Carol Moseley-Braun

Eleanor Clift

Jeanne Shaheen

Barbara Lee

Kellyanne Conway

Celinda Lake

The 2006 Presidential Lecture series at the Dole Institute of Politics will focus on "The First Woman President" and will kick off with former presidential candidate Carol Moseley-Braun and two noted pollsters in separate programs in February.

Moseley-Braun, who was the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate and who campaigned in 2003 for the Democratic presidential nomination, will initiate the series at 8 p.m. Feb. 7 at the institute.

Pollsters Celinda Lake and Kellyanne Conway will discuss their book What Women Want in the context of presidential politics at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at the institute. Lake, a Democrat, and Conway, a Republican, respected pollsters who have worked for a number of high-visibility campaigns and causes.

Nationally-known journalist Eleanor Clift, author of Madam President: Women Blazing the Leadership Trail, will speak at 7 p.m. Feb. 12.

Former Democratic Governor of New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen and former Republican Governor of Massachusetts Jane Swift will appear in a roundtable discussion moderated by women's political activist Barbara Lee on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Each lecture is free and open to the public. No reservation or ticket is required.

Lake is considered a foremost expert on electing women candidates, including Moseley-Braun, and on framing issues to women voters. She holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Smith College.

Conway has directed hundreds of demographic and attitudinal survey projects for statewide and congressional political races, measuring voter attitudes, client satisfaction and consumer opinion. A lawyer, she has degrees from George Washington University and Trinity College in Washington D.C.

Barbara Lee heads the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which initiates and supports projects to help women gain and use their political power.

A former school teacher and social worker, she is also the driving force behind the Governor's Guidebook series that combines research with a nationally distributed practical guide for women candidates seeking executive office. The guidebook series includes Keys to the Governor's Office Unlock the Door: The Guide for Women Running for Governor (2001), Speaking with Authority: From Economic Security to National Security (2002), and the newest addition, Cracking the Code: Political Intelligence for Women Running for Governor (2004).

Shaheen became New Hampshire's first woman governor in 1996, and was the first Democrat elected to that office in 16 years. She was re-elected in 1998 and 2000, becoming only the fourth governor in New Hampshire history elected to three consecutive terms.

She is now the director of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Swift was acting governor of Massachusetts from 2001 to 2003 and the first woman to serve as governor of that state.

In May 2001 she became the first governor of any state to give birth while in office, continuing to exercise executive authority during her maternity leave, including chairing a meeting of the Governor's Council by teleconference from her hospital bed.