Parallel Session Proceedings »
2.4.6 Empowering Girls to Empower Other Girls: Sharing Outcomes of the Young Women LEAD Conference Initiative
In this interactive presentation, the presenter will share the outcomes and lessons learned from a 8-year collaborative project aimed at meeting the social-emotional and career development needs of at-risk gifted and high potential high school girls. The Young Women LEAD Conference is a collaborative effort between prominent female business leaders, a women's career development organization, a regional university and a 17-district public school consortium. Each year, approximately 1,000 high school girls attend this annual event focused on developing the girls' leadership skills and career awareness.
This presentation will feature outcomes and lessons learned from 7 years of the collaborative Young Women LEAD Conference. YWL is a collaborative conference that provides high school girls with meaningful experiences designed to help them discover their innate qualities and strengths and to challenge them to reach higher levels of personal growth and development. Conference participants attend a variety of interactive discussion panels and breakout sessions.
Specifics such as recruiting presenters, selecting conference themes, student registrations, etc. will be shared with the aim of assisting others in duplicating this successful endeavor. In addition, suggestions for regional collaboration between school districts, institutions of higher education, and business and community leaders will be shared. The purpose of the presentation will be to share our successes as well as lessons learned over time. Survey evaluation results from 6,000 students who have attended the conferences as well as suggestions for conference replication and future development will be shared with attendees. This collaborative venture aims to develop leadership and personal skills development in gifted and high potential high school females as well as connect these students with successful female business and community leaders.