The Importance of Education

It has been a while since I've posted on the blog.  As much as I would love to devote all my time to building the CGL and advocating for issues that pertain to girls, sometimes I can't.  And this is one of those times.


Currently, our six board members are all in graduate school.  In less than a month, five of us will graduate from law school.  The past two months have been filled with reading assignments and final papers, all trying to wrap up what for most of us will be our last semester of school.  Ever.


This is crazy to me.  I've been in school for 20 of my 26 years.  It's a life I've come to know well.  While some days I ache for a normal life with a normal job, it is bittersweet to say goodbye to life as a student.  


For years my mother has instilled in me the power of education.  "School comes first," she used to say when I'd get busy with extracurricular activities.  That focus has served me well.  Right now, school comes first; CGL comes second.


My mother's other favorite saying is "No one can take away your education."  And she's right.  People come and go.  Fate changes the circumstances of life.  But my one constant will be my education.  I am so happy I went as far as I could with school.  No one can take away the fact that I am graduating law school.


These life lessons are ones that I will instill in my children some day, just as my mother taught me.  And I hope that each girl that the CGL reaches will learn that academics are the basic foundation for leadership.  School must always come first.

Crazy Dreams

We are now less than one week away to our first event for The Center for Girls' Leadership!  Up until now, it has seemed like a just crazy dream but on Saturday, it will be a reality.  We are so excited to finally share the CGL with the our first girls!


I heard this Carrie Underwood song this week and I was struck by how great of a song it is for the dreamers out there:  "Thank God even crazy dreams come true."  

Thank you to everyone who has given us their support over the past couple months.  This is just the beginning!

Pathways to Leadership: Women in the Law 2.25.12

The Center for Girls’ Leadership will host its first program, “Pathways to Leadership: Women in the Law,” on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. The event will include a panel presentation and short mock trial. The panel will feature at least five attorneys from the community.

Open to women in high school and college, the event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon (check-in begins at 8:30 a.m.) in the Frey Moot Courtroom, located in the School of Law on St. Thomas’ Minneapolis campus.

Through the Pathways to Leadership series, the Center for Girls’ Leadership, a nonprofit organization, teaches young women in high school and college about possible future career options in various industries. Each program features a panel with women from the community discussing their individual leadership journey, as well as small group discussions and activities.

Registration is free and available at the Center for Girls’ Leadership website; the program, a CGL gift and a snack are included.

 

Real Girls, Real Leadership: 11.30.11

Each day, real girls are being real leaders.  Get inspired by their stories:

• Lexi, 14, was frustrated by the fact that there were no female hockey players in the NHL video games she loved playing.  So, she wrote to the gamemaker, calling the exclusion of female players "unfair to women and girl hockey players around the world."  Because of Lexi, female avatars will be used for the first time in NHL 12.  Even better?  The default avatar is modeled after Lexi!
• Stephanie, a high school senior, is an editor for the yearbook, plays tenor sax in concert band, and lettered in tennis this fall...all while recovering from a brain tumor. 

One Step Closer.

Today, we took an important step forward in the creation of The Center for Girls' Leadership. The Articles of Incorporation were sent off to the Minnesota Secretary of State to be filed!

Now the waiting game begins. Once the Articles are filed, we become an official nonprofit corporation under Minnesota law. So exciting! A special thank you to Gina, Salena and Gregg from UST School of Law for helping us draft our Articles of Incorporation!

In other news, we have an official logo! The lovely Colleen Dolphin of Dolphinography created a wonderful image for us to use:

We just love it! A huge thank you to Colleen for contributing her creativity to The Center for Girls' Leadership!

Happy Tuesday!

The Board.

We have a Board of Directors!  Five amazing friends and colleagues have signed on to help the Center for Girls' Leadership take it's initial steps as an organization.  It's all very exciting.  We will have bios of our board available shortly!  If you are interested in joining the board or want more information about the CGL, contact us at girlsleadershipproject@gmail.com!

Also, stop by our facebook page and 'like' it to get updates on our org!

[MCN]

In other news, I'm attending the MN Council of Nonprofits Annual Conference this week.  I'm so excited to learn everything I can about the MN nonprofit landscape and best practices.  It won't hurt to do a little networking either!  Another step in making The Center for Girls' Leadership a reality!

Real Girls, Real Leadership: 10.4.11

Each day, real girls are being real leaders.  Get inspired by their stories:

• MaryAnn, 12, and her cousin Sam were honored as heroes for saving the life of a six-year-old girl who nearly drowned in an apartment pool.   MaryAnn only learned to swim a year ago.

• Brianna, 18, kicked the winning field goal for her high school's football team, moments after being crowned homecoming queen.  The kick was her personal best.

Do you have a Real Girls, Real Leadership story to share?  Email us at girlsleadershipproject@gmail.com.