Malala Fund

I think we sometimes forget: girls could not always go to school. And shockingly, in some parts of the world: they still can’t. It’s unbelievable and yet true. Last month we featured the BRING BACK OUR GIRLS campaign. Girls abducted by the Boko Haram - a terrorist group that bluntly espouses that education for girls is a sin. Kidnapping those young girls from their institution of learning. It was a sheer act of terror; of destroying the power and potential of the girl. 

A stunning example of this struggle is in the story of Malala. We here at LOG have featured her organization in the past. She is the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner in history. She fought and continues to fight for education of girls around the world, even after being shot in the head for standing up to the Taliban in her native Pakistan. We need to remember, even in the US, women were not allowed in most universities not that long ago. We must celebrate how far we have come while we continue to be tethered to those in parts of the world who are still fighting for this basic right. Education is empowerment. It enables women and girls to maximize their potential. It is a classic form of oppression to deny women that right and that access. The struggle for education is not yet over. This month we feature Malala Fund, take some time to learn of her initiatives, the countries that still have a long way to go before every girl is afforded the right to attend school and pursue her dreams. We also feature a woman we love: Mary Schmidt Campbell, a titan in education and the current president of Spelman College. Our focus on Spelman this month, a historically black college for women - known for its excellence and astounding alumni, from Marian Wright Edelman to Stacey Abrams, Spelman is an example of an institution that has focused on nurturing the power and potential of women who have made a real impact on the world we live in. 

We are in a transitional moment as the world fights to emerge from a devastating pandemic. Statistics show women are dropping out of school at an alarming rate in response to the stress of this time. We see from the report featured this month how evidence shows the necessity of educated girls and women for all societies. Right now is a moment to pay close attention to women and girls education. It is still in danger, and even more so due to the upheaval of recent times. We know we are better off in a world where our girls are given all and every opportunity to contribute on every level. Let’s make sure they are getting their fair shot.

Malala Fund

With more than 130 million girls out of school today, we’re breaking down barriers that hold girls back.

Malala Fund believes that real change for girls’ education happens at the local level.

Through the Education Champion Network, we support education advocates and activists who are challenging the policies and practices that prevent girls from going to school in their communities. We invest in their work, support their professional development and connect them with each other to develop national, regional and global networks.

By leveraging the collective power of our Education Champions, Malala Fund is creating broader change and making it easier for all girls to learn.

MALALA'S STORY

Learn how Malala began her fight for girls — from an education activist in Pakistan to the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate — and how she continues her campaign through Malala Fund.

Inspired by Malala and Ziauddin Yousafzai’s roots as local activists in Pakistan, we established the Malala Fund Education Champion Network to identify, invest in and scale the work of promising local advocates and educators.

Over the course of a three-year grant, Education Champions implement ambitious and targeted projects and participate in advocacy campaigns to change local and national policies that hinder girls’ education access. 

Malala Fund supports Education Champions in Afghanistan, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

 Spelman College

"We live at a time when the world looks to women for leadership, wisdom, intelligence and strength.  Women in the 21st century are expected to step forward with consequential voices and exceptional skills to lead consequential lives. Women are expected to play a major role in building the future for our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our country and the world. Who better to build that future than the women of Spelman College?"

- President Mary Schmidt Campbell

On August 1, 2015, Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell began her tenure as the 10^th president of Spelman College. A leading liberal arts college for women of African descent located in Atlanta, Georgia, Spelman has long enjoyed a reputation as the nation’s leading producer of Black women scientists

Prior to arriving in Atlanta, Dr. Campbell was a major force in the cultural life of New York City. Her career in New York, which included various challenging roles, began at the Studio Museum in Harlem where she served for 10 years. Her role there began at a time when the city was on the verge of bankruptcy and Harlem was in steep decline. However, under her leadership, the museum was transformed from a rented loft to the country’s first accredited Black Fine Arts Museum. Dr. Campbell also established herself as a stalwart supporter who championed the need for professional development opportunities for women and people of color in the arts. 

When she left the Studio Museum of Harlem in 1987, the organization was recognized as a linchpin in the economic revitalization of the 125th street corridor and a major center for the study of the visual arts of the Black Atlantic.

New York’s late Mayor Edward I. Koch invited Dr. Campbell to serve as the city’s cultural affairs commissioner in 1987. In this role, she led the Department of Cultural Affairs which oversees the operations and capital development of the city’s major cultural institutions. As a commissioner, she gained a reputation as an indefatigable advocate for large and small arts organizations throughout all five boroughs.

