Colorado Women Featured in This Month’s O, The Oprah Magazine
Locals Win Coveted Spot in The White House Project-O Magazine Women Rule! Leadership Training Program
Only Eighty Winners Selected From Thousands of Contestants in Nationwide Search for Outstanding Women Leaders
Denver, CO – Two women from Colorado are featured in the November issue of O, The Oprah Magazine – hitting newsstands October 14th – after winning a coveted spot in the first-ever Women Rule! Leadership Training Program. The White House Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization aimed to advance women’s leadership, created the groundbreaking three-day training program designed especially for O readers who show leadership potential and have a vision for what to do with it.
Over 3,000 phenomenal women from all 50 states applied for a spot in the innovative training; only 80 were selected. Among the training’s participants were:
- Molly Wickwire-Sante of Telluride, who launched "Mother-to-Mother" - an innovative initiative allowing mothers living in Telluride the opportunity to "adopt" mothers who need support in other countries. The project hopes to bridge geological and cultural differences between communities so that small towns like Telluride can be part of the global arena and exchange ideas, experiences, and support.
- Jennie Durant of Denver intends to join the Peace Corps in 2009 in order to teach women in a developing country micro business and beekeeping skills, and author a book about the process, in which Durant will share her experience as a volunteer, and most importantly, women's stories to emotionally connect readers to the realities of poverty and offer thoughts on how readers can get involved or help their cause. Durant plans to donate a portion of the profits from this book to serve as seed funding to help other micro business ventures for women in the region.
Libby Cook, the co-founder of Wild Oats Markets and noted Coloradan community leader, was also on hand as an expert for participants. Cook currently serves as Co-Executive Director of Philanthropiece, a private foundation she founded in 1987, and which helped to support the Women Rule! weekend. Heather Lurie - the Director of Strategic Development for The White House Project who works in the organization’s Denver office – was also on hand as a lead Facilitator for Women Rule!
“When women are equipped with the information, inspiration, and necessary tools to bring their dreams to fruition, the world becomes a better place,” said Marie Wilson, President of The White House Project. “We were thrilled to meet and work with such a diverse and passionate group of women at Women Rule! Through this month’s feature in O Magazine, their stories will encourage other women across the country to ascend to positions of leadership - for their communities, their families, and for themselves.”
Women Rule!, sponsored by American Express and hosted, in part, by the Affinia Manhattan, took place June 20-22 in New York City.
Readers can learn more about Women Rule! and participant experiences in the November issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, and online at www.oprah.com/omagextras.
For information on The White House Project’s leadership trainings held in Colorado, contact Faith Winter, Training and Outreach Director, at fwinter@thewhitehouseproject.org / 303.871.6779.
The White House Project, a national, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization, works to advance a richly diverse, critical mass of women into leadership positions, up to and including the U.S. Presidency. For more information, please visit: http://www.thewhitehouseproject.org.
# # #
