The Utah Women & Leadership Project invites you to join us for our second 2020 fall workshop.

Workshop Description: Whether it’s education, healthcare, the environment, politics, or the pandemic, our state is facing critical crossroads in so many areas, and Utah women have important insights and viewpoints about all of them. Yet in Utah, the majority of op-eds and other opinion pieces are still written by men. Why is it that so many Utah women do not state their opinions publicly? This workshop will provide insights on why you should write for the popular press and include tips and tools on how to discover what issues you can best write about. Holly and Heather will then help you learn to structure an op-ed, letter to the editor, blog post, solutions journalism piece, and other opinion pieces. The workshop will also include time spent in Zoom breakout rooms where you can discuss your ideas in a small group. During part of the second hour, Holly and Heather will split the attendees into two groups to answer questions and to provide more fine-tuned instruction. Finally, the full group will reconvene briefly so that the presenters can share final thoughts and discuss next steps. Join us for this event. You have a voice, and the popular press in Utah needs it!

Presenters/Facilitators:

Holly Richardson loves many things and many people. She has been a columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune since January 2017, is a wife, mother, speaker, humanitarian, and world traveler. Her first academic degree was as a Registered Nurse. She later became a midwife, then earned a bachelor’s degree in communication focusing on public relations, followed by a master's degree in professional communication, and is now a 3rd year PhD student in political science, focusing on nonprofit administration and international relations. Her research interests include emotional labor, burnout, and short-term international humanitarian aid volunteers. She was also a member of the Utah House of Representatives and continues to stay politically active.

Heather Sundahl is a writer and editor for the Utah Women & Leadership Project at Utah State University, Brigham Young University Arts, and Mormon Women for Ethical Government. She received a BA in Humanities and an MA in English from BYU. Her passion is women’s stories. In pursuit of this she has worked with Exponent II for 23 years as a contributor, blogger, editor, retreat presenter, and president. Heather has traveled to Botswana and South Africa to interview and collect the stories of the sister saints with the Mormon Women Oral History Project. She lives in Provo with 3 of her 4 kids, 2 cats, and one husband.

Event Sponsor: Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, Utah State University & Utah Education Network (UEN)

This event is eligible for AICP CM credit through the American Planning Association Utah Chapter (APAUT).