Global Seminar Series
Connecting girls to learn & unite with each other to understand their roles in our global community.
Launched in May 2020, the Global Seminar Series aims to provide an opportunity for high school girls globally to connect, learn, and collaborate as they address relevant pressing global issues. The Global Seminar Series (GSS) prepares students to become informed and empowered to take action by exploring one global issue through an interdisciplinary lens, interacting with experts in various professions, and participating in collaborative group projects.
To date, the GSS has engaged:
Join us for Global Seminar Series #12
Women on the Front Lines:
Work and Life in Conflict Zones
February 22 and March 1, 2025
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. ET on Zoom
Cost: FREE
Registration for this event is now closed.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to choose a career in peacemaking, journalism, humanitarian aid, development or medicine while working internationally?
“Despite their incredible leadership, women are underrepresented in global discourse. For example, 95% of media coverage of conflicts since 2013 overlooks women, their roles, and their experiences. Less than 4 in 10,000 (0.04%) of those media mentions talk about women leaders.”
We invite you to join us on an exciting journey to learn about the remarkable contributions and essential work of women on the front lines in conflict zones. Through meaningful dialogues, we will delve into the challenges, triumphs, and pivotal roles played by female doctors, journalists, and humanitarian workers from local front line communities and around the world. This is an opportunity to engage with and learn from a diverse group of speakers while inspiring each other to be a generation that thinks holistically and acts globally.
You will have the opportunity to connect and unite with other high school girls from around the world, learn about what is important to them and what is happening in their communities as well as become inspired to further develop your own toolkit as a global citizen. We will dive into the following guiding questions across three interactive sessions:
- What does it mean to be a global citizen?
- What draws women to work on the front lines of conflict zones?
- What do they uniquely bring to the work and what are their experiences on the front lines?
- Does gender impact their experiences and what they accomplish?
- What changes are happening in the field, both positive and negative?
- What can all of us learn from the experiences of women on the front lines?
Keynote Speaker
Lee Beckwith
Lee Beckwith is passionate about using computation as a tool for thinking through environmental justice issues. They have extensive experience in applied computation research ranging from developing disability-friendly pedestrian routing algorithms to utilizing machine learning techniques in climate modeling. Lee currently teaches in the Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship department as well as the Humanities Department at Miss Porter's School while simultaneously working towards their M.S.Ed. through the University of Pennsylvania. They earned their bachelor's degrees in computer science and environmental analysis from Scripps College.
Featured Panelists
Information on panelists coming soon!
Guest Speakers
Rania Ali
Rania Ali is a Syrian filmmaker, public speaker, writer, and human rights, climate change, and mental health advocate. Her passion is to create spaces for thoughtful and provoking storytelling. Her journey with filmmaking began at the age of 17 in her war-torn hometown of Raqqa, Syria where she worked on documenting human rights violations committed by the Al Assad regime and the various fighting groups. She made her first award-winning documentary with The Guardian and did her first TEDTalk in 2017. Her area of expertise includes media, leading projects with NGOs, working with governments advocating for human rights, peacebuilding and mediation, and doing public speaking. She is also finishing her studies of politics while consulting and pursuing a dream of building bridges amongst people wherever she lands.
Dr. Sarah Aly
DO, MSc Public Health Candidate at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Current Global and International Emergency Medicine physician fellow at Yale University
Dr. Sarah Aly is a second year Global and International Emergency Medicine physician fellow at Yale University. She is also an MSc Public Health candidate at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she was able to help develop the trauma model for the recent Gaza Projections project that was published in February of this year. Since then, she has been examining the rise in Israeli settler and occupation force violence in the West Bank and how it correlates to land theft over the last 10 years, as well as attacks on healthcare in both Gaza and the West Bank since October 7, 2023.
As a Global and International Emergency Medicine fellow at Yale, she has also worked on several projects across the globe, with a special focus on occupied territories, or countries in transition post-occupation. Such projects include adapting palliative care tools in Puerto Rico, teaching emergency medicine residents in Armenia and conducting a needs assessment for the EMS system in Armenia.
