By Thom Little, Ph.D.
Last week, we recognized a very sad anniversary. On Saturday, June 14, 2025, Minnesota Speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband, and their dog were murdered in their home. As we observe the one-year anniversary of that senseless act, I want to remember Speaker Hortman, recognize her approach to leadership, and reflect on how the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF) is trying to carry on her legacy of inclusive leadership. In every way, it appears that she embodied SLLF’s Mission Statement: “To educate and inspire our nation’s current and future state legislative leaders to excellence, without regard for party, politics, or ideology.”
According to colleagues in the Minnesota House of Representatives, Speaker Hortman exemplified that mission. DFL Floor Leader Zach Stephenson recalled that “As a leader, she was humble. She was quick to invest in other people and she was also quick to give credit to other people for things that she had done.” Rep. Kaohly Her added “Melissa was someone who believed in making sure that you worked with everybody and Melissa used to say to us, meet with as many people as possible regardless of position or what side of the aisle they are on.”
It was an honor to know her and we are thankful for her active participation in various SLLF programs over the years. In 2010, she participated in the Emerging Leaders Program at the University of Virginia. In February 2019, after her election as Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, she attended the New Speaker Orientation. Two years later, she joined other female leaders from across the country for SLLF’s 2nd Women’s Leadership Seminar, and she regularly participated in the Annual Meeting of the National Speakers Conference. In all these meetings, Speaker Hortman is remembered as an insightful, energetic, and thoughtful leader willing to learn from and engage with other legislators from across the nation, regardless of party or ideology.
We at SLLF agree that Speaker Hortman’s approach to governing–working across partisan, ideological, racial, and geographic differences–is how state legislatures work best. In fact, providing the opportunity to build such relationships among state legislative leaders from across the nation is exactly why the State Legislative Leaders Foundation was established more than fifty years ago and is the reason that we recently renamed our Emerging Leaders Program the Melissa Hortman Emerging Leaders Program–our small way to honor a leader who recognized the value of relationships even with those with whom she disagreed.
We are excited to welcome the inaugural class of legislators to the Melissa Hortman Emerging Leaders Program next month at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. We hope that this is the beginning of a long legacy honoring the ideals she exemplified.
