Nine Girls from Emma Willard School join Katie Couric at AUDACIA

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Audacia logo designed by Emma Willard students

TROY, NY (09/23/2011)(readMedia)-- Nine girls from Emma Willard School, the nation's oldest non-denominational private school for girls, will travel to New York City September 26-27 to join Katie Couric, journalist and author, and globally-recognized speakers to discuss global inequalities in the education of girls at AUDACIA, a global forum for girls' education. Emma Willard School is the founding sponsor of AUDACIA and its honorary chairs are Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nomaliza Leah Tutu.

"We don't do little ideas here," says Trudy Hall, head of Emma Willard School. "Writ large, the idea is to educate every girl everywhere."

Emma Girls designed the AUDACIA logo, produced this video to raise awareness for the forum and the global issues and were responsible for obtaining the school's status as the first Fair Trade High School in the country.

More than 100 educators, corporate leaders, and education practitioners will attend the invitation-only forum. Guest speakers include:

• Anne van Zyl (Head of Academy, Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls)

• Anika Rahman (President and CEO, Ms. Foundation for Women)

• Abigail Disney (President, Fork Films and Co-President, Daphne Foundation)

• Holly Gordon (Executive Director, 10x10)

• Meera Gandhi (Founder, The Giving Back Foundation)

• Gina Reiss-Wilchins (Director, Girl Up, UN Foundation)

• Carol Jenkins (Emmy award-winning TV producer, Women's Media Center founding president)

• Sara Bowers Posada (Girls' Education Program Manager, Nike Foundation)

• Elizabeth Colton (Founding President of the International Museum of Women)

• Jensine Larsen (Founder, World Pulse)

• Kavita N. Ramdas (Executive Director, Ripples to Waves at Stanford University.)

"Emma Hart Willard challenged the barriers to American girls' education in 1814 when she founded the first school in the United States to provide girls the same educational opportunities as boys," Hall continues. "In the 21st century, an era in which women, as well as men, must be groomed to be well-educated and principled world leaders, AUDACIA is the logical next step in honoring our founder's legacy of bold and progressive initiatives on behalf of girls. AUDACIA enhances what Emma has done since 1814 – empower girls."

Many may know Emma Hart Willard more intimately these days as she has been prominently portrayed in Pulitzer Prize winning author, David McCullough's recent bestseller, The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris. McCullough called Ms. Willard, "A champion for higher education for American women."

"The bold ideas Emma returned from Paris with revolutionized education for girls in this country," says Hall. "It makes sense for us then, on the eve of the school's Bicentennial in 2014, to pay homage to our founder by sponsoring AUDACIA, a forum that aims to educate every girl, everywhere."

About Emma Willard School

As the oldest, non-denominational, private girls' school in the country, Emma Willard School has been empowering girls since 1814. Pioneering educator Emma Hart Willard envisioned a world where girls had the same opportunities as boys and where girls could receive unparalleled educational leadership. Emma will celebrate its Bicentennial in 2014.

About AUDACIA

AUDACIA is a two-day invitational forum, which will take place on September 26 - 27, 2011 in Manhattan. It is designed to be a highly interactive forum offering attendees unique and valuable opportunities for dialog and meetings with potential collaborators. Participants include educators and human development practitioners with proven or promising interventions but who need help improving, sustaining or replicating them. Others are philanthropists, foundation executives and business people who want to invest resources – money, technology, information and volunteers – in programs that reflect best practices. These are programs designed to make a measurably significant and sustainable impact on improving both the access to and the quality of education for girls.