By Girls for Girls
Lead like a Girl Leadership Symposium

Article by Natalie Nielsen
Published April 6, 2021 - St. Mary’s Academy 5 on Fifth Newsletter

For the third year in a row, St. Mary’s is offering Lead like a Girl (LLG): A Leadership Symposium, created by girls for girls. LLG is full fun for 5th and 6th grade girls, with opportunities to connect with peers from across the city, and participate in curated leadership workshops led by St. Mary's Academy high school students. This virtual girl-centered after-school program is free to all and will be held on three different dates, May 5, 15 and June 2. Each session includes two workshop bands and a panel conversation. Topics include goal setting, self-care, female empowerment, vision board making, and more.

Student director and current SMA senior Madeline Wachsmuth has participated as a student leader with Lead like a Girl from the very beginning. Though the student director job focuses on back-end operations, the opportunity to support “student leaders in fostering a wonderful and fulfilling experience with 5th and 6th graders,” is her favorite aspect of the role. As a student director, Madeline and other SMA students lead the entire program, from implementing new program goals, constructing workshops, and guiding SMA student leaders throughout the process. This type of mentorship among SMA students instills a symbiotic relationship throughout all levels of the program; from students to students and students to participants.

Sophomore Lindsay Foxwell joined the LLG student leadership team after hosting a workshop at the 2020 LLG symposium. For her, “Lead like a Girl empowers girls to learn in a welcoming environment and be 100% themselves.” Lindsay loves the opportunity to teach about friendships and relationships, a topic she wished she knew more about in the 5th grade. With this, Lindsay and Madeline both agree that LLG is an incredible opportunity not only for program participants, but also student leaders to grow in leadership.

By girls and for girls, Lead like a Girl highlights the core of the St. Mary’s Academy mission. That SMA believes in girls; in the artist, the thinker, the dancer, the coder, the athlete, the servant, the leader — especially the leader. SMA believes in girls who become what they always planned and what they never imagined.

To sign-up your 5th or 6th grader today, or learn more about Lead like a Girl, visit (link).