School Launches National Center for Girls' Leadership
Winter 2018
Last fall, Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart (NJ) announced the launch of the National Center for Girls’ Leadership at Stuart (NCGLS). NCGLS is a global expansion of the all-girls school’s Center for Girls’ Leadership, established in 2015 to support and empower the next generation of female leaders. The decision to broaden the scope of the center came on the heels of #LEADLIKEAGIRL, a free conference for K–12 girls in April 2017. The #LEADLIKEAGIRL conference evolved out of the school’s efforts to help bridge the gender gap in STEM and entrepreneurship. More than 900 students, parents, and mentors from across the country, and educators from as far as Greece, participated in the conference.
“As experts in educating girls, we are always asking, ‘What do girls need [in order] to lead today, and into the future?’” says Patty L. Fagin, head of school at Stuart. “Despite the demonstrated strength of girls over their male counterparts in the classroom, women still remain significantly underrepresented in many high-growth areas including the STEM fields, entrepreneurship, finance, and especially positions of leadership. … We believe that girls must be given not just the skills, but also the confidence to know their voices are equally important.”
NCGLS works to support and empower the next generation of female leaders worldwide by providing leadership training, mentors, and opportunities through research, professional programming, and the development of an innovative curriculum.
The school chose newly promoted Head of Upper School Courtney Portlock to also serve as the director of NCGLS. “Through the expansion of the National Center for Girls’ Leadership at Stuart, we will create a blueprint for other schools, educators, and organizations to extend the impact of the NCGLS mission to students regardless of where they live or go to school,” Portlock says.
Portlock is currently working to form a consortium with girls’ schools around the country under the umbrella of the NCGLS, with plans to develop educator training on leadership curriculum, make leadership courses available online, connect students with mentors, and hold the #LEADLIKEAGIRL conference in different locations across the United States.