Student Leadership Network is thrilled to be hosting our second national conference for public school educators serving girls and gender-expansive youth! The Whole Girl Education National Conference on March 17-19, 2024 will invite educators to explore the role of girls’ education in creating a more equitable world. We will explore this year’s theme, CLOSING THE GAP: The Role of Girls’ Education in Creating a More Equitable World, through plenary sessions on advancing gender equity in leadership, healthcare, and politics. Our highly-rated interactive breakout sessions will focus on creating and supporting innovative schools where girls build leadership skills and use their voices as advocates for their community. Join us as we hear from inspiring leaders in education doing the work in girls’ schools and programs!
Featured Speakers
Our speakers will share insights from their personal paths and tools to creating environments that advance gender equity. Educators and school leaders will come away reinspired, with tools to apply to their schools to foster lasting opportunities for girls and gender-expansive youth to lead and close the gender gap.
Valerie Jarrett
CEO of the Obama Foundation
Former Senior Advisor to President Obama
Valerie Jarrett is Chief Executive Officer of the Obama Foundation and a Senior Distinguished Fellow at The University of Chicago Law School. She was the Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama from 2009-2017, making her the longest serving senior advisor to a president in history. There, she oversaw the Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls, mobilizing elected officials, business partners, and community leaders to collaborate to advance gender equity initiatives. Before pivoting to the national stage, she held several private and public sector leadership roles and to serve the people and city of Chicago.
Learn more about Ms. Jarrett’s career path and connect with her at our reception on March 17th.
Whereas dystopias are the stuff of nightmares, and utopias the stuff of dreams… ustopias are what we create together when we are wide awake.
Dr. Ruha Benjamin
Dr. Ruha Benjamin
Sociologist and Professor of African American Studies,
Princeton University
Dr. Ruha Benjamin is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, founding director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab, and author of the award-winning book Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, among many other publications. Her work investigates the social dimensions of science, medicine, and technology with a focus on the relationship between innovation and inequity, health and justice, knowledge and power.
Dr. Benjamin is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Marguerite Casey Foundation Freedom Scholar Award and the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton. Her recent book, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want, winner of the 2023 Stowe Prize, was born out of the twin plagues of COVID-19 and police violence and offers a practical and principled approach to transforming our communities and helping us build a more just and joyful world. Her forthcoming book, Imagination: A Manifesto, will be released in February 2024.
Learn more about Dr. Benjamin’s research and don’t miss her plenary session at the conference on March 18th.
Tina Tchen
Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy & Impact Officer,
Obama Foundation
Tina Tchen is an attorney, activist, and lifelong advocate for women and girls, navigating political and legal challenges to advance gender equity. She served in the Obama White House through both terms, and was an Assistant to President Barack Obama, Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama, and Executive Director of the White House Council on Women Girls. At the White House, Ms. Tchen spearheaded the first-ever White House Summit on Working Families, helped form the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, and led the Administration’s effort to promote education for adolescent girls around the world, including Mrs. Obama’s Let Girls Learn Initiative.
Learn more about Ms. Tchen’s impact and don’t miss her plenary session at the conference on March 18th.
Educators of girls and gender-expansive youth can still register for the conference today. Immerse yourself in a community of fellow public school educators creating opportunities for girls to innovate, lead, and succeed. We hope to see you on March 17-19, 2024 in New York City!