Transcriber: Maricene Crus Reviewer: Mile Živković
Hi.
I know who I am,
I know that I matter,
and I know what matters to me,
and thank you for allowing me to share that with you tonight.
Five years ago, I started on a journey
to build girl schools based on the brain science of movement,
and how it readily boosts cognitive achievement,
and the best practices in gender-based learning.
I was determined and still believe
that if I could convince the general public - you,
that if you have a body,
you are an athlete,
then the rest -
traveling to cities around the country and building schools -
would be a piece of cake.
I came up against three major obstacles.
The first was my own story and history.
The second, the phenomenal animal called public education.
And the third being the current discourse
around whether women can or cannot have it all.
So, first, this is my story.
I am the product
of a successful first generation in American '70s household,
where my mother's advice centered around smiling and looking pretty -
(Laughter)
The second,
my father's advice, and diligent support of my success
was based on doing it the way men did it,
the way he did it,
and, simultaneously, acting like a lady.
This was confusing, but appropriate for the Mary Tyler Moore times.
After a privilege of that bringing, including an Ivy League education
and a division one athletic experience,
I made many a good and bad decision on my way into adulthood.
Trust me, there are some doozies and I have the scars to prove it.
But one week, and about 15 years ago, while I was living overseas
I found myself at a spa weekend with three friends,
three women I deeply admired,
and they are all deeply immersed in feminist activity.
One night, we were sitting at the pool,
and under the stars we did share those scars of our lives.
And like scars do,
theirs had propelled them to proclaim and work diligently
in the feminist arena.
But at that point in my life,
I was not ready to declare myself a feminist.
I'm pretty sure and my biggest fear
was that, if I did,
there would be this big bushel of hair growing under my arms and on my legs.
(Laughter)
But, giving in to peer pressure as we do,
the next morning, even at the age of 30,
I declared, "I am a feminist!", and they cheered.
But, honestly, until now,
I really don't think I knew what that meant to me.
Okay, public education.
As late as 2011, last year in September,
Salon magazine and the Huffington Post
reported on how boring schools continue to be
and its devastating effect on our kids.
In the last few years,
cutting-edge new schools have developed and I submit to you
that the public high school in Naperville, Illinois,
the Namaste school, in Chicago,
and the Girls' Athletic Leadership School, in Denver,
are anything but boring places to be.
These schools are pushing the edge on active pedagogy
and teaching content through movement.
They invite new forms of movement and health curricula
in order to ensure the nourishment, stimulation and engagement
of our students' minds and bodies.
And all three of these schools are showing positive achievement results.
And then, when we are all paying attention as parents,
there's this obsession with high stakes testing,
teaching to the test, rigor upon rigor,
where education reform is narrowly defined and mostly experienced
as ultra-traditional models.
So, where does that leave the rest of us who want a creative, compassionate
education for our children
one where the schools truly know our kids well, from the inside out,
and our kids are taught to know themselves well?
And then in the middle of all this bureaucracy and chaos,
remains the question, "Do gender-based schools -
do girls' schools give their students an edge?"
So, here's the research that grabs me:
UCLA came to the conclusion in their latest social research,
in 2010, that simply put, "Girls' schools teach girls
there is enormous power and potential in being a girl."
(Laughter)
(Applause)
The research also shows that the biggest difference
between girls' school graduates and their co-ed counterpart
is the confidence and aspiration that girls have.
This is exactly what I want for my two daughters.
Now the discourse that's going on in the world -
like many men and women, I have been tangled up inside
by Anne-Marie Slaughter's article in the Atlantic Magazine
entitled "Women Can't Have It All".
And then, to make it more confusing,
a friend told me that nearly every third article on the Atlantic magazine
publishes some angle on the "mommy" word,
"Should I be an executive, should I stay home?"
"Must I be an executive, must I stay home?"
And then two years ago,
Sheryl Sandberg gave this amazing, rousing graduation speech
to the sitting graduates at Barnard College saying to them,
"You must lean into your lives
and own the responsibility of becoming leaders of industry."
And while you can be sure that I deeply appreciate "leaning into our lives",
the tunnel vision of "this is what our girl graduates must be"
didn't make me feel so good either.
And then one year ago,
my colleague Rachel Simmons was at the TEDxWashingtonDC event,
and she shared her research on that today's girl school graduates
absolutely have twenty-first century leadership external resumes,
but their internal resumes,
their sense of self and that they can be who they want to be
and their ability to navigate relationships
is lagging behind.
So, where does this all leave us?
Here is my conclusion I want you to take away with tonight:
we need to stop the bickering about whether women can or cannot have it all,
because the next generation of equal opportunity is here.
It is not about equal opportunity.
It is about "every" opportunity.
Our girls can break barriers in poetry, science, nature, art, rugby and dance.
They can solve hunger, write books,
build buildings, fly into outer space.
They can choose to have children or not have children.
They can stay home and take care of anybody's children.
They can volunteer in organizations, protect the environment,
and teach yoga on the side.
And you know what?
We are allowed to toggle back and forth
between two, three or four of these at any time we want.
It is perfectly American, perfectly feminist,
and I love it.
Isn't this the definition of feminism our foremothers have been fighting for?
The one where our girls know that it is absolutely possible to have it all
and that having it all
is their inherent right as American citizens
to make their own decisions at all times.
But this right must be backed by an education system
that embraces an educational path
to most successfully find their way to fulfilment.
As we've said all night, it's not just good for girls;
it's good for humanity.
After-school programming in summer institutes,
they've taken us really far.
And opting in based on scars of your lives has worked for so many,
and thank goodness for that.
And women's colleges and women's programs
are a terrific resource, but here we are.
In the last decade, it was reported
that 82% of female executives played sports in school.
Combine this with the latest social research that shows
girls' school graduates have higher aspirations and higher confidence.
We can't allow this generation to miss it.
Gender-based schooling may not be the final choice for all,
but it must be taken seriously.
Our schools have adopted a pledge; it goes like this,
"I know who I am, I know that I matter, I know what matters to me."
And we end with the line,
"I know I can make a difference in the world in my own unique way."
Wonder Woman knows it!
Eileen Fisher knows it, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand,
and pop-star Katy Perry knows it.
And surely, our own Missy Franklin knows it.
But now you know it!
So you and I together must take what we now know
and lean into gender-based schooling with our whole bodies, our time,
energy, money, and participation of our daughters.
Let's make sure that the glass ceilings of this generation and the next
come crashing down.
Thank you.
(Applause)