with the global sphere of women leaders."