Pippa Tubman Armerding '86
Pippa Tubman Armerding is a lawyer and business professional with 20 years’ experience operating across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas in multi-cultural, global environments and providing sophisticated strategic and legal advice to multinational corporations and academic institutions. Ms. Tubman Armerding has significant experience in developing targeted solutions, implementing business strategies, conducting in-depth research and writing business case studies. She is passionate about Africa and contributing to the development of the continent and making a difference in the lives of its people. She is currently the Executive Director of the Harvard Business School (HBS) Africa Research Center, an Independent Director of Godrej Consumer Products Limited, a member of the Advisory Board of the African Legal Support Facility and a Director of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Ms. Tubman Armerding is an alumna of Miss Porter’s School and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor degree in international law from New York University School of Law. She is a member of the Bar of the State of New York.
Josselyn Navas
Josselyn Navas is an analyst in the Global Markets division of Goldman Sachs. She is responsible for providing trading execution services to large institutional clients. Josselyn is a first-generation college student and graduated magma cum laude with a major in economics and a minor in data science from the University of Chicago. Josselyn is originally from Ecuador but grew up in Queens, NY. During her free time, she enjoys going on runs, writing for her personal finance blog, and dancing salsa.
Addie Gundry '05
Pluie founder and CEO, Addie spent most of her career in the kitchen. She studied with Christian Etienne in a Michelin starred restaurant and honed her skills in kitchens in California and New York. She appeared on The Food Network, wrote for Martha Stewart Living, and designed food and beverage products at a Chicago innovation agency. Addie is the author of several cookbooks, making elegant recipes easy and approachable for any cook. Three years ago, she had a son, and after that, a daughter. As a mom, Addie quickly realized how horrific public changing tables are so she put down her knives and left the kitchen! She founded Pluie and with the help of a talented team Addie set out to change the table.
Renée C. Triay '86
Glam2Go founder, Renée C. Triay started her career in sales and business development for the television and entertainment industry at Univision Networks in Miami, FL (1991-1996). She worked for Oppenheimer Ltd in Bermuda as Director of client services for an emerging markets fund (1997-1999) and In 2000 moved back to Miami. Since 2004 Renée has lived in Mexico City focusing on new technologies and growth opportunities within the Mexican and Latin America for US companies (Vonage, One Command). She graduated with a BS in Communication from Boston University in 1991 and from Miss Porter’s School in 1986.
Join us for Global Seminar Series #11
Empowered Voices: Girls Shaping Democracy and Community
November 2 and November 9, 2024
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. ET on Zoom
Cost: FREE
What is democracy? Is democracy on the decline globally? Why is it important that girls and women become active and engaged citizens in their countries? What impact will the U.S. election have globally?
As of 1 October 2024, there are 29 countries where 30 women serve as Heads of State and/or Government. At the current rate, gender equality in the highest positions of power will not be reached for another 130 years.
Young people are growing up at a time when the lines between reality and perception are blurred, warped, and manipulated. We are navigating a world, in person and virtually, that is increasingly polarized and unwilling to address the pressing problems of our society. It is easy to understand how we can feel disillusioned when looking at the current political climate across the globe, but it is critical that we remain optimistic about their ability to impact the future.
The current socio-political landscape demands that young people have the skills needed to meaningfully participate in their communities and governing systems. We must be able to engage in civil discourse, be media literate, and thoughtfully navigate and understand our civic roles and opportunities. We must leverage the current political moment globally as an example through which we learn these necessary skills, and make clear that politics is every day, not simply on voting day.
In this virtual seminar series, you will:
- Connect with high school girls from around the world.
- Become better informed about the tenets of democracy as well as some of the challenges of democracy globally.
- Learn about some alternative forms of government.
- Understand how the U.S. electoral process works.
- Explore the issues important to girls and women voters.
