ICRW to Honor Melanne Verveer at Nov. 8 Luncheon

The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) on Nov. 8 will honor Melanne Verveer, the first United States ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, with its Champions for Change Leadership Award during a luncheon and panel discussion at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Now the executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Verveer has been instrumental in ensuring that women’s participation and rights are fully integrated into U.S. foreign policy. She also co-founded Vital Voices, a nongovernmental organization that invests in emerging women leaders, and served as the assistant to the president and chief of staff to the first lady during the Clinton administration.

ICRW’s leadership award recognizes influential individuals who are committed to empowering women and girls around the world; past recipients include former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who received the award in 2012.

“Melanne Verveer has been a tremendous and long-standing champion for women and girls around the globe,” ICRW President Sarah Degnan Kambou said. “We are thrilled to honor her numerous efforts to support and accelerate opportunities for women worldwide.”

The event also will include a panel discussion, titled “From the Classroom to the Workplace,” that will focus on innovative strategies for advancing women’s economic opportunities – strategies that ideally must start during girls’ adolescent years and continue through their adulthood.

“Research shows us that investing in adolescent girls today will yield high returns lasting well into adulthood,” Kambou said. “But it can’t stop there; it’s critical that programs and policies support women as they enter and continue to be a part of the workforce. Our panelists will unpack why this is so important.”

Panelists will include Dotti Hatcher, executive director of Gap Inc.’s Personal Advancement Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.) Global Initiatives, Julie T. Katzman, executive vice president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Ann Warner, senior gender and youth specialist at ICRW, and Renee Wittemyer, director of social impact in Intel Corporation’s corporate responsibility office. The discussion will be moderated by Lois Romano, senior political writer for Politico.

The discussion is expected to highlight new research from ICRW, including a global evaluation of Gap’s. P.A.C.E. program, which targets female garment factory workers, and ICRW’s assessment of two school-based programs operated by Intel, called Intel Learn and Intel Teach (forthcoming).

All proceeds from the event will support ICRW’s Turning Point Campaign: Changing the course for adolescent girls worldwide.