Rising senior Abby Connell is one of fifty young women from throughout the country to receive a fellowship from the ANNpower Vital Voices Initiative, a partnership between the parent company of national clothing retailers Ann Taylor and LOFT, and Vital Voices, a global organization dedicated to empowering women.
The 50 recipients were selected from more than 5,000 applicants based upon their academic record, extracurricular involvement, and community leadership. Abby is a member of the Student Group on Race Relations (SGORR), the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, and the state championship winning field hockey team. She helps to lead field hockey clinics for younger girls in the community, and was named an Academic All-Ohio player in field hockey two years in a row. She also won a “Movers and Shakers” award from the City of Shaker Heights.
The fellowship included a four-day trip to Washington, D.C. to attend a conference on women’s leadership, with workshops and presentations from U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios, Argentinian congresswoman Laura Alonso, human rights activist Priti Patkar, and the CEO of ANN Inc, Kay Krill.
The fellows also attended the 14th annual Global Leadership Awards, where they heard speeches from actress Sally Field, iconic fashion designer Diane von Furstenburg, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton.