Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Princeton, recently announced the launch of its National Center for Girls’ Leadership. Courtney Portlock, the new Upper School head, will serve as the NCGLS director.
NCGLS is a global expansion of the school’s Center for Girls’ Leadership, established in 2015 to support and empower the next generation of female leaders.The decision to broaden the scope of NCGLS came on the heels of #LEADLIKEAGIRL, a free conference for girls K-12, held in April. The #LEADLIKEAGIRL conference evolved out of the school’s efforts to help bridge the gender gap in STEM and entrepreneurship. More than 900 students, parents and mentors from across the country, and educators from as far as Greece, participated in the conference.
“We are always asking, ‘what do girls need to lead today and into the future?’” said Dr. Patty L. Fagin, head of school at Stuart. “Women still remain significantly underrepresented in many high growth areas including the STEM fields, entrepreneurship, finance, and especially positions of leadership.”
NCGLS works to support and empower the next generation of female leaders worldwide by providing leadership training, mentors and opportunities through research, professional programming, and the development of innovative curriculum.
In announcing Portluck as the NCGLS director, Dr. Fagin remarked on her passion for and experience with diversity, equity and inclusion.
Portlock said, “Through the expansion of the National Center for Girls’ Leadership at Stuart, we will create a blueprint for other schools, educators and organizations to extend the impact of the NCGLS mission to students, regardless of where they live or go to school.”
Portluck is currently working to form a consortium with girls’ schools around the country under the umbrella of the NCGLS, with plans to develop training for educators to teach leadership curriculum, make leadership courses available online, connect students with mentors, and hold the #LEADLIKEAGIRL conference in different locations across the United States.
Portlock has served the past three years as assistant head of Stuart’s Upper School, where she helped establish the Leadership Endorsement Program, developed curriculum and taught leadership courses.