Alison Jepsen

Alsion Jepsen is a recent graduate of Simpson College in Indianola, IA with a degree in English and minors in Spanish and Journalism and Mass Communications. While at Simpson, Alison was involved in many activities involving language, the arts, and serving the community, but her proudest achievement was acting as the head of Simpson’s women’s group, Sophia, for three years. Her interest in writing and serving the public lead her to her first campaign position as speech and copy writer for Iowa State Senate candidate, Ruth Smith. Soon after this experience, Alison attended the first Iowa N.E.W. Leadership conference where she was given the knowledge and tools to run for public office. By interacting with women who had held numerous positions in local and state government, she was able to ask difficult questions about how the political system truly operates and how she could become a part of it. After N.E.W. Leadership, Alison felt worthy and encouraged to run for office. She plans to run for an elected position in the future, and sees it as an opportunity to serve her community and to address the issues she has always worked for on the political stage.

Since Iowa N.E.W. Leadership, Alison has become even more active in her community. She has become less afraid to contact her legislators and speak her opinion on the issues she cares about. Alison is currently acting as public relations on behalf of the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s annual It’s About Time event, and hopes to continue as an advocate for women’s issues as a community member as well as an elected official. Her experience with Iowa N.E.W. Leadership has made her hopeful for a positive change in politics and hopes the conference will continue to encourage more women to hold public office in the near future.