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Mary Margaret Olohan honored with NeW’s ‘Empowered Woman of the Year’ award
WASHINGTON, D.C. — “Fearless.”
That’s an attribute used to describe journalist Mary Margaret Olohan as she was honored recently with the Network of enlightened Women’s “Empowered Woman of the Year” award.
“She takes on some tough topics that a lot of people don’t want to take on. And our students face a lot of pressure,” said NeW founder Karin Lips during the Oct. 7 event in Washington D.C.
“And one of the defining characteristics of a NeW woman is someone who is willing to stand up for conservative principles, even when it’s not popular to do so. Mary Margaret Olohan does that every day.”
The award was one part of a larger celebration for NeW, which marked its 22nd anniversary of offering conservative women on college campuses nationwide a group that provides camaraderie, friendship, networking and support.
Roughly 50 women converged at Sonoma Wine Bar in the Capitol Hill neighborhood to mark the milestone and hear Lips and Olohan speak on what it means to be a brave and “fearless” conservative woman amid a sea of progressives.
The room was dotted with bouquets of pink balloons — the group’s signature color — as women hugged, chatted, smiled, and listened in to learn more about Olohan, the White House correspondent for the Daily Wire.
Olohan began her career as a journalist at the Daily Caller, where she broke major stories focused on underage gender reassignment surgeries and transitioned men in women’s sports.
Olohan is also the author of a 2024 book “Detrans: True Stories of Escaping The Gender Ideology Cult.”
Sharing some of her personal experience as a young journalist during a speech, Olohan credited her mother’s encouragement in homeschool English as the source of her love of writing.
Being raised in a Catholic household of 11 children also inspired many of her conservative beliefs, she added.
“Whether we’re talking about mother to daughter, or sister to sister, or peer to peer, mentor to friend — there’s so much good to be obtained in those relationships and how we can guide each other to be the women that God created us to be,” she said.
“That’s why organizations like NeW are so important,” she added. “They provide that guidance, that confidence, that mentorship that so many of us need and we might not have in our own personal lives, giving us that confidence to go out into the world and to speak up for truth.”
Lips told The Fix that Olohan epitomizes a woman that she hopes students can look up to, someone with a solid moral compass and strong work ethic.
In an interview at the event, Lips said NeW aims to build on the foundation that’s been created over the past two-plus decades, working to expand its role as the “premier thought leader for conservative women” and reach out to those who are “just starting to question dominant leftist narratives.”
NeW was founded as a book club in 2004 by Lips while a student at the University of Virginia.
She had spent a summer as an intern in the D.C. area and had hoped to start a conservative group of her own on campus in the fall. As Lips recalls, when she had approached the Women’s Center to ask about co-sponsoring or forming a group for conservative women, staff members laughed at her proposal and turned her down. Undeterred, she started it anyway on her own.
Today, NeW is present at over 50 colleges and universities nationwide.
Lips said she is excited for NeW’s plans in the year ahead, citing a new online course for students called “Success in This Season” in which students will learn to build toward an “intentional life.”
The organization’s spokesperson Emma Degrado also shared that the group plans to expand multimedia presence with their popular podcast, “The Conservative Woman’s Guide,” hosted by Lips.
College students will also have the opportunity to participate in their “Student Media Fellowship,” mentorship and professional development, and travel scholarships, she said.
These programs allow members to participate in NeW’s “signature programs,” including its annual “Leadership Retreat and Advocacy Day” in Washington, D.C.
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