Former Congresswoman's Relationship with Remington College Has Worldwide Benefits
A simple pen. Who would think that a basic, everyday tool – something most of us take for granted and don’t think twice about – could become a symbol of change and demonstrate how far and wide Remington College can reach?
Our Remington College pens are just a small part of the process of change that Leslie Waters is creating for women in Jordan, Serbia, Sarajevo, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as part of her “democracy training” missions to those countries. Her trips are sponsored by the International Republican Institute (www.iri.org) and the Women’s Democracy Network (www.wdn.org), both located in Washington, DC.
Former Congresswoman’s Connection to Remington College
Ms. Waters, who is vice-mayor of the city of Seminole, Florida, also happens to have a continuing relationship with Remington College – Tampa Campus, and specifically, with Director of Career Services Deb Hoffman.
Ms. Waters has been a valued member of our Program Advisory Committee and, while she was a congresswoman and speaker pro-tempore in the Florida congress, played a key role in helping to amend Florida laws regarding law enforcement education, which has had a positive effect for all Florida career colleges.
Mission to Serbia
As part of her latest mission, in March 2011, Ms. Waters trained 15 newly elected women members of Parliament in Banja Luka, Republic of Serbia, on negotiation/compromise skills, coalition building, communicating with colleagues and constituents, and more. “All attendees were eager to learn, and they were a great group of professional ladies,” noted Ms. Waters.
Impact of Change
Ms. Hoffman said, “Leslie Waters is a wonderful change agent and one of Remington College’s most supportive people. She travels the world training women to play a bigger role in their countries’ political arenas.”
Ms. Hoffman added, “Leslie contacted me some time ago asking if we could donate some small things for her to hand out at the democracy training missions, and we gave her some Remington College pens to distribute. On one of her missions to Jordan this past July, all of the women signed a recognition certificate thanking us for the pens. We framed it, and it hangs in our lobby.”
Thanks to the advocacy efforts of Ms. Waters, and through something as simple as a pen, Remington College is having an impact beyond what many of us can fathom. Ms. Waters’ commitment to building a coalition for change across the globe is an inspiration to everyone at our College – students, faculty, and staff alike.
More of our pens and highlighters – and with them, our continued best wishes for success – will accompany Ms. Waters on her next trip, in the coming months.