Created by teen girls for teen girls, the 4th Annual Virginia Girls’ Summit will take place Saturday, Oct. 7, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at George Mason University in Fairfax. Powered by She Rocks the World, the Summit is planned and implemented by 35 middle and high school students from 26 schools in Virginia and Maryland to inspire their peers to use their own voices and live bigger lives. The Girls’ Summit is a content-rich, day-long program created to address the challenges and concerns girls are facing today.
Featured guests include: Kate Fagan, author of “What Made Maddy Run” and “The Reappearing Act,” and ESPN writer and panelist; Eileen Whelan and Autria Godfrey from ABC 7 News; Maria Rose Belding, Co-Founder/Executive Director of MEANS Database; Nadya Okamoto, Founder of PERIOD, Harvard student and Cambridge City Council candidate.
These women will share their stories of redefining success. A series of 12 breakout sessions will inspire conversations about dealing with stress, building a positive path by seeing challenges as opportunities, learning from failure, and preparing for the next chapter, be it high school, college or career.
Parents, teachers and mentors are invited to attend breakout sessions led by Dr. Amy Fortney-Parks. Debbie Phelps, educator and mother of three children – including 28-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps, will be back for the second year to discuss the demands of raising teens in a world unlike the one they grew up in. A panel of teen ambassadors will give parents a real look into what is going on in their lives and how they might be best supported.
“We deeply believe that for girls to thrive in STEM careers, as CEOs on Wall Street or as leaders on Capitol Hill they need to have the confidence to stand up and speak up in their lives today. We want to help them diminish the importance of ‘likes’ and emphasize the importance of ideas that inspire. We want to give this generation of thought leaders the tools to find their voices and the tools to make their voices heard,” says She Rocks the World founder Patsy Mangas.
She Rocks the World believes in making the Virginia Girls Summit accessible to families of all socioeconomic statuses and partners with schools and organizations across Virginia to offer free or discounted tickets. To learn more and register, visit www.sherockstheworld.org.