Notable Girls’ School Alumnae


Girls’ school graduates are exceptional and include ambassadors, U.S. Senators, world-class athletes, journalists, CEOs, GRAMMY Award-winning musicians, and Academy Award-winning actors. Here are just some of the incredible women who attended Coalition member schools:

Academics

Sehba Ali, CEO of KIPP Texas, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Nicole Hurd, President of Lafayette College, Marlborough School (Los Angeles, CA)

Athletics

Tenley Albright, two-time Olympic medalist (silver and gold) and two-time World Champion figure skater, The Winsor School (Boston, MA)

Tracy Caulkins, three-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time World Champion swimmer, Harpeth Hall (Nashville, TN)

Amy Chow, member of gold medal-winning Olympic gymnastic team, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Amanda Cinalli, player in the Women’s Professional Soccer league, Laurel School (Shaker Heights, OH)

Elena Della Donna, WNBA basketball player and two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player (2015, 2019), Ursuline Academy of Wilmington (Wilmington, DE)

Nancy Ditz, Olympic marathon runner and winner of the San Francisco Marathon, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Charlotte Fox, trailblazing alpinist and Everest survivor who was the first American woman to climb three 8,000 meter peaks, St. Catherine’s School (Richmond, VA)

Lauren Gibbs, Olympic silver medalist bobsledder, Westridge School (Pasadena, CA)

Virginia Gilder, former competitive rower and Olympic silver medalist, The Chapin School (New York, NY)

Kate Grace, professional runner and Olympic track and field team member, Marlborough School (Los Angeles, CA)

Margaret Groos, Olympic marathon runner and two-time winner of the Pittsburgh Marathon, Harpeth Hall (Nashville, TN)

Casey Johnson, two-time Paralympic Games participant and bronze medal paralympian swimmer, Cornelia Connelly High School, (Anaheim, CA)

Laurel Korholz, Olympic Rowing, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Olympic Team Coach London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016, Beijing 2018, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Joan Lamb Ullyot, a pioneer of women’s distance running, member of the U.S. team at the first International Women’s Marathon, and author of Women’s Running, Westridge School, (Pasadena, CA)

Carol Lavell, Olympic team bronze medalist in dressage and a two-time US Olympic Committee Female Athlete of the Year, Dana Hall School (Wellesley, MA)

Katie Ledecky, five-time Olympic gold medalist and 15-time World Champion swimmer, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart (Bethesda, MD)

Abi Olajuwon, former WNBA basketball player, Marlborough School (Los Angeles, CA)

Amanda Polk, Olympic team gold medalist in rowing, Oakland Catholic High School (Pittsburgh, PA)

Kylie Sheehan, only female player selected for United State Polo Association’s Team USPA for 2013 and the inaugural US collegiate team, Garrison Forest School (Owing Mills, MD)

Brita Sigourney, two-time Olympian and bronze medal winner in freestyle skiing, Santa Catalina School (Monterey, CA)

Leah Smith, two-time Olympic medalist (gold and bronze) swimmer, Oakland Catholic High School (Pittsburgh, PA)

Tara Vanderveer, Stanford University’s women’s basketball head coach and Olympic gold medalist head coach of the 1995-96 USA Basketball National Team, Buffalo Seminary (Buffalo, NY)

Abby Wambach, two-time Olympic gold medalist, FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, and U.S. Women’s National Team soccer player, Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women (Rochester, NY)

Business/Economics

Tory Burch, founder, Executive Chairman, and Chief Creative Officer of the fashion label Tory Burch LLC, The Agnes Irwin School (Rosemont, PA)

Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Asset Management division, Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart (Lake Forest, IL)

Adena Friedman, Nasdaq CEO and President, Roland Park Country Day (Baltimore, MD)

Jody Gerson, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group, Baldwin School (Bryn Mawr, PA)

Sallie L. Krawcheck, CEO and Co-Founder, Ellevest and former CEO, Smith Barney, Ashley Hall (Charleston, SC)

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) and former Director of the International Monetary Fund, Holton-Arms School (Bethesda, MD)

Marne Levine, COO of Instagram, Laurel School (Shaker Heights, OH)

Kate and Laura Mulleavy, founders of the fashion label Rodarte, Alverno Heights Academy (Sierra Madre, CA)

Susan O’Day, EVP and CIO, Walt Disney Company, Miss Hall’s School (Pittsfield, MA)

Gina Rinehart, Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting, St. Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls (Perth, Western Australia)

Emily White, president of Anthos Capital, former COO of Snapchat, and former director of business operations of Instagram, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Entertainment/Arts

Anne Archer, Academy Award-nominated actress, Marlborough School (Los Angeles, CA)

Tyra Banks, former supermodel and television personality, Immaculate Heart High School (Los Angeles, CA)

Anna Deavere Smith, actress, playwright, and founding director of the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue at New York University, Western High School (Baltimore, MD)

Ava DuVernay, Academy Award-nominated director and screenwriter, Saint Joseph High School (Lakewood, CA)

Jane Fonda, two-time Academy Award-winning actress, recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award, and political activist, Emma Willard School (Troy, NY)

Helen Katharine Forbes, artist and arts educator, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Amy Grant, GRAMMY and Dove Award-winning singer and songwriter, Harpeth Hall (Nashville, TN)

Margaret Hamilton, actress, Hathaway Brown School (Shaker Heights, OH)

Amy Holden Jones, screenwriter, producer, and director, Buffalo Seminary (Buffalo, NY)

Lady Gaga, singer, songwriter, and actress, Convent of the Sacred Heart (New York, NY)

Kristin Layne Tucker, screenwriter for HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, The Hockaday School (Dallas, TX)

