Gov. Palin will speak about the
importance of personal engagement and leadership on those matters of
individual or collective importance to each of us. She will also
participate in a question and answer session at the end of her
remarks in the Caterpillar Performing Arts Center.
The proceeds from the event will be
used for the Washington Area Community Center capital fund and to
create new scholarships for area youth. Scholarship details will be
announced at a later date.
Sarah Palin first made history on Dec. 4, 2006, when she was
sworn in as the first female governor of Alaska. In August 2008,
Sen. John McCain tapped Palin to serve as his vice-presidential
running mate in his presidential campaign, making her the first
woman to run on the Republican Party’s presidential ticket.
Palin
has a long record of achievement and experience in public office.
Prior to her election as governor, Palin served two terms on the
Wasilla City Council, and two terms as the mayor of Wasilla. During
her tenure, she reduced property tax levels while increasing
services and made Wasilla a business-friendly environment, drawing
in new industry.
Under her leadership as governor, Alaska
invested $5 billion in state savings, overhauled education funding
and protected Alaska’s natural resources. She created Alaska’s
Petroleum Systems Integrity Office to provide oversight and
maintenance of oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure,
and the Climate Change Subcabinet to prepare a climate change
strategy for Alaska. During Gov. Palin’s first year in office, three
of her administration’s major proposed pieces of legislation
passed—an overhaul of the state’s ethics laws, a competitive process
to construct a natural gas pipeline and a restructuring of Alaska’s
oil valuation formula.
Palin is past chair of the Interstate Oil and
Gas Compact Commission, a multistate government agency that promotes
the conservation and efficient recovery of domestic oil and natural
gas resources while protecting health, safety and the environment.
She also served as chair of the National Governors Association (NGA)
Natural Resources Committee, which was charged with pursuing
legislation to ensure state needs are considered as federal policy
is formulated in the areas of agriculture, energy, environmental
protection and natural resource management.
Sarah Heath Palin arrived
in Alaska with her family in 1964, when her parents came to teach
school in Skagway. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in
communications--journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987. She
is the author of “Going Rogue: An American Life.”
She is
married to Todd Palin, a lifelong Alaskan who worked as a production
operator on the North Slope and a four-time champion of the Iron
Dog, the world’s longest snowmachine race. They have five children.
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