Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Princeton, is looking for proposals for its third annual leadership conference, “#LEADLIKEAGIRL: A Conference for Risk-Takers and Changemakers.”

Presented by The National Center for Girls’ Leadership at Stuart, the free 2019 conference will take place April 5 for all girls in grades K-4 and April 6 for grades 5-12, and is designed to showcase and inspire girls’ creativity and confidence in STEM, entrepreneurism and leadership.

“We get people coming from all over the country to attend – Boston, California, Virginia – and even other countries,” said Hilary Morris, Stuart’s content manager.

Proposals are sought from young women in high school, educators and experts for the Business Fair, STEM talks, workshops, presentations and panel discussions. All proposals must be submitted by Dec. 22. Cash prizes totaling $10,000 will be awarded to high school submissions in the Business Fair and STEM talks categories.

Applicants can submit a proposal for more than one project or category. However, high school students may not compete in both the Business Fair and the STEM talks. Morris explained that those whose proposals are selected can attend the conference as speakers on a panel or for the STEM or Business Fair. Selections will likely be made in January.

Each proposal requires a separate form and must be 300 words in length. Examples of sessions from the 2018 conference include “Using Virtual Reality to Empathize with Vision Disabilities,” “Make Your Own Cleanser & Lotion with product experts from Johnson & Johnson”; “Dream Big – Start Your Own Non-Profit”; “Girls Can Do Anything! – Overcoming Gender and Unconscious Bias”; and “Women in Business – Paths to Success Panel.”

Keynote speakers for #LEADLIKEAGIRL 2019 will be Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, and Dr. Aprille Ericsson, an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Center. The speakers are selected by committee over the previous summer months; keynotes usually involve storytelling and firsthand perspectives of women working in traditionally male-dominated industries.

While not a faith-based conference, the event incorporates the Sacred Heart goals and criteria of the school, Morris noted – including critical thinking, social awareness, responsible citizenship and community development.

“The event is open to all girls in any school or religion, and their parents; we do have dads who come as well,” she said. “They are very enthusiastic ‘tweeters,’ and so inspired for their own daughters and what they are hearing [at the conference].”

Stuart was honored in July with the international CASE Circle of Excellence Award for #LEADLIKEAGIRL. A panel of experts selected Stuart’s entry in the Single Day Event category from among 71 entries. Other winners in this category included Clemson University, University of Miami, Duke University, and University of Southern California.

The National Center for Girls’ Leadership works to support and empower the next generation of female leaders. Through research, professional programming, and development of innovative curriculum, Stuart serves as a resource to parents, students and educators throughout the world.

Visit www.stuartschool.org/academics/leadlikeagirl-conference/leadlikeagirl-live for proposal guidelines and more information about #LEADLIKEAGIRL