Taking PLEN Back to Your Campus
PLEN may be headquartered in Washington, D.C., but that doesn't mean your networking opportunities can't follow you home. There are many ways to continue to network and share what you have learned at PLEN with other students, faculty and women leaders in your community.
Here are a few activities that can carry the spirit of PLEN back to your campus:
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Write to your school or local newspaper.
Submitting a letter to the editor or opinion/editorial (op-ed) to your local or university newspaper can be a powerful way to share your PLEN experience and raise awareness of the need for women in the policy-making process. There are a number of web-based resources that can help you write your local papers; try "Tips for Writing Effective Letters to the Editor".
Not sure that you can get a letter or article in the paper? You can increase the likelihood of getting published by having someone with name recognition co-sign your letter or op-ed. This would be a great opportunity to involve a well-known professor, the head of your department or another community figure in a discussion about the need to prepare more young women for leadership roles (and a fabulous opportunity to network with an established woman leader).
Talk to your career center about possible internships.
They say that Washington, D.C. couldn't run without interns and the same may be true for nonprofit organizations and businesses in your local community. Talking to someone in your school's career center can help to identify internship opportunities in local organizations that appeal to you. Internships provide opportunities to tackle interesting projects and are great resume builders. Want to come back to D.C. for an internship or permanent position? Internships in D.C. can be highly competitive. Gaining experience in a local organization that is working on similar issues can be a great way to get a leg up on the competition at the national level.
Become a mentor to other students.
There are few things greater than being able to share your hard-earned knowledge and insight with someone else. The women leaders that you met during your PLEN program know this well and many donate their time and energy to PLEN students year after year for this reason. Reaching out to other students, whether it be through an established mentoring program, a writing or career center or just telling someone about a fabulous program like PLEN, is truly rewarding and fulfilling. Never underestimate your ability to help someone else discover a career interest or open a networking door.
Host a networking event on your campus.
Organizing a speakers' panel is an excellent opportunity to meet women working in public policy locally and network with other women on your campus who have similar interests and career goals. Reaching out to your major department or career center to co-sponsor the event could be a great way to access school space or funding. Pick a topic that you find interesting - international relations, health care, or politics - and then invite women working in your community on these issues to speak or attend. Though it can be a challenge to coordinate schedules with busy working women, a networking event is a great way to continue opening career doors when you return to school.
Please keep in touch with PLEN.
If you are interested in these ideas but aren't sure where to start or need some advice, let us know. PLEN may have contacts in your local community and would be glad to share any tips or suggestions we may have. Please contact us at plen@plen.org or call 202-872-1585. Did you graduate? Get a great job? Are you moving back to DC? PLEN would love to hear about your successes and what you are currently working on so please update us on your whereabouts and activities! Who knows, one day we may even need you to speak on a PLEN panel...
