This page contains the recording and slides from the YouthLead Skill-building Webinar, "How Can Girls Shape the Future? Strategies to Build Leadership in Girls' Education." Watch the webinar recording here and below:
The presentation slides are below.
About the webinar:
The stakes are high for girls who do not complete a comprehensive, quality education. Lack of education increases their risks of encountering domestic violence, unplanned or unwanted pregnancies, increased child mortality and malnutrition, and reduced job prospects. Quality and equity are too often lacking in schools around the world, where many classrooms are still characterized by gender bias, lack of belief in girls’ ability in math and science, and traditional gender roles, which girls and boys observe through teacher attitudes, textbooks, widespread acceptance of gender-based violence, and lack of leadership opportunities for girls.
Addressing these issues requires intervention at the global and national levels. But much can be done locally, particularly by girls themselves and the leaders who support them and work to tear down the barriers they face. In this webinar, Samantha Williams will ground attendees in some of the biggest issues and opportunities in girls’ education today. She will then discuss some of the key areas for intervention around the world, as well as strategies and initiatives from the Teach For All network. Attendees will leave with ideas for how they can take action in support of girls’ leadership and wellbeing in their communities, doing their part to ensure that all girls and boys grow up in a gender equitable world.
Speaker:
Samantha Williams
Samantha believes wholeheartedly in the power of girls and women. She currently works at Teach For All as the Global Director for Girls’ Education and was most recently Chief of Staff to the CEO. She previously spent five years in Johannesburg establishing Teach For All’s organizational operations in Africa. Through this work, she led the organization’s external relations, growth strategy, and partner support in the region.
Before joining Teach For All, Samantha worked to improve educational opportunity in South Africa, working for the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, and as a researcher and project manager for Harvard University. She began her career working in high school dropout prevention at Communities In Schools of Georgia, before moving to South Africa as a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar.
She holds degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the University of the Witwatersrand, and Georgetown University, where she is on the Board of Trustees of the George F. Baker Scholars Program. She is also on the board of the viBe Theater Experience in New York City, a non-profit that invests in nurturing and elevating the voices of young women of color.