Good afternoon,
This past Saturday while our Institute cohort was hard at work, a situation was playing out that speaks to the very heart of why WFWM’s Leadership Institute for Political Impact is so critical.
Saturday afternoon a congresswoman with goals, a judge with principles, a nine year old girl with dreams, a congressional intern with aspirations, and people with plain old hope and interest, were gunned down senselessly. On behalf of our inaugural cohort of women, I give you our response to this event.
We could all very easily sit and decide that the world has gotten too out of hand, that the safest thing to do is stay in our own backyard, stay hidden, stay safe.
But we won’t.
We won’t let vitriol and violence take over our world.
We won’t let the discussion be taken out of our control.
We won’t let our voices not be heard.
We won’t let Congresswoman Giffords down.
We won’t let principles be destroyed.
We won’t let adults turn their backs on children’s dreams.
We will do the hard work to create civility, honor and peace
We will craft discussions that are grounded in respect
We will speak our truth aloud
We will run for and hold public office
We will create just, equitable and safe communities
We will encourage and teach our children to have their dreams.
We will create the world that we know and believe is possible.
Together.
Carla Oleska
C.E.O.
