Camfed Founder and The United State of Women Summit Panelist Champions Girls' Education

SAN FRANCISCO - June 10, 2016 - PRLog -- Today, the White House announced that Dr. Ann Cotton, Founder and President of the international nonprofit Camfed (Campaign for Female Education) will join an esteemed cast of influential women as a speaker at The United State of Women Summit (http://www.theunitedstateofwomen.org/) hosted by the White House on Tuesday, June 14th. Focused on key gender equality issues, the Summit will examine how to take action and make progress toward equality and wellness.

"We are proud to be a part of such a monumental event," said Ann Cotton. "Equality, education, and the health and wellness of girls and women around the world are at the core of everything Camfed has worked for over the last two and a half decades."

Camfed has been recognized by the OECD for best practice in taking development innovation to scale. Cotton's appearance on the panel is a testament to Camfed's proven track record for establishing programs on the ground in differing rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa that utilize the knowledge, power and resources of existing local structures to bring education to marginalized girls.

Since 1993, Camfed's education programs have benefited nearly four (4) million children in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi. And their powerful alumnae association, CAMA, which empowers young women to step up as leaders of change, is now 55,358 members strong.

At 2:50 p.m. EST, Cotton will join seven other women for a session titled, Education: Learning without Limits: Transcending Barriers to Girls' Education Globally. In an effort to highlight the need and opportunity that supporting girls' education internationally represents, the panel will discuss the issues affecting educational access, and solutions to make a quality education available to all girls around the world.

Cotton's panel will also feature Dr. Rebecca Winthrop, Director, Center for University Education, Brookings Institution; Anna Maria Chavez, Esq., CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA; Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya, Vital Voices Honoree, Kakenya Center for Excellence; Jessica Williams, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer; Christina Lowery, CEO, Girl Rising; Gina Tesla, Director, Corporate Citizenship, IBM; Angelique Kidjo, Singer-songwriter; Charlene Espinoza, Founder/ CEO, Bosh Bosh; Carrie Hessler-Radelet, Director, Peace Corps.

The Summit (on Twitter as #StateOfWomen), convened by the White House Council on Women and Girls is a large-scale effort to rally together advocates of gender equality to highlight achievements, identify challenges, and chart the course for addressing them. Experts, advocates, and grassroots and business leaders in both domestic and international arenas will gather to highlight key issues affecting women and girls including Economic Empowerment, Health & Wellness, Educational Opportunity, Violence Against Women, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Leadership & Civic Engagement. Earlier this week First Lady Michelle Obama officially announced the Summit with this video (https://youtu.be/tFyd0H0tpes).



About Camfed

Camfed supports marginalized girls to go to school, succeed, and lead change.
Camfed is an international non-profit organization tackling poverty and inequality by supporting girls to go to school and succeed, and empowering young women to step up as leaders of change.  Camfed invests in girls and women in the poorest rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, where girls face acute disadvantage, and where their education has transformative potential.  Camfed not only supports girls and young women through school, but also on to new lives as entrepreneurs and community leaders. To complete the "virtuous cycle," and create sustainable change, graduating students become CAMA alumnae, many of whom return to school to train and mentor new generations of students. Since 1993, Camfed's innovative community-led education programs have benefited nearly four (4) million children in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi. In 2014, Camfed was recognized by the OECD for best practice in taking development innovation to scale.

That year, Camfed made an historic commitment to support one million girls in rural Africa through secondary school in just five years - a truly transformational pledge. Millions more children will benefit as a result. For more information visit www.camfed.org.