Dr. Campbell returned to the private sector to become dean of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in the fall of 1991. In her more than two decades as dean, the Tisch School gained a reputation for producing artistic trailblazers in theater, film and interactive media. Tisch students, faculty and alumni have won virtually every major award in the arts, including the Oscar, Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, Grammy, Emmy, Peabody, Golden Globe, Guggenheim Fellowship and more. As dean, Dr. Campbell diversified both the student body and the faculty fourfold, and she incubated several new arts and technology divisions within the school and the university. Among the new academic programs she developed the NYU Game Center, The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, The Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program, and a joint MBA/MFA Graduate Film and Business program. 

Additionally, she doubled the size of the school’s Interactive Telecommunication Program and founded and chaired Tisch's Department of Art and Public Policy, which examined the intersection of art, politics and public policy as it impacts individual artists and the institutions that support them in a democratic culture.

In September 2009, former President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Campbell as the vice chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, a non-partisan advisory committee to the President of the United States on cultural matters. As vice chair, Dr. Campbell took an active role in reaffirming the arts as one of the ingredients essential to effective public school education.  

She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was elected to the Unity Technologies Board in September 2020. She served as a member of the Alfred P. Sloan Board from 2008-2020, and she currently sits on the boards of the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, as well as on the Advisory Boards of the Bonner Foundation and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.

About Spelman College

The Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary was established on April 11, 1881 in the basement of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, by two teachers from the Oread Institute of Worcester, Massachusetts: Harriet E. Giles and Sophia B. Packard. Giles and Packard had met while Giles was a student, and Packard the preceptress, of the New Salem Academy in New Salem, Massachusetts, and fostered a lifelong friendship there. The two of them traveled to Atlanta specifically to found a school for black freedwomen, and found support from Frank Quarles, the pastor of Friendship Baptist Church.

Giles and Packard began the school with 11 African-American women and $100 given to them by the First Baptist Church in Medford, Massachusetts., and a promise of further support from the Women's American Baptist Home Missionary Society (WABHMS), a group with which they were both affiliated in Boston. Although their first students were mostly illiterate, they envisioned their school to be a liberal arts institution – the first circular of the college stated that they planned to offer "algebra, physiology, essays, Latin, rhetoric, geometry, political economy, mental philosophy (psychology), chemistry, botany, Constitution of the United States, astronomy, zoology, geology, moral philosophy, and evidences of Christianity". Over time, they attracted more students; by the time the first term ended, they had enrolled 80 students in the seminary. The WABHMS made a down payment on a nine-acre site in Atlanta relatively close to the church they began in, which originally had five buildings left from a Union Civil War encampment, to support classroom and residence hall needs.

In 1882 the two women returned to Massachusetts to bid for more money and were introduced to wealthy Northern Baptist businessman John D. Rockefeller at a church conference in Ohio. Rockefeller was impressed by Packard's vision. In April 1884, Rockefeller visited the school. By this time, the seminary had 600 students and 16 faculty members. It was surviving on generous donations by the black community in Atlanta, the efforts of volunteer teachers, and gifts of supplies; many Atlanta black churches, philanthropists, and black community groups raised and donated money to settle the debt on the property that had been acquired. Rockefeller was so impressed that he settled the debt on the property. Rockefeller's wife, Laura Spelman Rockefeller; her sister, Lucy Spelman; and their parents, Harvey Buel and Lucy Henry Spelman, were also supportive of the school. The Spelmans were longtime activists in the abolitionist movement. In 1884 the name of the school was changed to the Spelman Seminary in honor of Laura Spelman and her parents. Rockefeller also donated the funds for what is currently the oldest building on campus, Rockefeller Hall, which was constructed in 1886.

Packard was appointed as Spelman's first president in 1888, after the charter for the seminary was granted. Packard died in 1891, and Giles assumed the presidency until her death in 1909.

Today our student body comprises more than 2,100 students from 43 states and 10 foreign countries. Spelman empowers women to engage the many cultures of the world and inspires a commitment to positive social change through service. We are dedicated to academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and the intellectual, creative, ethical and leadership development of our students.

Spelman is proud of its 76 percent graduation rate (average over six years), one of the best in the nation, but our support doesn’t stop once you step on stage to take your diploma. Our global alumnae network is strong, providing connections and helping hands to graduates as they begin on their path of global engagement.

Spelman College Mission Statement
Spelman College, a historically Black college and a global leader in the education of women of African descent, is dedicated to academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and the intellectual, creative, ethical, and leadership development of its students. Through diverse learning modalities, Spelman empowers the whole person to engage the many cultures of the world and inspires a commitment to positive social change.

Spelman College Announces Fundraising Campaign

Spelman College has announced the public phase of its $250 million fundraising campaign, Spelman’s largest comprehensive campaign.