- Unpack the results of the U.S. election and the potential impact it will have globally.
Keynote Speaker
Andrea Hailey '99
Andrea Hailey is the CEO of Vote.org, the largest non-profit, non-partisan voting registration and GOTV technology platform in America. Andrea has nineteen years of experience in get out the vote operations and campaigns.
After graduating from Miss Porter’s School and The George Washington University, Andrea launched her career on Capitol Hill in the office of Representative Patrick Kennedy. Over the past two decades, her career has expanded to include fundraising and campaigning for presidential and congressional candidates, historic landmarks, and ballot initiatives.
Andrea has been a consistent and passionate investor of time, energy, and resources in expanding America’s voter base. Prior to joining Vote.org, she served as the founder of Civic Engagement Fund, an incubator for grassroots non-profit organizations focused on voter empowerment and engagement. Today, Andrea is a recognized expert on civic engagement, and a staunch defender and promoter of democracy. She sits on the board of NARAL and Bend The Arc, serves on the Leadership Council of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and is a member of the Society of Fellows for the Aspen Institute.
Featured Panelists
Information on panelists coming soon!
Guest Speakers
Glynda C. Carr
As president, CEO, and co-founder of Higher Heights for America and Higher Heights Leadership Fund, Glynda C. Carr is at the center of the national movement to grow Black women’s political power from the voting booth to elected office. She is the daughter of immigrants who instilled the values of civic engagement from a very young age — values that she has brought to her work as the former executive director of Education Voters of New York, chief of staff to New York State Senator Kevin Parker (Brooklyn), campaign manager for two of Parker’s successful reelection campaigns, and now at Higher Heights.
In 2011, Glynda and Kimberly Peeler-Allen co-founded Higher Heights to address the clear dearth of organizing resources for politically active Black women and the lack of support for those who were considering seeking elected office. Through her leadership, Higher Heights has developed several innovative programs and efforts that have quickly solidified its reputation as the go-to resource and home for Black women's political leadership. Her work to date has helped to elect 11 Black women to the U.S. Congress--including one to the Senate--and increase the number of Black women holding statewide executive office--including helping to elect the first Black woman to serve as New York State attorney general.
Kate Bennett MPS'98
Kate Bennett '98, a Miss Porter’s School graduate and a former CNN reporter, is the only journalist in the White House press corps to cover solely First Lady Melania Trump, the East Wing and the Trump family. Bennett has been a lifestyle journalist for almost two decades, chronicling the intersection of people, pop culture, fashion, and politics. She was also the author of a weekly CNN Politics column about the social and cultural climate in Washington D.C. Bennett appeared on CNN as the East Wing expert and reporter, and her digital stories for CNN's website have earned hundreds of thousands of readers.
Bennett is a native of Washington D.C. and graduate of St. John’s College, where she majored in classics and philosophy, and her work has appeared in Politico, Washingtonian, and Capitol File magazine, where she was editor in chief. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
Our past Global Seminar Series:
- The Pandemic: A Call to Action (Spring 2020)
- The State of Democracy and the Global Impact of the U.S. Presidential Election (Fall 2020)
- Social Media 360: The Unsung Hero or the Insidious Villain? (Winter 2021)
- Sharing our Global Stories: Making the Invisible Visible (Spring 2021)
- Global Political Polarization – The Hidden Pandemic (Fall, 2021)
- The Climate Crisis: From Acknowledgement to Activism (Spring, 2022)
- Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights: Advancing the Global Conversation Among Youth (Fall 2022)
- The Economics of Being Female: The Wealth Gap, The Wage Gap, and What To Do About It (Spring 2023)
- Empowering Tomorrow’s Innovators: Navigating the AI Frontier – (Title generated by ChatGPT) (Fall 2023)
- Sharing Global Experiences: Shifting Perspectives and Elevating Personal Power (Spring 2024)
- Empowered Voices: Girls Shaping Democracy and Community (Fall 2024)
Register for the Global Seminar Series
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