Ms President US, a nonprofit organization that aims to educate and prepare young girls for civic leadership positions, had its fourth and midpoint session this past December.
Organizers say that a core belief of the Ms President US program is that young women need strong female role models to look up to inspire them to pursue their goals and continue raising their hands and sharing their opinions, even in the face of setbacks. If they can see it, they can be it!
The December session started strong with the members meeting Wilton High School teen leader to inspire the younger girls. The participants asked many insightful questions, learning what activism means and how they could pursue their own initiatives in the future.
Following this discussion, it was time for girls to brainstorm issues they were passionate about that could be the basis of their campaign platforms. Hearing the girls share their opinions on topics ranging from protecting the environment to helping endangered wildlife and far more was moving for all those witnessing their passion and optimism.
As the culmination of the Ms President US program, the girls can run for Ms President US of their town or be part of a campaign. This provides the girls with an opportunity to showcase all the skills they’ve learned throughout the program including public speaking, activism, collaboration, and leadership. Part of their campaign includes having a platform for which they advocate and further an initiative. The most recent Ms President US of Wilton, Emily Smith, planned and executed a Get Moving Festival as part of her efforts to improve mental health among youth, especially after the pandemic. This festival was a great success with vendors and organizations setting up booths and many community members coming together to support this important initiative.
At the December Ms President US session, the girls made creative posters and collages outlining their campaign platforms. As the group gets closer to the election on Sunday, April 7 at 12 p.m. at the Ridgefield Playhouse, the girls will continue their work to support the important initiatives they come up with, forming the basis of their platforms. Ms President US organizers have invited members of the community to attend election day to support these girls and the work they’ve done.
At past sessions, girls have engaged with other women leaders and explored the meaning of “girl power,” learning how to activate it in themselves. As part of those experiences, they had the opportunity to meet with female members of the Boards of Selectmen from both Wilton and Westport, learning about what it means to be a town representative and the difficulties these women have faced.
The girls also recently got to meet U.S. Navy Nurse Corps Capt. Mary Durand and ask questions about what it’s like to be a woman in the military. After hearing from Durand, the participants met State Rep. Tracy Marra (R-Darien/Norwalk) and State Sen. Ceci Maher (D-Wilton). They learned about the different paths these women had followed leading to their current positions as well as any setbacks they faced along the way. Marra and Maher both told them to keep trying even in the face of setbacks, no matter how many tries it takes to succeed in reaching their goals.
In future sessions, the girls look forward to meeting federal leaders, improving their public speaking skills, and running for Ms President US of their own towns.
Ms President US is a girls’ civic empowerment program motivating and preparing girls to aim for the highest civic leadership positions and is a non-partisan, non-profit, community-based 501(c)(3) organization. For more information about the Ms President US program, participant/mentorship opportunities and enrollment applications, visit the Ms President US website or reach out via email.