The campaign, Spelman Ascends, will go toward financial aid, faculty professorships, technology infrastructure, a Center for Innovation & the Arts, new academic programs and entrepreneurship, according to Spelman officials.

Spelman has already raised more than $240 million, 96% of the campaign goal, in approximately three and a half years. The campaign will not end until 2024.

The historically Black women’s liberal arts college has also received gifts from several organizations, including Bank of America, the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Morgan Stanley & Company, Ford Motor Company, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation, the Coca-Cola Foundation, the WISH Foundation, the Ernst & Young Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

The campaign has supported multiple new programs, such as the Atlanta University Center for Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective, the Center for Black Entrepreneurship, the Institute for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, Spelman’s participation in the AUC Data Science Initiative and an employment and continued professional development program for Spelman graduates.

Before you start: Think broadly about what you can do with a PhD

Most PhD programs focus on preparing students for a limited set of professions, such as professor, academic researcher, or clinician. But getting a PhD can easily take half a decade or more, in which time the job market for any of these professions can change dramatically. As Camela advised, “You should think about what the job market is looking like in your field. There can be a lot of uncertainties in the academic job market. When I entered my program, it was quite promising, but that changed by my second or third year.” 

Before you commit the time, effort, and (possibly) loans a PhD requires, it’s important to think about what you can and want to do with the degree. You may want to think broadly about the professional possibilities, beyond academia, that open up with a PhD. In research alone, opportunities for PhDs extend well beyond academia to the consulting, nonprofit, government, and industry worlds. 

“When I was getting my degree in clinical psychology,” Alisha added, “we were trained as therapists. I was seeing clients along the way as part of my training, to inform my diagnostic and treatment-focused research. But at the time, and I hope it’s changed now, my faculty were incredibly disappointed if any of us went on to become a practicing clinician who didn’t also conduct research in a traditional academic setting. I’m hoping there’s more flexibility these days, but they struggled with the concept of educating people who would not be cookie-cutter versions of themselves.” 

During the program: Staying motivated

Completing a PhD program is the ultimate example of a “marathon, not a sprint.” Almost every program has well-known milestones (e.g., comprehensive exams, writing and defending your proposal, writing and defending your completed dissertation). But in between these milestones there are all the quotidian days of coursework, research, and writing. 

And then, when you’re a Black woman in a PhD program, there are also those days that try your nerves: unfair standards or neglect from professors, microaggressions from peers, or just the weariness of feeling like you’re under scrutiny all the time. Sometimes it can be tough to keep going throughout this — to stay motivated not just to finish, but to continue doing your best work.

Maintaining a support network
The panelists agreed that maintaining a broad, diverse support network is vital to staying motivated during the PhD program. Alisha advised looking beyond your immediate management structure. “You can branch out for help beyond your manager or advisor,” she said. “Sometimes, unfortunately, there’s a hierarchy-based needs bubble. The thinking is, ‘There’s me and my manager. I’m only going to get resources and help from this person.’ But … it’s impossible for just one person to have access to all the knowledge and resources that will benefit you and your career journey. They might not always know the best way to support you. It’s okay to put yourself out there to to get help from other people.”

“Know the people to lean on when you want to get to the next step in your career,” Alisha continued. “Know the people to lean on when you need to escape. And know the people to lean on who can hold you accountable for self-care. And remember, these may not be the same sets of people.”

Don’t let yourself be minimized

“I’ve been the only one who looked like me in a lot of different spaces that I entered,” Camela added. “Not only as a Black woman, but as a Black-biracial, Middle Eastern woman. But it was really in grad school that I started to find myself in situations that I felt that more than ever…. I think that different fields may have a certain vision of what an academic looks like, and that may make sense based on how people try to make sense of the world. But there were times when me being me didn’t fit that mold. And sometimes it could just be something like me having a more bubbly personality and that being misread as maybe not being as serious or successful. And then surprising people when I got a fellowship, and then got another one, and then one more. Staying connected to, and checking in with, my support systems throughout my doctoral journey helped me not lose sight of who I am or let self-doubt creep in. You should think about strategies you can do to set yourself up for success so that if you aren’t fitting into that mold, other people’s responses to that aren’t throwing you off.”

Getting through the PhD program, and doing it well, is one of my biggest achievements. Overall I managed, sometimes by muddling through. But it would have been great to have had more guidance from other people who know what it’s like as a Black woman in academia. The wisdom Dominiqua, Camela, and Alisha shared can serve as a great guide for anyone navigating the process of getting — or using — a PhD. But it’s especially useful for those of us who are undertaking the journey as a “first in my family” or “one of only a few in the room.”

