Wakefield Girls High School announces empowHER conference

The event, which will deliver empowering messages to girls aged 10, comes to the school on the 23rd June 2023.

Wakefield Girls High School (WGHS) has announced the launch of its new #empowHER conference, to be held on the 23rd June. The event is for girls aged 10 and will deliver a powerful empowering message from a range of speakers from the world of business.

empowHER is chaired by WGHS old girl and head of marketing for Amazon and Prime Video Lizz Wainwright, and the speakers are:

Sophie Browning from Nestle, whose workshop, Magic Mirror, focuses on how girls can recognise their strengths and utilise them in later life.

Faith Ridler, who works for Sky News, will host a workshop centring on how girls can reimagine their stories and make change happen.

Becky Baker, founder of dog friendly app K9 Nation, is running a workshop on the importance of risk and how stepping out of your comfort zone takes strength and bravery.

Rebecca Ward is a sustainability practitioner at Radley Yedder. She works to advise and support multinational organisations to implement and develop their sustainability strategy and communications. Her workshop is designed as a mini COP Climate Conference to help girls to develop their skills in collaboration and influential communication.

Kanika Kapur, a medical advisor with pharmaceutical business Sanofi, will talk about how dreaming big is essential but dreams themselves will only get you so far and hard work will allow you to fulfil those dreams.

The empowHER conference is curated by Wakefield Girls High School (WGHS). The school is committed to empowering girls and helping them to reach their full potential. To achieve this, the school follows the Wakefield Way, a shared ethos that defines everything the school does, academically, socially and ethically.

Head Heidi-Jayne Boyes said: “Girls need opportunities to be courageous and resilient, to grow in confidence and experience new things. How these elements work together in their boldest way, with academic learning, is what matters most and the key to success for girls, now and for the future.

“This is why we wanted to create the empowHER event to give girls the opportunity to learn new skills and to listen to successful women across the world of business. We want every child to be intellectually and socially confident, work-place and life-ready with a global outlook and concern for others. We wanted to develop new ways to introduce learning with girls’ needs and preferences at the fore and the empowHER conference allows us to achieve that goal.”