Kate Farrar

The Council of State Governments has announced that Representative Kate Farrar (D- West Hartford, Newington) is selected to participate in the 2023 CSG Henry Toll Fellowship. Bringing together 47 individuals representing 29 of the states and U.S. territories and from all branches of state government, the Henry Toll Fellowship is the nation’s premier leadership development program for state government officials.

"It's truly an honor to be selected for the CSG Henry Toll Fellowship. I am both excited and grateful for this opportunity to collaborate with and learn from other leaders in government," said Representative Farrar. "I am eager to utilize this experience to further my skills and knowledge to serve the 20th District and our state."

Since 1986, CSG has annually convened a new class of CSG Henry Toll Fellows at its national headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky, for an intensive leadership boot camp. The program’s sessions are designed to stimulate personal assessment and growth, empower leaders to collaborate and communicate more effectively, and provide nonpartisan networking and relationship-building opportunities.

“While the CSG Henry Toll Fellows come from every region of our nation, from both political parties and all three branches of state government, they share one thing in common— they are all people of purpose with a passion for public service,” said CSG Executive Director/CEO David Adkins, a former Kansas state senator and 1993 CSG Henry Toll Fellow alumnus. “Toll Fellows are selected based on their demonstrated commitment to solve problems, to work collaboratively to get things done, and their belief that state government can and must be a force for good.”

Toll Fellows are nominated by their peers and selected by alumni of the program.

“The selection committee looks for leaders who have already demonstrated excellence in public service but who also show promise for continuing to make a difference in the future,” Adkins said.

The Fellowship honors the founder of CSG, Henry Toll, who, as a former state senator from Colorado, was the driving force behind the creation of CSG in 1933. 

“Each class of Toll Fellows has a different energy, and we are excited to see this year’s dynamic,” said Lorna Patches, Deputy Director of Membership and Leadership Development at CSG. “Everyone in this group is a leader in their home state, which provides a tremendous opportunity for attendees to learn and grow through interaction with each other. The CSG experience provides a framework for shared conversations, which begin with our time together and extend for lifetimes.”

There are more than 1,350 graduates of the Toll Fellowship, including five state/territorial house speakers, three sitting state supreme court justices, 10 sitting members of Congress, five sitting governors and more than 200 Toll alumni currently serving as state/territorial legislators.

For more information on the CSG Henry Toll Fellowship, please click here.