UNICEF/UN0284179/LeMoyne

Investing in girls’ education transforms communities, countries and the entire world. Girls who receive an education are less likely to marry young and more likely to lead healthy, productive lives. They earn higher incomes, participate in the decisions that most affect them, and build better futures for themselves and their families.

Girls’ education strengthens economies and reduces inequality. It contributes to more stable, resilient societies that give all individuals – including boys and men – the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

But education for girls is about more than access to school. It’s also about girls feeling safe in classrooms and supported in the subjects and careers they choose to pursue – including those in which they are often under-represented.

Gender-equitable education systems empower girls and boys and promote the development of life skills – like self-management, communication, negotiation and critical thinking – that young people need to succeed. They close skills gaps that perpetuate pay gaps, and build prosperity for entire countries.

Gender-equitable education systems can contribute to reductions in school-related gender-based violence and harmful practices, including child marriage and female genital mutilation.

UNICEF/UN0211138/Noorani

An education free of negative gender norms has direct benefits for boys, too. In many countries, norms around masculinity can fuel disengagement from school, child labour, gang violence and recruitment into armed groups. The need or desire to earn an income also causes boys to drop out of secondary school, as many of them believe the curriculum is not relevant to work opportunities.

Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

While much of the economy is beginning to bounce back, young people — particularly young women — are living a different reality.

A recent report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, using the Current Population Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which has smaller sample sizes but produces faster snapshots of data, found that the rates of disconnected young people jumped sharply from 2019 to 2020 among Black, Latina and Native American women.

Though the rates during that period jumped for young men, too, it is noteworthy that before the pandemic the rate of disconnection among young women was dropping faster than for men. In 2015, it was 16 percent for young women compared with 14.8 percent of men. By 2019, women had somewhat closed that gap — 13.5 percent of women were disconnected compared with 12.9 percent of men. Then in 2020, the rate for both men and women shot up to 17 percent.

The number of disconnected youth over all had been steadily declining, to 4.3 million people in 2018 from a peak of 6 million in 2008, according to Measure of America, a project by the Social Science Research Council, a nonprofit that published its latest report on disconnection last summer.

The unemployment rate for young women is now down to 9 percent — lower than the rate for young men, which is at 12 percent, but still higher than the overall U.S. unemployment rate of 6 percent. But that doesn’t mean young women are necessarily faring much better now than they were earlier in the pandemic.

Because many young women have stopped looking for work, they’re not counted in unemployment numbers. Roughly 18 percent of the 1.9 million women who have left the work force completely since last February — or about 360,000 — were 16 to 24, according to an analysis of seasonally unadjusted numbers by the National Women’s Law Center.

A year into the pandemic, there are signs that the American economy is stirring back to life, with a falling unemployment rate and a growing number of people back at work. Even mothers — who left their jobs in droves in the last year in large part because of increased caregiving duties — are slowly re-entering the work force.

But young Americans — particularly women 16 to 24 — are living an altogether different reality, with higher rates of unemployment than older adults, and many thousands, possibly even millions, postponing their education, which can delay their entry into the work force.

Researchers at Measure of America, who kept in touch with their grass roots partners across the country during the pandemic, heard similar stories — young women who were unable to complete a class or an assignment because of family obligations, said Rebecca Gluskin, deputy director and chief statistician at Measure of America.

Young women are also much more likely than young men to be single parents, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research study noted, putting them in the stressful position during the pandemic of choosing between bringing in a paycheck or caring for their children.

Stand With Breonna

Saturday. March 13th, 2021 marked one year since police killed Breonna Taylor during a botched raid. Her family and millions of others continue their demand for justice. 

Breonna was asleep at home when a rogue task-force of the Louisville police broke down her door in the middle of the night and murdered her. They were attempting an illegal drug raid in the wrong neighborhood for a suspect that they'd already arrested earlier that day.

The police officers have yet to be arrested or charged. Breonna's family saw no progress in their fight for justice, so they reached out to our team at the Action PAC. We need all hands on deck!!!

Add your name: We’re calling on the Louisville Metro Police Department to terminate the police involved, and for a special prosecutor to be appointed to bring forward charges against the officers and oversee all parts of this case. We’re demanding that the Louisville Metro Council pass new rules banning the use of no-knock raids like the one used to break into Breonna’s home.

Since the launch of this petition, Commonwealth Attorney Tom Wine has recused himself from the investigation into the LMPD conduct that night, the FBI is now investigating the killing of Breonna Taylor, the LMPD Police Chief, Steve Conrad, announced his retirement, and all charges have been dropped against Breonna’s boyfriend, Kenny Walker, but our work is not done.