Princeton Circle Officers Travel to Vital Voices Event in Washington, DC

On Tuesday, April 12th, Circle of Women officers Alexandra Douwes, Jennifer Keeley and Janelle Morris attended the 10th annual Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards at The John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The event honors and celebrates women's leadership around the world by recognizing women who are social entrepreneurs, political representatives, businesswomen, human rights defenders and civil society advocates. Vital Voices Founder and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened the event to honor Fatema Akbari, an entrepreneur from Afghanistan who provides job training for women; Liron Peleg-Hadomi and Noha Khatieb two peace activists from Israel -- one Arab, one Jewish; Sunitha Krishnan, a rescuer of trafficked women and girls in India; Kah Walla, a presidential candidate from Cameroon and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the democracy movement in Burma. Speakers included U.S. foreign policy. Melanne Verveer, the co-founder of Vital Voices, who is leading as our Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues in addition to Tina Brown, Sally Field, Cokie Roberts, Michele Norris, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Wolf Blitzer, and Diane von Furstenberg.

The event was incredible and hearing each woman speak about her story was inspiring. These are truly remarkable women who have faced obstacles that are hard to even imagine but their optimism and determination reminds us how important our mission is to empower and educate women and girls around the world. By investing in women and girls, we are supporting the movement to create a more peaceful and prosperous world. 

For more information about the event and video of the phenominal speakers, please visit:

http://www.vitalvoices.org/global-initiatives/global-leadership-awards

THREAD Film Screening and Panel Discussion

On April 7th, 2011, Princeton Circle of Women, along with BPeace and the Liechtenstein Institute of Self Determination, presented a screening of the documentary THREAD.  This movie follows the journey of five Afghan businesswomen as they travel to the United States with the non-profit organization BPeace (Business Council for Peace). In the United States, the women learn practical business skills that they can take back to Afghanistan to help their businesses flourish. The film captures the heartbreaking lows and the triumphant highs of these women as they strive to help their country, which has been devastated by war and where women have very few rights. After the movie, we had a panel discussion with the CEO and co-founder of BPeace Toni Maloney, the director of THREAD Laurie Chock, and the producer of the movie Dana Kuznetzkoff. These amazing women were gracious enough to answer all of our questions and stayed for a dessert reception following the discussion. We were so honored to have them on Princeton's campus and appreciate all the support we received from the Liechtenstein Institute of Self Determination and BPeace.

Waynflete Chapter holds a Dinner at a Local Restaurant

On March 15th, the Waynflete group held a fundraiser dinner at Stonyfield Cafe. Stonyfield donated 10% of total sales to us. We made a poster that showed the schools and girl as well as giving information about how important giving women and girls education is. We ate with our families and friends, as well as watching lots of the outside community come in for a bite to eat. All together it was a great event!

Circle of Women featured on RTR on Campus: The Go-to Guide for Fashionable College Girls

The Eleganza Fashion Show, co-sponsored by Circle of Women and start-up Rent the Runway, was featured on the RTR On Campus website. Check out the post, which includes details and photos that serve as a testament to the night's success in both raising awareness and raising funds!

http://rtroncampus.com/2011/04/06/eleganza-fashion-show-preview-harvard

Circle of Women in the Harvard Crimson

On April 7, 2011 Meredith C. Baker '13, featured Circle of Women in her biweekly editorial column. Thanks Meredith for helping to spread the word about Circle! 

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/4/7/girls-school-education-circle/

Harvard Circle of Women and Rent the Runway to cohost "A Night Out with Eleganza"

On Thursday, March 31st, the Harvard Circle of Women chapter and startup Rent the Runway will be cohosting "A Night Out with Eleganza," a preview fashion show and date auction. There will also be a silent auction featuring a Milly Dress, a Joan Hornig Necklace, and Rent the Runway Credit and Stylist Service. 

Circle of Women is excited to partner with both Rent the Runway and Eleganza in fundraising for an amazing cause!


