October 2021 | What Girls Need

Drawing on the research and ideas shared in What Girls Need: How to Raise Bold, Courageous, and Resilient Women, Dr. Marisa Porges, alumna and Head of The Baldwin School, will lead Beyond the Book participants in a discussion about what girls need most to thrive now and for the future—and how we can build those superpowers from an early age and at any stage of school or life.

This series is designed to offer participants insight into the latest research about the future workforce and the gender norms that still influence our students personally and professionally. Porges will pair this perspective with practical lessons learned from her career leading in girls’ schools, the White House, the military, and more.

Weekly discussions will address topics like:

  • What skills will today’s girls need most in the future workforce?
  • How can we help nurture those skills in girls, from a young age and at any stage of school?
  • What ways work best to strengthen girls’ voices and skills of persuasion?
  • Is being competitive good or bad for girls?
  • How can we nurture empathy and adaptability in our students?
  • Are there differences in how we develop these skills for girls versus boys?
  • How can we apply these ideas to ourselves, at any age?

These topics and more will be covered in sessions that are informal, engaging, and fun. There will be ample opportunity for discussion and questions. Participants will come away with strategies to use in and out of class and in both professional and personal contexts.

Registration

This series of Beyond the Book with Dr. Marisa Porges is comprised of four sessions from 4:00-5:15 p.m. EDT (UTC-4) / 1:00-2:15 p.m. PDT on the following dates:

  • Thursday, October 7, 2021
  • Thursday, October 14, 2021
  • Thursday, October 21, 2021
  • Thursday, October 28, 2021

REGISTER TODAY!

About Dr. Marisa Porges

Dr. Marisa Porges is known for her work on leadership, education, and national security. She is currently the eighth head of The Baldwin School, a 130-year-old all-girls school outside of Philadelphia known renowned for academic excellence and for preparing girls to be leaders and changemakers. She is an alumna of Baldwin and personally understands the power of its approach to educating girls: it provided the foundation for her own military service and work on national security and foreign affairs.

Prior to joining Baldwin, Dr. Porges was a leading counterterrorism and national security expert. Most recently, she served in the Obama White House as a senior policy advisor and White House Fellow at the National Economic Council, where she oversaw the development of domestic cybersecurity and consumer protection policies. She also has served as a research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and at the Council on Foreign Relations, where her research focused on counterterrorism. In these roles, she traveled alone throughout the Middle East and Afghanistan to conduct research, interview former members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, meet with Syrian rebel fighters in hiding, and serve as an embedded civilian advisor at NATO military headquarters in Afghanistan. She also worked as a counterterrorism policy advisor in the U.S. Department of Treasury and as a foreign affairs advisor in the U.S. Department of Defense. In all these roles, she stood out as one of a few—if not the only—women present, at any given time.

Dr. Porges started her career on active duty in the U.S. Navy, flying jets off carriers as a naval flight officer on EA-6B Prowlers. Ten years after the Navy first allowed women to fly jets into combat, she pursued her dream of being launched off an aircraft carrier while serving her country. She earned a B.A. in geophysics from Harvard, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a PhD in war studies from King’s College London. Her awards include the National Committee on American Foreign Policy 21st Century Leader Award and the NATO Medal for service in Afghanistan. Dr. Porges lives outside of Philadelphia, with her family.

Praise for What Girls Need

“Practical, persuasive advice for raising confident, dynamic girls prepared to tackle any challenge.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“An insightful guidebook for parents, teachers, and all young women.”

—Booklist

“A powerful book about how we can raise girls to become bold, ambitious women. The ideas are timely, and the stories are relatable—Marisa Porges has lived them herself.”

—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Give and Take, and host of the chart-topping TED podcast WorkLife

“Porges is the ideal candidate to pen a book on how to raise courageous and resilient women in a challenging society. Highly recommended.”

—Library Journal

“Empowering and insightful.”

—Angela Duckworth, world-renowned psychologist and New York Times bestselling author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance