Board President’s Reflections – November 2022
by Danielle Heard
“It’s not about the absence of boys, it’s about the presence of girls.”
With this one statement, Vee—our impressive student tour guide at The Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tennessee—captured the sentiment we so often use to describe the power of girls-centered spaces that recognize, celebrate, and amplify the voices and impact of our students. As ICGS Global Executive Director Megan Murphy often reminds us, girls-centered spaces are not simply focused on education with girls, they are about education for girls.
This work is active, informed, and intentional. As I reflect on gathering with colleagues and peers from around the world at the ICGS Governing Board meeting and the Educating Girls Symposium at Harpeth Hall in October, I continue to be struck by the ways in which ICGS celebrates our roots as we create an even stronger future together. From our humble beginnings in borrowed space with volunteered time, this Coalition has always been willing to tackle challenging topics in challenging times, knowing that through Mission, Meaning, and Making Connections, we grow the young leaders who will shape our collective future.
There is no better time than now for this important work.
At the Symposium, we felt keenly the impact of centering girls, as we kicked off our time together with our headliner Evie Bentley, who was backed by her father (and country music superstar) Dierks Bentley, along with band members Ben Helson and Dan Hochhalter. There was not a dry eye in the crowd as Evie sang a beautiful rendition of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now, focusing us all on the power of girls’ voices and the importance of perspective as we learn and grow. Music has a unique ability to help us listen, empathize, and find connection, and Nashville is a city brimming with dreams, stories, talent, and hope. I can think of no better place to convene with a commitment to active listening as a key to learning and growth.
In fact, active listening was a common thread in many of our conversations throughout the Symposium. From keynote presenter Samar Ali’s focus on listening as the central pivot point in shifting mindsets on the path to peace, to highlights from Columbus School for Girls’ A Seat at the Table project—an outstanding celebration of Shirley Chisholm’s quote, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair”—to R.E.A.L. Discussion offering intentional tools for teaching and learning the art and power of constructive inquiry and meaningful dialogue, the through-lines are clear: Our students will be prepared to listen and lead.
I can think of no better frameworks for building the essential skills we will need to navigate critical topics in turbulent times.
And ICGS is the right network to lead the way. In a program organized by the exceptional ICGS team, participants in the Symposium grappled with some of the most significant issues of our day, including challenges to learning, the importance of meaningful engagement, the complexities of ethical decision making, the notable interdependence of our communities, the essential foundations of well-being to fully actualize learning and growth, and more. ICGS creates a space that embraces the direct—if sometimes unexpected—connections between humility and expertise, inquiry and wisdom, autonomy and interdependence, listening and leading, all with a focus on our students and an unwavering commitment to our school missions.
When we center girls, amplify their voices, and celebrate their presence, the possibilities are endless.
Danielle Heard is the President of the ICGS Governing Board of Directors and Head of Nashoba Brooks School