Student Leadership Network

At last month’s WholeGirl+ Education National Conference, we honored outstanding educators in our network who are making a powerful impact on girls' education. We were excited to present the WholeGirl+ Educator award to Ellen Jorgenson, an English Language Arts teacher and KCG Leadership Institute Project Manager at the Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy, a Young Women’s Leadership affiliate school. The award recognizes an affiliate school staff member who embodies WholeGirl+ Education, supporting student development in leadership, self-advocacy, identity, and academic growth. Read more about this well-deserved recognition and the incredible leaders we celebrated at #WGENC2025: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/esEKUB6S #WholeGirlEducation #GirlsEducation #EquityinEducation #Educators

In celebration of #WomensHistoryMonth, 14 students from The Young Women’s Leadership School (TYWLS) of Astoria and East Side Community High School, a CollegeBound Initiative (CBI) partner school, had the exciting opportunity to attend a fireside chat with Ursula Burns. Burns is the first Black woman to have served as a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Xerox. Joined by Andy Sieg, Head of Wealth at Citi and Co-Chair of the Global Women’s Network, Ursula shared powerful insights about her upbringing, experiences taking on leadership roles, and navigating professional landscapes while remaining true to her core values. She shared valuable advice with our students: “Never say no just because of a job title. Look for the learning opportunities in every role.” Students left the event feeling inspired and ready to continue developing their #leadershipskills. They each received a signed copy of Burn’s memoir, “Where You Are Is Not Who You Are.” Thank you to Erika Irish Brown (she/her), Megan Lindley, Ariadne Reza, Kelley Smith, and Alfreda Twumasi from Citi for making this event possible for our students! Read more about it in our blog: https://lnkd.in/exrw-Vvx #GirlsEducation #LeadershipDevelopment #EquityinEducation #CareerPathways

At last month’s WholeGirl+ Education National Conference, we were proud to celebrate outstanding educators across our network who are making a lasting impact in girls’+ education. We were honored to present the Ann Tisch Inspire Award to Dr. Charcia Nichols, Executive Director at the Ivy Preparatory Academy at Kirkwood for Girls, a Young Women’s Leadership affiliate school. This award recognizes a leader who embodies the vision, passion, innovation, and perseverance of our founder, Ann Rubenstein Tisch. Read more about our inspiring honorees in our blog: https://lnkd.in/esEKUB6S  #WGENC2025 #FuturePathways #WholeGirlEducation #GirlsEducation #EquityinEducation #Educators

Meet Student Leadership Network’s College Persistence team - Pamela Jones, Nicole Meyer, and Gabrielle Lloyd Oliver. The team supports students in their postsecondary lives through mentorship, in-person and virtual events, and other services. From their signature virtual “Lunch & Learn” series to in-person events such as the CollegeSendoff and the Future Success Symposium, the team equips CollegeBound Initiative (CBI) alumni with the tools they need to succeed academically, personally, and professionally. Mentorship is also a key pillar of their work. Through our CollegeJourney program, first— and second-year college students are matched with Peer Leaders and upperclassmen mentors who help guide them through the transition to college. Peer Leaders help students navigate #academics, #campusengagement, #financialaid, and more. Pamela Jones, Director of College Persistence, shared: “With all of our programming, we’re not just offering services—we’re building a supportive ecosystem that empowers students to thrive academically and personally.” Learn more about our College Persistence work and some upcoming College Persistence events in our recent blog: https://lnkd.in/eJ8DA8sY #CollegePersistence #HigherEd #PostsecondarySuccess #MentorshipMatters #EquityinEducation

Last month, we were proud to host our WholeGirl+ Education National Conference, which brought together 140+ educators and program partners from across the country at The Nightingale-Bamford School in NYC. With 25+ breakout sessions and powerful plenaries, this event was a true celebration of innovation, collaboration, and commitment to girls'+ education. We started with a dynamic panel on education policy and enrollment, moderated by Laura Rebell-Gross, our Senior Managing Director of Girls’+ Education. Throughout the conference, our plenary speakers— Lilly Workneh, Chief Content Officer at PushBlack, Tarika Barrett, Ph.D., CEO of Girls Who Code, and Laura Moore, Chief Higher Education Officer at the National Education Equity Lab—inspired us. Our CEO, Yolonda Marshall, reflected on the conference: “We host this conference to share best practices to elevate girls’+ education." We want to thank all who joined us, and a shout out to Leigh Conner and Sarah Boldin of our Girls'+ Education team for their hard work in making this event possible. 📖 Read more on our blog: https://lnkd.in/epbGSU3Z #WGENC2025 #FuturePathways #GirlsEducation #EducationEquity #EducationConference #HigherEd #Educators

