Letter from the President of the Board of Trustees

Letter from the President of the Board of Trustees

7/2/19—As I reflect on our 2019 Conference hosted so graciously by Westridge School in Pasadena, CA, I can’t help but be proud of the work our girls’ schools do to nurture leaders today and for tomorrow.

What better message from our conference theme than to encourage girls and young women to dream, to dare, and to do, particularly at a time when change is constant and so many exciting and new opportunities lie ahead. As educators of girls and young women, we know our girls can—and should be—leading this change. Why? Because our girls have the power to be thoughtful problem solvers, creative thinkers, and empathetic change-agents.

With exceptional panels, a breadth of breakout sessions, thought-provoking INSPIRE! and SNAP! gatherings, and hands-on workshops, we hope participants at Dream, Dare, Do: Girls as Makers, Inventors, Engineers, and Entrepreneurs left our conference with new ideas, great connections, and excitement.

To take an idea beyond a dream and risk trying it out requires that our girls have not just the ability, but the confidence, to be resilient and nimble, regardless of the discipline. Our roles as educators is to facilitate the development of these important traits in our girls through encouragement and role-modeling.

As a Coalition, our purpose is to be the leading advocate for girls’ schools, connecting and collaborating globally with individuals, schools, and organizations dedicated to educating and empowering girls. In doing so, we, too, dream, dare, and do—and thus, are role models for what we wish for our girls.

Last month, I completed my term as President of the Coalition’s Board of Trustees. I have spent a great deal of time over the last week reflecting on the superb work that Megan Murphy, our Executive Director, and her team have accomplished by dreaming, daring, and doing. Just some of this work over the last three years includes enhanced and streamlined communications and a superb new website, remarkable and ongoing diverse professional development opportunities, cutting edge research and an exciting new Global Action Research Collaborative on Girls’ Education, and membership growth nationally and internationally of independent, charter, public, and religiously affiliated schools dedicated to the education of girls.

To all of you working hard to educate girls and young women—thank you! Make no mistake that your work is enabling our girls to dream, to dare, and to do.


Martha Perry, President of the Coalition’s Board of Trustees and Principal of St. Clement’s School