Téa Leoni, actress and producer, Brearley School (New York, NY)

Lisa LoebGRAMMY Award-winning singer-songwriter and actress, The Hockaday School (Dallas, TX)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress, comedian, producer, and recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Holton-Arms School (Bethesda, MD)

Gwyneth Paltrow, Academy Award-winning actress, Spence School (New York, NY)

Minnie Pearl, comedian, Harpeth Hall (Nashville, TN)

Grace Slick, singer and songwriter, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Mary Tyler Moore, Academy Award-nominated actress, Immaculate Heart High School (Los Angeles, CA)

Melissa Villaseñor, actress and Saturday Night Live cast member, Ramona Convent Secondary School (Alhambra, CA)

Kerry Washington, Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actress, Spence School (New York, NY)

Sigourney Weaver, Golden Globe Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated actress, Chapin School (New York, NY)

Reese Witherspoon, Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning actress, Harpeth Hall (Nashville, TN)

Journalism/Literature/Playwriting

Mika Brzezinski, journalist and co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Madeira School (McLean, VA)

Annie Dillard, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, The Ellis School (Pittsburgh, PA)

Julia Reed, author and columnist, Madeira School (McLean, VA)

Cokie Roberts, NPR journalist, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart (Bethesda, MD)

Maria Shriver, author, journalist, and former First Lady of California, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart (Bethesda, MD)

Elizabeth Swados, Tony Award nominated writer, composer, musician, and theatre director, Buffalo Seminary (Buffalo, NY)

Meredith Vieira, journalist and talk show host known for The View and TODAY, Lincoln School (Providence, RI)

Nobel Prize Winners

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009, Broadland House Church of England Girls’ Grammar School (Launceston, Tasmania)

Doris Lessing, The Nobel Prize in Literature 2007, Dominican Convent High School (Harare, Zimbabwe) and Girls High School (Harare, Zimbabwe)

Wangari Maathai, The Nobel Peace Prize 2004, Loreto High School Limuru (Limuru, Kenya)

Tu Youyou, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015, Ningbo Yongjiang Girls’ School (Ningbo, China)

Philanthropy/Activism

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, leading figure of the early women’s rights movement, Emma Willard School [formerly Troy Female Seminary] (Troy, NY)

Marian de Forest, founder of Zonta International, Buffalo Seminary (Buffalo, NY)

Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF, Baldwin School (Bryn Mawr, PA)

Melinda Gates, philanthropist, Ursuline Academy of Dallas (Dallas, TX)

Sister Donna Markham, first woman President & CEO of Catholic Charities USA in the organization’s over 100-year history, Regina Dominican (Wilmette, IL)

Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, UN Women advocate, Immaculate Heart High School (Los Angeles, CA)

Julie Packard, ocean conservationist and founding executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, Western High School (Baltimore, MD)

Politics/Government/Public Service

Jenny A. Durkan, 56th Mayor of Seattle and the first woman to lead the city in nearly a century, Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart (Bellevue, WA)

Karla Garcia, Trustee and Board Secretary of the Dallas Independent School District, Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School (Dallas, TX)

Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. House of Representatives-NY and U.S. Senator-NY, Emma Willard School (Troy, NY)

Colleen Hanabusa, U.S. House of Representatives-HI, St. Andrew’s Schools – The Priory (Honolulu, HI)

Marilyn P. Johnson, 8th U.S. Ambassador to Togo, The Woodward School (Quincy, MA)

Marcy Kaptur, U.S. House of Representatives-OH, St. Ursula Academy (Toledo, OH)

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Former U.S. First Lady, Chapin School (New York, NY) and Miss Porter’s School (Farmington, CT)

Mary Landrieu, U.S. Senator-LA, Ursuline Academy (New Orleans, LA)

Martha McSally, U.S. Senator-AZ; U.S. House of Representatives-AZ; and retired Colonel U.S. Air Force, St. Mary Academy—Bay View (Riverside, RI)

Orelia Merchant, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Lisa Monaco, Homeland Security Adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama and Deputy Attorney General for U.S. President Joe Biden, Winsor School (Boston, MA)

Shelley Moore Capito, U.S. Senator-WV, Holton-Arms School (Bethesda, MD)

Penny Pritzker, 38th U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Amata Radewagen, U.S. House of Representatives-American Samoa, Sacred Hearts Academy (Honolulu, HI)

Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake, 49th Mayor of Baltimore from 2010 to 2016, Western High School (Baltimore, MD)

Condoleezza Rice, 66th U.S. Secretary of State, St. Mary’s Academy (Englewood, CO)

Susan Rice, 24th U.S. National Security Advisor and 27th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, National Cathedral School (Washington, DC)

Lucille Roybal-Allard, U.S. House of Representatives-CA, Ramona Convent Secondary School (Alhambra, CA)

Elissa Slotkin, U.S. House of Representatives-MI, Cranbrook Schools (Bloomfield Hills, MI)

Jackie Speier, U.S. House of Representatives-CA, Mercy High School (Burlingame, CA)

Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey, Chapin School (New York, NY)

STEM

Carol Ross Barney, first woman to design a federal building when commissioned as architect for the Oklahoma City Federal Building, Regina Dominican (Wilmette, IL)

Dr. Megan Jones Bell, chief science officer at Headspace, Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)

Dr. Kimberly Maxwell, Mars 2020 Science Operations Team Chief, St. Catherine’s School (Richmond, VA)

Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, first female executive at NASA and NASA’s first Chief Astronomer, Western High School (Baltimore, MD)

Pamela Silver, elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Founding Core Faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Professor of Biochemistry and Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School – Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)