About Us
The Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN) is the only national organization whose sole focus is preparing women for leadership in the public policy arena.
Each year, PLEN brings about 250 women students from colleges and universities across the country to Washington, D.C. for a weekend, week, or an entire summer to experience first-hand how public policy is shaped and implemented at the national level.
Students meet with and learn from women leaders making and influencing public policy at the highest levels in the Congress, courts, federal agencies, corporate sector, policy research and advocacy organizations and the news media.
Founded in 1978, PLEN has served thousands of women, of which more than one-third are women of color or from other populations historically under-represented in public policy leadership.