Rent the Runway Promo Code: Harvard15, good for $15 off orders of $75

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon at Harvard: March 23, 2011

On Wednesday, March 23rd at 7pm, author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon will be at the Harvard Co-Op Bookstore for a discussion about her book, The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe. 

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon worked as a journalist for nearly 10 years covering presidential politics and as a producer with the ABC News Political Unit and This Week with George Stephanopoulos. In 2004, she left ABC News to earn her MBA at Harvard, where she began writing about women entrepreneurs in war zones including Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Rwanda. Her reporting on entrepreneurs in these countries has been published by the New York Times, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, CNN.com, and the Daily Beast, as well as The World Bank and Harvard Business School.

The Dressmaker is PEOPLE Magazine's “Pick of the Week” with a four-star review.

“This book is guaranteed to move you—and to show you a side of Afghanistan few ever see.” – Angelina Jolie

Learn more about Ms. Lemmon's work and The Dressmaker of Khair Khana at http://www.gaylelemmon.com/. 

WNY Girls School Coalition: Project Educate hosts fashion show

On Saturday, March 19, the WNY Girls' School Coalition hosted their annual fashion show and fundraiser at Harry's Harbour Place Grille in Buffalo, NY. The WNY Girls' Schools Coalition began in 2002 as an alliance of girls from Nardin Academy, Buffalo Seminary, Holy Angels Academy and Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. Over the past nine years, they have been able to raise over $44,000. This annual fashion show is the Coalition's largest fundraiser, and is their largest event in the chapter's history. This year's event showcased both American and Middle Eastern fashions. Area designers showcased their work, with the help of models from participating high schools. Ali Eagen, Anatomy designer and proprietor, shared twenty of her own looks. Local community-driven line "bi-cuz" by Park School junior Dylan Weiss shared fifteen outfits, along with work by Buffalo Seminary senior Riley Featherston. Additionally, ten traditional Islamic outfits were shared by a local family. All proceeds from the fashion in show will go towards labs and bathrooms at Project Keiri Reki, a Circle of Women School in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. Stay tuned for pictures and updates from the event! 


Congratulations to the girls of the WNY Girls' School Coalition for putting on such an inspiring event! 

For more information about the Project Educate Fashion Show, please visit: 
http://thegoodneighborhood.com/2011/03/15/project-educate-fashion-show-sends-proceeds-to-pakistan/
http://www.buffalorising.com/2011/03/fashion-show-to-benefit-girls-education-in-the-middle-east.html

Circle of Women's venture 'Skywater' takes 1st place in Princeton Green Business Plan Competition

On Saturday, February 26th, Circle of Women's sustainability venture 'Skywater' was awarded 1st place in the Princeton Green Business Plan Competition and recieved $7,600 in start-up funds. The Skywater team includes Alexandra Douwes '11, Jennifer Keeley '11, Kait Mauritz '11, Janelle Morris '11, and Genevieve Ryan '11.

In addition to Circle of Women's mission to build exceptional schools for girls, Skywater aims to make Project Ullapara in Bangladesh self–sustainable and revenue-generating by implementing a rainwater collection and distribution program. By designing our school with a building plan suitable for rainwater collection, we will be able to harvest rainwater, store it, and sell it to local businesses, banks, and service centers that are in need of a constant water supply. The profits made by selling this water will be put directly back into the school with the goal of achieving sustainability in three years. This venture is a part of the evolving model of Circle of Women, which encourages innovation and efforts towards sustainability and would address a very crucial concern of water quality in Bangladesh.

We are very honored to be awarded 1st place in this competition and are excited to start developing Skywater as Project Ullapara progresses.

The Circle of Women Chapter Blog

Circle of Women created this blog as a space for our chapters and volunteers to share their Circle experiences through regular updates and photos. We hope that it will showcase our chapters' routine activities, fundraising and awareness events, and Circle of Women's impact both at home and abroad.