Vision:
GLC envisions a world where gender parity is achieved at all levels, and across all sectors, in order for all humans to live a fulfilled and purposeful life
Mission:
To equip tomorrow’s leaders with the skills, mindsets, network, and experiences necessary to work on challenges that matter.
The GLC Story – Our Why
Girls Leadership Collaborative (GLC) was developed to provide girls the experiences necessary to uncover their strengths, explore their interests, examine how and why they interact with others in group settings, and create purpose while working to positively impact their communities, a cause, or the world. GLC provides the necessary practice engaging in safe and developmentally appropriate risk taking as participants develop as leaders; girls who can and do take initiative. We can only learn to lead WHILE leading in real-time with reflective practices alongside supportive facilitators. This requires an informed, yet fearless, experiential approach where failure is seen as an inherent part of the most powerful learning and is exactly what increases capacity to lead. Collaboratively discussing the intent, observable phenomena, and resulting impact of our actions, choices, and mindsets allows us to not position failure as wrong; rather collectively uncover the why behind the outcome, and thus create new opportunities for achieving and aligning intent and impact. This is most effective when facilitators share their internal dialogue and elicit the contributions of the entire team. Why did this work? Why didn’t this work? How might we have better generated the impact we had intended?
While engaging in collaborative challenges and our intentional reflective practices, girls explore such phenomena as group formation theory in action, design-thinking methodologies, self-expression, communication, outcome-oriented conflict resolution and so much more. Our unique programming and content ranges from neurobiology & brain research, to application of Gallup’s Strengths-finder tool and Mindfulness training, all made accessible through our developmentally supportive facilitation techniques using our unique GLC curriculum. Developing service learning projects or community initiatives as an outcome provides a meaningful context in which to examine and apply our human experiences in group while working toward a greater purpose.
Central to GLC is the question: How can what it is I know, and am able to do, benefit a community, a cause, or the world? Effective collaboration and leadership is dependent upon understanding one’s own behaviors and motivations in group settings. Being able to apply your strengths, as well as leverage and celebrate the strengths of others is a critical competency of leaders. It is particularly important to facilitate this work using real-world context and explicit instruction with young people. By designing opportunities to apply talents, passions and skills to global or community problems, requiring leadership and collaboration, young people can begin to feel agency in their learning and in their lives.
We spend a great deal of time as young people learning how to write effectively, think creatively, solve hypothetical mathematical problems, analyze text, and successfully recall scientific phenomenon, and the like. This is all in an effort to enter “real-life” with a fully polished toolbox of sorts, from which to draw the appropriate information or skill to apply toward a future challenge. What if multiple challenges already exist? What if young people were to be given the opportunity to solve, or make contributions to today’s problems? We see examples of young people making significant contributions to a myriad industries, social enterprises, activist causes, and creative endeavors with increasing frequency. What is critical for young people to contribute effectively to their communities is an ability to understand group dynamics, to enhance collaboration, and to understand the altruistic nature of leadership, and to have the ability to work toward a bigger idea; an unselfish concern for the greater, global community.
The result was the creation of GLC, where research-based social and cognitive development, group formation theory, social hierarchies, and project-based, service learning can help to maximize one’s productivity and success in real-world settings.
Facilitators
Meg Stowe Ed.M. Founder, Executive Director
Meg is a co-founder & executive director of Girls Leadership Collaborative, a leadership development organization that works with youth, teens, adults, parents, and educators. GLC has run programs and consulted in both independent and public schools throughout Rhode Island and beyond. Meg has served youth for 20+ years in a variety of capacities including teacher, youth and service learning leader, dorm parent, academic adviser, athletic coach, counselor, Founder & Executive Director of a social venture, Coach to social venture founders, and is a parent of 2 young women in their 20’s, who helped craft, frame, and facilitate this work. A fierce dedication to the adolescent age group led her to complete a M.Ed. in adolescent education, leadership and integrated curriculum design at Lesley University, and holds a HarvardEdX Verified Certificate for Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles. Meg is currently completing a Harvard Business School Program in Organizational Leadership. She is passionate about leadership development, social entrepreneurship, and helping others to uncover passions and motivation using real-world experiences. Meg develops experiences for students, educators, and founders which answer her favorite question, How can what it is I know, and am able to do, benefit my community, a cause, or the world? Meg is a graduate of the ’14 Gardner Carney Leadership Institute’s Leadership Lab: Teaching Teachers About Teaching Leadership, and was a visiting scholar to their 2016 gcLi Leadership Lab. This experience prepares leaders to facilitate teaching and learning in developmental psychology, elicit self-awareness in groups, teach and utilize adaptive leadership among colleagues and students. Meg was appointed as the founding Director of Innovation at Rocky Hill Country Day School, an independent school in Rhode Island, from 2017-2022, inspiring and engaging students and teachers in the K-12 setting. Embedding entrepreneurs and other social innovators in a formal education setting provides an expansive network of role models for the youth and adults in her work in bringing innovation to organizations, businesses, and communities. She also advises founders on their entrepreneurial journey on macro mission, vision, and strategy, coaching and mentoring at Social Enterprise Greenhouse in Providence, RI, and beyond.
Ianthe Hershberger
Ianthe is the Programs Director for Girls Leadership Collaborative and has been with the organization since it’s first program in 2014. She graduated from the Lincoln School in Providence where her passion for leadership and supporting other women was fostered. Ianthe earned a BA in Economics and minors in Government with a focus in comparative politics and Human Development with a focus in education policy from Connecticut College. After college she worked in Boston, MA as an Education Consultant while also earning an MBA from Clark University.
Ianthe has worked with students of all ages as a classroom teacher, advisor, coach, trainer, tutor, as a parent to two curious and loving girls, and now as the Director of Lower School at Lincoln School. Ianthe also served as the Engagement Committee Chair on the Connecticut College Alumni Board of Directors. She is excited about the opportunity to engage girls in this important work by helping them to understand the power of leadership and the need to develop their voice through fun activities and creative outlets.
Amazing GLC Facilitators and guest practitioners since 2014:
Grace Reed, Allison DeGerlia, Yin Agbontaen, Hannah Thoms, Cathy Cesario, Pearl Farquharson, Kayla Maki-Pittman, Margie Woods, Hannah Chung, Noa Machover, Viirj Kan, Kelly Ramirez, Alison Bologna, Theresa Moore, Claire Wiley, Sophie Stowe, Hannah Stowe, Carolyn Garth, Olivia Antonelli, Hannah Aronow, Elsa Block, Becca Raphaelson, Kelsey McGinnis, Caitlyn Lee, Elizabeth Poku, Morgan Prescod, Ella Rudisill, Wendy Gustavel, Maddie Lee, Emma Berthiaume, Hadley Wheeler, Nix Bates, Charlene Williams, Lily Kerachsky, Claire Harrison, Maniola Odunsi, Amara Humphry, Caroline Rex, Lena Pilipski, Lola Benjamin, Mary Murphy, Sterling Clinton-Spellman,