NCS Students Discuss Political Leadership at the U.S. Capitol

As part of the observance of International Day of the Girl on Oct. 11, 30 NCS students took part in a global conversation about encouraging more female participation in politics.

NCS was one of two Washington, D.C., schools that participated in the Girl2Leader event at the U.S. Capitol, hosted by the bipartisan House Democracy Partnership.

Thirty Upper School students attended the morning event, which opened with video remarks from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other women leaders across the U.S. government. A global livestream connected the U.S. group with similar groups in other nations, and Maggie Wang ’19 was chosen in a conference with the Brussels delegation to answer a question about what it would mean to have more women leading the U.S. government.

“More female leaders in the United States would lead to a more authentic democracy and a stronger voice for an important sector of the population,” Wang said. “Having more female leaders would increase the diversity of people in positions of power and would therefore create more rigorous political discussion and lead to more innovative solutions for the challenges that the U.S. faces. Crucially, a more gender-equal political scene would inspire more young women to become leaders and would support a more open and inclusive social, cultural, and professional environment.”

After the livestream, students had the opportunity to put questions to Michelle Bekkering, a senior deputy assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Alexis Covey-Brandt, chief of staff to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). Izimira Aitch, legislative assistant to Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), moderated the panel.

Ellie Bailey ’19 and Arya Balian ’22 were among those chosen to query Bekkering and Covey-Brandt about unique challenges of women leadership and advice they have for future generations. Many students stayed afterward to talk further with the panelists.

The U.S. Capitol event was one of an international series of Oct. 11 discussions facilitated by the Women Political Leaders Global Forum. The Washington gathering was sponsored by the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, USAID, and Running Start.

NCS’s participation in this event follows one of the strategic priorities in the school’s 2018-2023 Strategic Plan: teaching students to lead in a dynamic world. One of the action steps in that priority commits NCS to developing partnerships with outside organizations to expand students’ experiential learning opportunities. Special thanks go to social sciences teacher David Sahr for arranging NCS’s participation in this memorable day and for leading the group trip to Capitol Hill.