A local lawmaker is among 37 others chosen to participate in a training program that annually identifies and assists promising state leaders in the Midwest.

State Representative Ann Bollin of Brighton Township will meet with fellow lawmakers from Michigan and 10 other Midwestern states and four Canadian provinces for The Council of State Governments’ 25th annual Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development or BILLD. The program will take place in Minneapolis, Minnesota August 9th through the 13th.

Nebraska Senator Sara Howard, who serves as co-chair of the institute’s steering committee, says the institute is one of the premier leadership training programs in the nation and that legislatures in the region have benefited greatly from the skills their members have gained through the experience, adding that many of the graduates now hold key leadership positions in their state.

Since 1995, 840 lawmakers have graduated from the Bowhay Institute. State legislators from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin are chosen to participate through a competitive, nonpartisan selection process. Members of the Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan legislative assemblies are selected by their caucuses to take part in the program.

BILLD was founded in 1995 to help new legislators meet the demands of increased policy responsibility being shifted to the states and, in many states, term limits and high legislative turnover. In addition to curriculum designed to develop leadership skills, the program analyzes a variety of public policy issues, including the economy, trade and health care policy.