August, 2009
Contact: Kathleen Durham, Executive Director
Hudson Valley Residents Graduate from Eleanor Roosevelt Center’s Girls’ Leadership Workshop at Hyde Park
The Hudson Valley was well represented at the internationally recognized Girls’ Leadership Workshop held during the month of July at the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York. The 60 workshop participants, entering their sophomore and junior years in high school, were from 16 U.S. States, Korea, France, England, China and Jordan. Almost one third of this year’s participants were from the Hudson River Valley.
The following girls representing numerous area public and private high schools were among the recent graduates from the 11th annual Girls’ Leadership Workshops held at the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill in July. Graduates from Dutchess County included: Poughkeepsie residents Julia Cohen, Sophia Wallach, Lindsay Byrnes, Margaret Anderson, Lauren Sussin, and Avannah Torok; Amirah Yasin, Lagrangeville; Emma Steele, Staatsburg; Olivia Beltrani, Pleasant Valley and Fatima Sarassoro, Beacon. Other Hudson Valley attendees were Orange County residents Kate Fisher, Highland Mills, and Aneisha Williams, Port Jervis; Ulster County residents Jaimie Rogner, Highland and Amy Courtney, Woodstock; Westchester residents Marisol Dahl, White Plains; Samantha Coughlin, Rye; Charlotte Bilski, Chappaqua, and Rebecca de Leon, Yonkers.
Specific workshops during the nine-day GLW program focus on human rights and social justice, activism, women’s history, public speaking, team building, community service and include trips to the United Nations and other attractions in New York City and the Hudson Valley.
Because Mrs. Roosevelt believed that we cannot have human rights for one unless we have human rights for all, the young women selected for the program are economically, racially, culturally, and ethnically diverse. To be selected each girl must show a potential for leadership and a passion for social justice. Each participant makes a commitment to return to her home community and carry out a social justice project.
The Girls Leadership Workshop conducts two nine-day sessions each summer limited to 30 high school girls per session. Participants are chosen from throughout the U.S. and abroad through a competitive process and are chosen because of their potential for personal growth, activism and leadership. The 2010 GLW sessions are scheduled for July 1-10 and July 24-August 1. More information on the Girls Leadership Workshop program is available on the Eleanor Roosevelt Center website www.ervk.org or by calling the Center at 845 229-5302.
2009 Session I Graduation
