SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR 3rd ANNUAL CONFERENCE--Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The 2011 conference will be held at the Doubletree Pittsburgh in Monroeville and will feature keynote speaker Linda Babcock. Ms. Babcock is the founder and faculty director of the Program for Research and Outreach on Gender Equity in Society (PROGRESS) at Carnegie Mellon University and is the author of Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide.
The Girls Coalition is honored to have Ms. Babcock as our keynote and to be able to partner with PROGRESS beyond the conference to institutionalize the teaching of negotiation skills to young women in our region.
After the first of the year, the Girls Coalition will be announcing more conference details and opening up online registration.
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For Information on the Second Annual Girls Coaltion Conference (held on March 24, 2010), keep reading!
"From Imagination to Realization: Equity and Economic Empowerment of Girls"
When: March 24, 2010; 8:30am to 4:30pm
Where:Sheraton Station Square
What: Nine presentation and panel discussions on topics ranging from girl violence, to Title IX, to innovative ways to engage girls. The event will also feature keynote speaker Dr. Bertice Berry, well known sociologist, author, and educator.
| 8:30-9:30am | Conference Registration, Coffee, Networking, Economic Empowerment Expo |
| 9:30-10:30am | Conference Kick-off & Welcome Session |
10:45-11:45am |
SESSION I (Panel Discussions) |
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Innovative Ways to Engage Girls Moderated by Jennifer Stancil |
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Beyond Race: Addressing Socioeconomic Issues When Working With Girls Moderated by LaVerne Baker Hotep |
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Addressing Violence Among Girls and Young Women Moderated by Sara Goodkind, Ph.D |
| 11:45am-1:00pm | Lunch, Networking, Economic Empowerment Expo |
1:10-2:10pm |
SESSION II |
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Finding Power by Finding Your Voice: Advocacy and Equity presented by Allyson M. Lowe, Ph.D. and Rachel M. Furman |
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Pop Culture Dilemma: Is it Empowerment or Objectification presented by Tracey Reed Armant |
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Stress in Adolescence presented by Deborah Ciocco |
2:15-3:15pm |
SESSION III |
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Daddy's Girls: Effective Interventions for Girls Living with Fatherlessness presented by Ingrid Edwards |
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Empowering All Girls to Reach Their Full Potential presented by Dori Ortman and Mindy Payne of UCP Kids |
Title IX: Key Components of Girls' Economic Empowerment presented by Susan Frietsche |
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| 3:30-4:30pm | Keynote Speaker: Dr. Bertice Berry |
It is with gratitude that we thank the following 2010 conference sponsors for their generosity:
Champions:
Advocates:
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Mentors:
Supporters:
Jewish Women's Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh
Benefactors:
Midwife Center for Birth and Women's Health
If you are interested in learning more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Heather Mediate
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SESSION DESCRIPTIONS, SPEAKER AND MODERATOR BIOS
SESSION I
Innovative Ways to Engage Girls Moderated by Jennifer Stancil
Jennifer Stancil is the Executive Director of the Girls Math and Science Partnership (GMSP), a program of Carnegie Science Center. Her career started in Alabama and then North Carolina, working to engineer the programming for two new museums – McWane Science Center and Marbles Children’s Museum (previously Exploris). Her start-up savvy helped build and solidify the reputation of those institutions and their educational program excellence in those communities. Jen’s consulting work has taken her across the country to speak, train, and motivate those in the museum, educational, and corporate worlds as well as help design and build the capacity of non-profits. As the primary steward of the GMSP brand and the relationships that ultimately make it successful, Jen spends as much keeping pace with today’s tween and teen girls as she does in foundation board rooms. Jen is also charged with developing affiliates across the nation that allow the GMSP model to spread to new communities, the first of which is GMSP:Southwest, in Phoenix, Arizona. In January 2006, Jen moved to Pittsburgh to take the helm of the Girls, Math & Science Partnership, mobilizing her training as a biologist and her passion for and experience working with teen girls. She was named an Emerging Leader in Pittsburgh in 2007 by the Junior League for building better communities for women and girls. In 2008, Jen was recognized as one of Pittsburgh’s “Top 40 Under 40,” an award for Pittsburghers who demonstrate the passion, commitment, visibility, diversity, and overall impact on the region.
Beyond Race: Addressing Socioeconomic Issues When Working With Girls Moderated by LaVerne Baker Hotep
LaVerne Baker Hotep is the director of community education and outreach at the Center for Victims of Violence and Crime, where she oversees school and community-based violence prevention programs. She and her staff develop community training and education programs unique to the violence prevention landscape, which include producing and hosting “Peace It Together Pittsburgh,” a radio talk show focusing on issues of peace building. Over the past 16 years, Hotep has served as minority outreach specialist for the American Cancer Society, and on the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's National African American Advisory Council. In 1998, she founded SisterTeach Council, an organization that designs and publishes culturally relevant health education materials and programs for women of color. In addition, she is creator, producer and host of “Well Woman Radio Retreat,” a program which focuses on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of women. She currently sits on the board of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, the South Pittsburgh Peace Coalition, and the steering committee of the Girls Coalition of Southwestern PA. Recognized by the New Pittsburgh Courier as one of Pittsburgh’s 50 African American Women of Influence, Hotep has received numerous awards including the coveted Women in Communications Matrix Award and the YWCA 2004 Racial Justice Award for her work as a community outreach specialist and educator.
Addressing Violence Among Girls and Young Women moderated by Sara Goodkind, Ph.D
Dr. Sara Goodkind is Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh. She has a PhD in Social Work and Sociology, an MSW, and a Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies from the University of Michigan. Dr. Goodkind's research focuses on programs and services for young people, particularly those in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Much of her work has focused on programs for girls in the juvenile justice system, and she has been involved with efforts to improve the system and prevent and develop alternatives to girls' involvement with it. Dr. Goodkind's current research explores the experiences of young people aging out of the child welfare system and transitioning into adulthood.
SESSION II
Finding Power by Finding Your Voice: Advocacy and Equity presented by Allyson M. Lowe, Ph.D.and Rachel M. Furman.
Dr. Allyson Lowe is Assistant Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Carlow University. Prior to joining the faculty at Carlow in 2009, she was Director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy (the Center) for five years and held the Elsie Hillman Chair in Politics at Chatham University. Originally from Ohio, she received her Ph.D. and M.A. from the Ohio State University and her Bachelor of Arts, from Miami University.
As Department Chair, Dr. Lowe oversees a team of talented teaching colleagues and the curriculum in the political science and public policy and leadership majors and minors. She serves and the university’s primary pre-law advisor. She is consistently interest in international affairs. A Fulbright Award recipient and member of the American Council on Germany, she offers courses in comparative politics, with special attention to the EU, women and politics, and policy formation. Her research interests include political institutions, leadership and policy development in the EU with special attention to women’s issues and political participation. She has designed and lead an undergraduate seminar to the European Union headquarters and selected member states for three years. In 2008, her seminar was funded by the Max Kade Foundation.
Dr. Lowe currently serves many community non-profit and advisory boards such as: the Pennsylvania Women’s Campaign Fund (a bi-partisan state PAC); the Southwestern Pennsylvania Program for Deliberative Democracy ; the European Union Center of Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh; the Good Government Awards Committee of the League of Women Voters, the Governance Committee of A+ Schools. Dr. Lowe was appointed by the Governor of Ohio to serve on the Board of Trustees for both Ohio State and Miami Universities and has an extensive record in university governance activities. Dr. Lowe received a Pittsburgh National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Volunteer Award for her community leadership.
In 2009, she was named one of the 40 Under 40 top young professionals by Pittsburgh Magazine and PUMP.
Stress in Adolescence presented by Deborah Ciocco
Deborah Ciocco is the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Project Coordinator and a Westmoreland County Juvenile Probation Officer II. Deborah has over twenty-eight years experience with the Westmoreland County Juvenile Probation Department. During her tenure she has experienced positions in school based probation, aftercare, the intake department, within the detention setting as a detention intake officer and very close relationships with Mental Health Providers and Westmoreland Intermediate Unit #7. Deb has been certified as a trainer in many arenas, a few of these being the FBI, Municipal Police Officers Training Academy in Pennsylvania, and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Project through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. As part of the PTSD Project she also has been certified in facilitation of the PTSD Residential Treatment Curriculum. In addition to presenting at numerous professional conferences throughout Pennsylvania Deb has presented Nationwide on many training areas; most recently she has been a trainer for the National Institute of Corrections, speaking on the PTSD Project and Working with Sexual Offenders. She also had been appointed to serve as a Regional Field Representative for the Northeast Region of NIC. Deb’s involvement with the PTSD Project has given her the high honor of being presented with the award for “Juvenile Probation Officer of the Year” by the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission in 2004. The PTSD Project also was awarded “Program of the Year” by the Commission in 2004. In 2007, she was honored by the Pennsylvania Association on Probation and Parole as the “Juvenile Probation Professional of the Year”. In 2009, she was honored by Mental Health America as an award winner in the area of Recovery, for the PTSD Project. Deborah is a graduate of Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, and holds a Master’s Degree in Criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
SESSION III
Daddy's Girls: Effective Interventions for Girls Living with Fatherlessness presented by Ingrid Edwards
Ingrid Edwards is the Program Director for Gwen’s Girls, Inc. Gwen’s Girls is a non-Profit Organization that works with at risk girls in Allegheny County. Ingrid holds a Bachelor's degree in Education and African American studies from Antioch College and a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh. Additionally Ingrid s a licensed clinical therapist and holds a Home & School Visitor Certification in addition to a Certificate in Executive Management from the University of Michigan . Finally Ingrid is a graduate of Pittsburgh Leadership Development , Inc.
Title IX: Key Components of Girls' Economic Empowerment presented by Susan Frietsche
Susan Frietsche is a senior staff attorney in the Western Pennsylvania office of the Women's Law Project. Since joining the Law Project staff in 1992, she has litigated, lobbied, and organized on behalf of low-income women, domestic violence survivors, reproductive health care providers and their patients, teenage women needing confidential abortions, custodial parents owed child support, lesbian and gay parents, incarcerated women, and pregnant women excluded from substance abuse treatment. Since 2006, she has been counsel for a class of female students at Slippery Rock University who successfully challenged Title IX violations at their school. In addition to her work at the Women’s Law Project, Ms. Frietsche is an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law where she teaches a course called “Reproduction, Sexuality and the Law.” She also taught a seminar on sex discrimination at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Ms. Frietsche is the co-author of “Preserving the Core of Roe: Reflections on Planned Parenthood v. Casey,” published in the Yale Journal of Law & Feminism. She is a graduate of Temple Law School and Bryn Mawr College.
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The first annual Girls Coalition Conference in 2009 was a great success. To learn more about the 2009 conference, the following information is available for you to view:
- 2009 Conference schedule
- 2009 national and local speaker bios, including Peggy Orenstein, columnist and author, and Leslie Bonci, Director of Sports Medicine Nutrition at UPMC
- 2009 conference flyer
- 2009 conference article in the Post-Gazette!