The Foundation for the Education of Young Women (FEYW) is a 501 ( c) (3) organization with the mission to support single-sex, college preparatory, public education in Texas that will give young women in urban schools the academic skills to achieve success in college and in life by thinking critically, leading purposefully, and living active, healthy and responsible lives. The goal of the Foundation is to partner with urban school districts to open six all-girls public schools within the state of Texas. For the 2008-2009 school year, the Foundation is serving over 1,000 young women in their sponsored schools in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Lubbock. Currently, these schools are the ONLY all-girls public schools in Texas.
The goal of the Foundation for the Education of Young Women is to have one hundred percent of the students in their sponsored schools to not only graduate from high school but to attend and graduate from college.
The majority of students enrolled in the schools are minority and economically-disadvantaged. Many will be the first in their families to enroll in college much less graduate from high school. The Foundation needs our help in preparing these young women for college and in supporting them through gap scholarship funding during college.
In addition to some great food and wine, event attendees will have the opportunity to meet several key members of the Foundation and its network of schools including the speakers below as well as members of the Foundation Board of Directors and Irma Rangel Advisory Board, and leadership of the Young Women’s Leadership Schools.
EVENT SPEAKERS
Gina Betts, Board President, Foundation for the Education of Young Women
Gina E. Betts is a corporate/securities partner with Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP in Dallas where she is chairman of the firm’s Private Equity Practice Group. Ms. Betts is President of the Foundation for the Education of Young Women. She also serves on the Board of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dallas, and TACA. Ms. Betts is chairman of the 2007 Cattle Baron’s Ball which is the largest single fundraiser for the American Cancer Society in the United States. Ms. Betts received her bachelor’s degree in Russian, Political Science and History from Southern Methodist University. She received her Juris Doctorate from American University.
Ann Rubenstein Tisch, Founder of the Young Women’s Leadership Foundation, NYC
Ann Tisch is the founder and President of the Young Women’s Leadership Foundation in New York City. Ms. Tisch and her educational vision for under-served girls helped pave the way for all-girls’ public education in the United States.
Ellen Richards, Chairman of the Ann Richards School Foundation
Ellen Richards, the youngest daughter of former Texas Governor Ann Richards, is Chair of the Ann Richards School Foundation. The Foundation supports the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, which opened in the fall of 2007 in Austin, Texas. The school is supported by a precedent-setting partnership between the Foundation for the Education of Young Women, the Austin Independent School District, and The Ann Richards School Foundation. Ms. Richards’ professional background includes project management, facilitation, strategic planning, research and evaluation, and grassroots organizing in government, nonprofit and community-based organizations.
Carmyn Neely, Executive Director of the Foundation for the Education of Young Women
Ms Neely has 42 years of experience in the education field and has served as a classroom teacher, adjunct professor, and an administrator at the school campus, district, and state levels. Under Ms. Neely’s direction, the goal of the Foundation for the Education of Young Women is to have one hundred percent of the students in our sponsored schools to not only graduate from high school but to attend and graduate from college.
Vivian Taylor-Samudio, Principal, Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School
Vivian Taylor Samudio currently serves as principal of The Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School. Her educational philosophy is simply, “Student failure is not an option.” Under Ms. Samudio’s leadership, the Irma Rangel School achieved an exemplary rating by the TEA in its third year in existence. This rating was maintained for the 2007-2008 school year.
HISTORY OF THE FOUNDATION FOR THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG WOMEN
In early 2001, Texas philanthropists, Lee and Sally Posey, learned of a new single-sex public school in New York City, The Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem. The following year, after a visit to the New York school, Mr. and Mrs. Posey established the Foundation for the Education of Young Women. Soon after, a partnership with the Dallas Independent School District was formed to bring the concept of the East Harlem School model to Dallas. In August 2004, the Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School, a DISD magnate school, opened its doors with financial support from the Foundation for the Education of Young Women. The college-preparatory school is the first all-girls public school in Texas. Located in the Fair Park area of Dallas, the school currently has an enrollment of 401 students in grades six through twelve and will have its first graduating class in May 2009. The school offers a college-prep environment with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math as well as a strong liberal arts curriculum and leadership development, wellness, and service learning.
In addition to partnering with the Dallas Independent School District, the Foundation for the Education of Young Women formed an alliance with the Austin Independent School District and opened the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in August of 2007. The third and fourth all-girls public schools in Texas opened in San Antonio and Lubbock in August 2008.