Ms President US has arrived!
The new girls' leadership program, Ms President US officially launched in Ridgefield on Friday September 8th. More than 50 girls in grades 4th to 8th are enrolled, along with 25 high school girls serving as Mentors.
The mission of the non-profit, non-partisan, community-based program is to inspire and prepare girls to aim for the highest leadership positions and know they can achieve them. The monthly civic leadership sessions culminate with a campaign and election at The Ridgefield Playhouse in May where girls have the option to run for "president" of Ridgefield.
The kick-off panel was led by Mary Barneby, CEO of Girl Scouts of CT, and included Kate Farrar, Executive Director of the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund, Erin Hanlon, Ambassador Girl Scout , Eloisa Melendez, Norwalk CT City Councilwoman, and Kayla Reasco, Outreach Aide for US Senator, Chris Murphy .
Board member Gian-Carlo Peressutti states, "I'm proud to work with any organization that encourages young people to pursue public service. As the father of two girls, MPU's focus on preparing young women for that role makes it all the more worthy."
Fifteen percent of the enrolled girls are from towns outside of Ridgefield including Danbury, Newtown, Woodbridge, and Woodbury. Founder, Liz Fleuette says, "We hope to replicate the program in these and other towns in future years so that all girls can benefit from civic leadership development -- something that is not yet offered at the elementary school level."
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