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[Publisher’s Note – We are pleased to offer this column from Linda Ackerman about the Marian Bergeson Series. – Flash]
The Marian Bergeson Excellence in Public Service Series is accepting applications for our 2014 Class. We have been providing a unique opportunity for the past ten years for Republican women to participate in this nationally recognized program. This program provides a superior leadership experience that mentors, educates and prepares these women to succeed in the political arena. It also provides an effective statewide political network for Republican women.
Linda Ackerman
This executive training program for Republican women was first initiated in 1989 by a group of conservative businesswomen in Indiana who were looking for a way to increase the number of women involved in the political process, particularly in elected office.
Since it’s inception the program has been replicated in over 20 states.
Hundreds of Republican women have been trained through the Series and are actively engaged in the political process nation wide.
The Marian Bergeson Excellence in Public Service Series was established in 2004 and the Founders chose to honor Sen. Marian Bergeson as the namesake for their series. Marian Bergeson’s career exemplified the goals of the series for women here in California.
Marian was the first woman elected to both the California Assembly an Senate and also served in cabinet level positions with Governor Wilson, Governor Davis and Governor Schwarzenegger. Marian began her career serving on her local school board and returned to Orange County to also serve as a Supervisor.
The series classes are spread over several months and meet for 2-4 days depending on the particular session. We hold three sessions and one of these includes a trip to Sacramento. The classes expose the participants to leaders in many fields including party inner workings media training, fund raising, campaign strategy, campaign finance, ethics, personal values and political philosophy.
Graduates from the Bergeson Series have been elected at the city and county levels. Others have received appointments, many are working in legislative offices or in governmental affairs positions for major companies.
In August of this year we held our Inaugural Women of Character Awards Dinner. We honored Senator Sharon Runner with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her service in public office. In addition we honored one of our own graduates as Alumni of the year, Jaime Huff, who serves as Director of Political Affairs for Southern California Edison.
The program highlighted the careers of these two women and their contributions.
Scott Baugh, Chairman of the Orange County Republican Party served as our Master of Ceremonies along with Sen. Bergeson who presented awards to each of our honorees. In addition, they were also presented with Resolutions and Certificates from statewide officials. Assembly Don Wagner and Assemblyman Alan Mansoor were in attendance to personally present Resolutions to the honoree from their offices. Many other officials were represented by their staff members.
The event was supported by a variety of companies, electeds, alumnus, political organizations, board members and their guests.
We are a privately funded political organization with an educational purpose under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. For additional information please visit our website www.thebergesonseries.com or email us at info@thebergesonseries.com.