Dr. Opeoluwa Sotonwa, LL.M., LP.D., Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH), has been selected as a Council of State Government’s Henry Toll Fellow, Class of 2024, for his remarkable contributions to advancing the rights and welfare of the Deaf and hard of hearing in the United States of America.
This was disclosed in a statement released by the Council of State Government (CSG) Henry Toll Fellowship on 9th August 2024.
Speaking on the honor of being selected among Toll Fellows, Commissioner Sotonwa said, “I am humbled and honored to be included in the prestigious Council of State Governments’ Henry Toll Fellowship Class of 2024.”
“I’m looking forward to connecting, working, and learning alongside these esteemed 48 fellow leaders from across the United States and integrating these lessons into supporting my team at the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, a state agency dedicated to serving the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community of Bay State!” Dr. Sotonwa added.
“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 committed to improving the lives of the people they serve,” 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.”
Active since 1986, the Council of State Government (CSG) Henry Toll Fellowship is the nation’s premier leadership development program for state government officials. Annually, it brings together 49 individuals, representing 34 states, U.S. territories, and all three branches of state government. The Fellowship is named after the founder of the CSG, Henry Toll, a former state senator from Colorado who was the driving force behind the creation of CSG in 1933 during his time in office.
Toll Fellows are nominated by their peers and selected by alums of the program.
There are over 1,400 graduates of the Toll Fellowship, including four sitting state/territorial house speakers, eight sitting state supreme court justices, ten sitting members of Congress, three sitting governors, and more than 200 Toll alumni currently serving as state/territorial legislators.
In September, the Class of 2024 will attend a leadership networking event in Lexington, KY. The event will feature sessions on professional growth, networking, and relationship-building opportunities.
INN reports that, Dr. Opeoluwa Sotonwa, a Nigerian-born Deaf Lawyer, was appointed by the Baker-Polito Administration in 2021 as Commissioner for the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH).
In 2020, he received the Judge Arnold Krekel Trailblazer Award for Human Rights.
For more information on the CSG Henry Toll Fellowship, visit here or email toll@csg.org.
The Council of State Governments is the United States only organization serving all three branches of state government. CSG is a region-based forum that fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy. This offers unparalleled regional, national, and international opportunities to network, develop leaders, collaborate, and create problem-solving partnerships.