Earlier this year, students from The Young Women’s Leadership School (TYWLS) of Manhattan stepped into the world of beauty at the sales and marketing showroom of the Intercos Group, thanks to our partnership with The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. As part of the Student Leadership Network’s signature ‘TYWLS at the Workplace’ event, students explored how #STEM concepts power the #beautyindustry, from scientific research to chemical formulation to design and engineering. A highlight of the event was a visit to the chemistry workshop, where students could create their custom lip glosses! Students had fun mixing ingredients and experimenting with pigments and textures. Finally, the visit ended with a tour of the Intercos Group facilities. Thank you to The Estée Lauder Companies and Intercos for making this event possible! Read more about their experience in our blog: https://lnkd.in/dC5xGMvr #TYWLSatWorkplace #WomenInSTEM #STEMEducation #BeautyScience #StudentLeadership #GirlsEducation #EducationEquity

This #WomensHistoryMonth, we’re celebrating the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia Climate School and it's incredible Secondary School Field Research Program (SSFRP)—one of our fantastic Girls' + Education partners! SSFRP is a program that brings together high school students, undergraduate students, and science teachers for six weeks of field and laboratory research. Each summer, students from The Young Women’s Leadership Schools (TYWLS) have the opportunity to spend six weeks conducting scientific research about the ecological & physical processes of the wetland at Piermont Marsh, NY. Thank you, SSFRP, for your commitment to expanding STEM access and environmental research opportunities for young scientists. We’re honored to work together to empower future changemakers! 🔗 Learn more about our inspiring Girls’+ Education partners: https://lnkd.in/eZ426pdv #WHM2025 #GirlsInSTEM #FutureScientists #FieldResearch #EcoEducation #TYWLS #WomenInScience #Changemakers

We’re wrapping up our #WomensHistoryMonth Girls’+ Education partner spotlights with a big round of applause for Funny Girls, a program of The Harnisch Foundation. Funny Girls brings confidence, creativity, and leadership together through the power of #improv! By using comedy and improvisational techniques, Funny Girls uses improv to strengthen girls’ leadership skills, helping them identify as leaders and seek out leadership opportunities in their schools and communities. Funny Girls has partnered with schools across our network, including The Young Women’s Leadership Schools (TYWLS) of Astoria, the Bronx, Staten Island, and Queens, along with the Young Women's College Prep Charter School/Foundation and the Young Women’s Leadership Academy of Las Vegas. Teachers have attended training and implemented the Funny Girls curriculum. Additionally, Funny Girls has been a breakout session favorite at our WholeGirl+ Education National Conference, leading educators through fun improv activities. Thank you, Funny Girls, for using laughter to ignite #leadershipskills in our students! We can’t wait to continue this impactful work together. Visit our #WomensHistoryMonth page to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eZ426pdv #WHM2025 #LeadWithLaughter #ImprovForLeadership #ConfidenceThroughComedy #TYWLS #FutureLeaders #GirlsLeadership #Changemakers

Last week, we hosted our third annual WholeGirl+ Education National Conference, and what an exciting gathering it was! Educators across the country came together to explore how technology shapes schools, students, and the information they encounter. A massive shoutout to our breakout session presenters who led sessions that were interactive, engaging, and solution-driven discussions. Thanks to their expertise, attendees left with practical tools and insights to bring back to their school communities. Thank you to the following organizations and schools for leading fantastic breakout sessions:  -Riley's Way Foundation -Schools Consent Project -Girls Who Code -National Education Equity Lab -New Visions for Public Schools -The Texas Girls School -Arts Ignite (formerly ASTEP) -Ivy Preparatory Academy at Kirkwood for Girls -The Young Women’s Leadership Schools -Girls Leadership -Revision Learning -The Harnisch Foundation, Funny Girls -Albany Leadership Charter High School for Girls -Ruling Our eXperiences, Inc. (ROX) -Young Women's College Prep Charter School/Foundation -Diapers 2 Deposits -The Social Institute -Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy -Teachers College, Columbia University -Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington -PushBlack -Young Women's Preparatory Network Thank you to all who joined us for this special event - together, we are advancing #educationalequity. ✨ #WGENC2025 #FuturePathways #WholeGirlEducation #GirlsEducation #EducationConference #CollegeBound #CollegeAccess #EmpoweredEducators #EdEquity #EducationForAll

We had the incredible opportunity of attending and presenting at Student Leadership Network's WholeGirl+ Education National Conference focused on Future Pathways: Educating Girls+ in the Next Digital Age. There were so many thoughtful and tangible conversations about how we can create more opportunities for students to develop leadership skills to foster a more equitable world. Thank you to the Student Leadership Network for such an intentional conference. A special thank you to Laura Rebell-Gross, Sarah Boldin, and Leigh Conner for the supportive preparation of speakers. And, to The Young Women's Leadership School of the Bronx and Queens for co-presenting with us. Learn more about the conference here: https://lnkd.in/g98_UNEC