“Leaders are people with heart and passion, and the courage to strike out and speak out. The heart to say this is wrong or this needs to change. Be the one to speak up, to advocate for what you believe in. Set the goals that stretch you and the people in your workplace and in your communities. Sometimes we need to be the voice for the people who can’t speak for themselves. That’s very important.”

Martha Layne Collins served as Kentucky’s governor from 1983 to 1987.

A former teacher and active Democratic Party volunteer, she was first elected to office in 1975 as clerk of the Kentucky  Court of Appeals. She was elected lieutenant governor in 1979. When she was elected governor, the press wondered whether this former beauty queen was bright enough to lead and tough enough to  succeed in politics. She was.

Useful Links:

University of Kentucky Hall of Fame http://www.uky.edu/Education/hofamers/Collins.html

Martha Layne Collins, National Governors Association http://www.nga.org/cms/render/live/en/sites/NGA/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_kentucky/col2-content/main-content-list/title_collins_martha.html

Kentucky Secretary of State, “Opening the Doors of Opportunity,” 2009, http://www.sos.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1F10EF93-9EE0-4261-A562-C85B2111DD94/0/WomensReport2009.pdf