NAWLEE – 2021 Year in Review – It’s a Wrap!
On behalf of the Board of Directors and Staff of NAWLEE, I am pleased to share this review of 2021.
There is no doubt 2021 was another challenging year. Despite the challenges, NAWLEE was able to not just stay the course, but to grow and continue offering more programs and services to its members.
In April, the NAWLEE Board of Directors held its mid-year planning meeting in Nashville. The tradition started last year of inviting local members to our planning meeting continued. This year we invited members of the Nashville Metro Police command staff and leaders from the Tennessee Highway Patrol to join the board for lunch and networking. Like in Chicago with Chicago Association of Women in Law Enforcement (CAWLE), the meeting was informative and helped shaped activities of NAWLEE in 2021.
Throughout the year the board of directors has been hard at work representing NAWLEE on many fronts. Efforts remain focused on keeping the mission of Lead, Inspire, and Mentor in mind. This year NAWLEE was able to participate in many events being held by our sister associations. The networking and relationships built will serve NAWLEE for years to come. Some of the programs we attended included:
- Texas Women of Law Enforcement Conference (WoLE) – September
- Arizona Women’s Initiative Network (AZWIN) Conference – September
- California Women Law Enforcement Leaders (WLLE) – September
- Virginia Women in Law Enforcement – September
- Kentucky Women’s Law Enforcement Network Conference (KWLEN) – November
Take 2 of our 25th annual conference took place August 3rd-6th, 2021 in St. Louis. NAWLEE appreciates all who attended, presented, and exhibited at the conference. Special thanks to Chief Dawn Layman and the St. Louis conference committee for working through the cancellation in 2020 and making the conference a huge success.
At the conference, Chief Jody Kasper, Northampton MA, was named the 2021 Motorola / NAWLEE Woman Law Enforcement Executive of the Year. Chief Kasper has contributed to the advancement of women in law enforcement in numerous ways through her active involvement in training, task forces, writing books, providing presentations, creating innovative programs, and always finding time to give back and to pull up a chair for the next person. Chief Kasper’s agency was the first in Massachusetts to sign onto the 30×30 Initiative and recently had an all-female shift.
The launch of the 30×30 Initiative was another 2021 milestone. NAWLEE is proud to be a co-founder of the effort to increase the number of women in law enforcement to 30% by 2030. The goal was to have 250 agencies sign the pledge in the first year of operation and we are currently at the half-way mark. NAWLEE owes a dept of gratitude to Mo McGough of the Policing Project at NY School of Law and Chief Ivonne Roman (retired) for their vision in 2018 for such an effort and their relentless work to make sure the program became a reality.
Work continues on many programs and task forces at the national and federal level. NAWLEE once again was a partner for Faith and Blue Weekend and spoke at the national kickoff in August along with other leaders from agencies such as NOBLE, IACP, IACLEA, FOP, MCSA, NSA, NBPA among others. Quarterly meetings, hosted by the Anti-Defamation League were attended, and participation in CRI-TAC and Elevate Blue continues. The presentation on gender in the workplace through the NAWLEE COPS grant was completed and shared at two conferences. The mentoring program, with support from the Motorola Solutions Foundation, has grown and three online trainings were provided. The BJA sponsored grant project with RTI on recruitment of women in law enforcement continues and the lessons learned will be shared at the NSA conference in February and at our NAWLEE conference in April.
NAWLEE’s work would not be possible without the support from our sponsors and partners. In 2021, Door Dash became an official Major Partner joining Lyft and our founding partner- Motorola Solutions.
By far the greatest honor of the year was that NAWLEE was invited to the national stage in Washington DC as a names reader for the 2021 candlelight vigil held on October 14th. In 2021, 394 names were added to the wall. I was humbled and honored to be able to read a few of the names being placed on the wall. For those in agencies who have lost officers, friends this year… we mourn with you, we stand with you, and we will never forget.
We hope to see you all at our 26th Annual Conference April 19-22, 2022 in sunny Miami! The conference committee is hard at work to ensure your conference experience is second to none. Register soon to take advantage of early bird rates and book your hotel room with our official hotel before rooms are sold out!
We have so many amazing things planned for 2022 and beyond. Be sure to check back on the website for a list of events, trainings, and opportunities to become involved in NAWLEE. The future of NAWLEE is exciting and the “Sky is the Limit”! Don’t forget to renew your membership so you can continue to be part of NAWLEE.
NAWLEE wishes everyone a happy and heathy new year. Here’s to 2022!
Yours in service,
Shannon
Shannon Trump, President
