The Women in Leadership Summit supports Today's Girls Tomorrow's Leaders (TGTL), an initiative of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay (UWMB). At best, growing up is tough. But for girls, there are times in their social, emotional, and physical development when they are especially vulnerable. That's why UWMB launched its TGTL initiative seven years ago. First and foremost, TGTL recognizes that girls need a safe and nurturing environment where they can develop confidence and grow cognitively and socially. Second, they need challenges, opportunities, and support to become the leaders of tomorrow.

Through TGTL programs, girls explore future careers, participate in conflict resolution training, become group leaders to peers and younger girls, build self-esteem and confidence, and develop marketable skills. In addition, United Way's investment in TGTL has put gender-sensitive programming on the map by educating youth workers to the different needs of males and females‹ultimately taking co-educational curricula and programming to the next level.

Through the generous support of donors, the TGTL initiative has raised nearly $6 million since 1996, which has been invested in girl-specific and gender-sensitive programs, reaching more than 187,000 girls. How Linkage Supports TGTL. In addition to contributing a portion of Summit proceeds to TGTL, Linkage invites TGTL youth participants to attend the Summit for a half day to experience a customized development opportunity, meet role models, learn about diverse career prospects, and build confidence and self-esteem. On November 17, TGTL girls will join adult hosts for special programming designed to meet the emotional and skill-development needs of these young women.

Customized Youth Programming.
The girls and their supporters will team up for a special BRAG Connections Session, led by Peggy Klaus. BRAG Connections pairs aspiring teen girls with seasoned female executives during a fun event that teaches networking self-promotion skills. Ms. Klaus teaches girls to learn to talk about themselves and their accomplishments with others; by doing so, she reinforces their feelings of self-worth and provides them with a valuable life skill.