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By Rebecca Kirkman on February 3, 2020

Towson University鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Leadership Collective has expanded to include high school students with the launch of the Outstanding Young Women Leaders program in January.

The yearlong program pairs 鈥攐ne from each Baltimore County high school鈥攚ith local business and nonprofit leaders and TU faculty. The students were nominated by school principals and chosen by a university committee based on academic and leadership achievements.

Spearheaded by TU Presidential Scholar Nancy Grasmick, the first woman appointed as the state superintendent of Maryland schools from 1991 to 2011, the Women鈥檚 Leadership Collective launched last spring with a targeted group of about 100 TU undergraduate and graduate students.

Read more: Dr. Grasmick secures more support for Women鈥檚 Leadership Collective

With the first cohort of the Outstanding Young Women Leaders program, the collective has extended its outreach to young women from high school through mid-career levels.

鈥淭owson University has an established signature program for Women鈥檚 Leadership. Our Outstanding Young Women Leaders inaugural cohort provides leadership training, on-campus opportunities and corporate mentoring to one high school junior from every Baltimore County high school,鈥� Grasmick says. 鈥淭his expansion completes the program's vision for 3-prongs of women鈥檚 leadership: high school, on-campus, and external participants.鈥�

The Women鈥檚 Leadership Collective grew out of TU鈥檚 Professional Leadership Program for Women, a five-month program that supports women in developing their capacity for leadership and influence.

鈥淚鈥檓 really hoping to find a good mentor for me that can truly help me ... learn how to help others as well as help myself,鈥� Lansdowne High School junior Karli Cluster told the . The 16-year-old student athlete plans to pursue a career in nursing, and hopes the program will help her develop social and leadership skills.

鈥淭owson University has a long history of preparing leaders,鈥� says TU President Kim Schatzel. 鈥淭hrough this important initiative, celebrated national leader and revered TU alumna Presidential Scholar Dr. Nancy Grasmick is innovating once again by advocating for leadership preparation for young women to begin as early as possible. It is never too early to begin preparing our future leaders.鈥�

Programming for the Outstanding Young Women Leaders will occur approximately every six weeks and run through December 2020, with a new cohort launching in January 2021.

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel鈥檚 priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland and Diverse and Inclusive Campus.