This year, to celebrate our 22nd anniversary, NeW is hosting an exclusive reception at Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. Join us for an evening of heavy appetizers, drinks, and celebration as we honor The Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan as our 2026 Empowered Woman of the Year.
Space is limited. Save your seat and join us for this special celebration!
NeW is proud to recognize Mary Margaret Olohan for her exemplary leadership in journalism, her commitment to covering issues often overlooked by the mainstream media, and her courage in amplifying voices that are regularly ignored or silenced. As The Daily Wire’s first-ever White House correspondent, Olohan covers the president, his administration, and the major policy and cultural debates unfolding in Washington.
Her reporting has covered issues ranging from religious liberty and the pro-life movement to education, family policy, and the cultural conversations shaping young Americans’ lives. She has appeared across major media outlets and platforms, bringing her perspective and reporting to a broad audience.
Mary Margaret Olohan has shown the importance of pursuing truth with conviction, even when doing so challenges the status quo. She has faced harassment and intimidation while reporting, yet she continues to ask tough questions and report stories others might shy away from.
Olohan is also the author of Detrans: True Stories of Escaping the Gender Ideology Cult, which chronicles the experiences of individuals who have undergone gender transitions and later came to regret them. Through the book, she brings these stories to national attention.
Mary Margaret Olohan embodies the qualities NeW seeks to honor in an Empowered Woman of the Year: courage under pressure, an unwavering commitment to truth, and the conviction to speak out when others stay silent. Through her work, she challenges women to think independently, question powerful narratives, and stand firm on the issues shaping our culture.
Space is limited. Become a member today and join us in honoring Mary Margaret Olohan!
If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please email Karin Lips.
In the fall of 2004, Karin Agness Lips returned to the University of Virginia after an internship in Washington, DC and sought out an organization in which college women could talk about public policy, including conservative ideas. She decided to approach the campus Women’s Center and asked a staff woman if the center might be interested in co-sponsoring a new group for conservative university women. Her response? She laughed and said “not here.”
Despite the negative reaction, Karin founded a book club for conservative college women and called it the Network of enlightened Women, known as NeW. Within a year, women on other campuses heard about NeW and wanted to start their own chapters. NeW began expanding nationally, growing one chapter at a time.
For 22 years, NeW has been educating, equipping, and empowering the next generation of conservative leaders.
The Network of enlightened Women hosted our 2023 Leadership Retreat in Washington, DC on August 4-6. More than 75 NeW chapter leaders from across the country gathered in the nation’s capital for three days of training on how to better articulate conservative principles on campus and learn how to recruit new members, engage existing members, and grow their chapter into a positive community for women.
Cheers to 19 years of NeW! On Thursday, September 21 the Network of enlightened Women celebrated 19 years as an organization. The celebration was held at the Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Anniversary party is a time for students, professional network members, and friends of NeW to come together and share how they have contributed to the mission.
We caught up with the women from NeW at the University of South Carolina. Learn about the extraordinary work these women are doing on campus from their executive board members.
