July 22, 2013 | Education, Politics and Leadership

Where Young Women Learn to Lead

Our first-ever academy for the next generation of achievers

Politically active, massively plugged in and determined to change the world, young women in 2013 are making their voices heard everywhere from the Texas legislature to Twitter.

On July 29, 50 members of the Engaged Generation will meet at Barnard College in New York City for the first-ever Next Generation Leadership Academy, sponsored by Women in the World Foundation in partnership with the Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Center at Val-Kill and Vital Voices. Participants will learn how to motivate others and achieve their goals from an array of women who’ve already made it to the top.

Speakers at the day-long event include Chief Joanne Jaffe, the highest ranking woman in the New York City police department; Vanity Fair writer Marie Brenner; Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International; Newsweek/Daily Beast editor-in-chief Tina Brown; and Rachel Sterne Haot, New York City’s Chief Digital Officer.

The young women participating are just as diverse—and already clearly accomplished. Chosen from among 400 applicants, the attendees range in age from 18 to 25 and include innovators, entrepreneurs, and activists from all parts of the globe. One, Harvard student Bonnie Lei, 20, is responsible for discovering a new species of sea slug.

"Meeting other young women with their own visions for a better world will be a major catalyst for my own work and dreams," Lei wrote in her application. "I look forward to being inspired!"

Check the Women in the World Twitter feed for live updates from the Academy. And look for our coverage of the event on WomenintheWorld.org.