On behalf of the Center for American Women and Politics, I am proud to unveil the web site for our newest initiative, Teach a Girl to Lead™ (TAG). TAG is our national campaign to make women’s public leadership visible to the next generation. We want to re-envision what public leaders look like, inspire girls and young women to follow in their footsteps, and make women’s political leadership visible to America’s youth. When young people – both girls AND boys – learn from an early age that public leaders can look like their mothers, aunts and grandmothers, they grow up with a broader and more inclusionary view of leaders and leadership, and that’s good for all of us.
The TAG site is full of useful resources to help all of us teach the young people in our lives and communities about women’s leadership and civic engagement. You can find lesson plans on women in politics. There are also games and activities to help young people better understand the workings of their government and the roles that women play in the process, and exercises to enhance the capacity of girls and young women for public leadership. You can point young people toward our women and politics book list or encourage them to watch a film! Our Programs & Places Resource Map features girls’ leadership programs, including those with a focus public leadership, as well as coed civic leadership programs; historic sites where women leaders made history; and field trip ideas to show girls and boys about women’s political history. But don’t just take our word for it – you can invite a woman public leader to speak to your class or youth program and let her tell you herself the difference women make in public office. The Leaders Lineup can get you started with a searchable map of women leaders, along with sample invite letters and discussion questions. (Are you a woman public official? Please consider adding your name to the cadre of women leaders who have taken this pledge!)
One of the best and most heartening things about this project has been finding many excellent organizations and programs around the country already teaching children about civic and girls’ leadership and about women’s history and contributions to public life. We have an incredible group of allied organizations dedicated to this work. Many of their programs are on the Programs & Places map as mentioned above, and we look forward to featuring their programs and work as a part of this campaign. Sign up for our email newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get our regular recommendations, as well as updates and highlights from the TAG site and from our allied organization’s work.
None of this would be possible without the support of our sponsors – a special thanks to Connie Williams and the Hess Foundation, and the Embrey Family Foundation for their major program support, and to all our early donors for believing in this mission.
Thanks for joining us on this campaign. Send us suggestions and follow us for ongoing updates!