CHANGE MAKERS

600+ students / 30 countries

Some 600 students from 30 countries have participated in the PCGL offerings to date.

40+ Ancients

More than 40 Ancients have been integral to the programs’ success.

ChangeMaker’s Institute Summer in Farmington Global Seminar Series

A three-week online seminar for girls from Spain and India held during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has grown into a robust set of programs that connect and empower girls around the globe.

Through online programming and summer residences in Farmington, the Porter’s Center for Global Leadership (PCGL) is equipping middle and high school girls with the knowledge, skills and mindset to be changemakers in the world. “In doing so, we are extending the school’s mission to educate and advance women and girls in leadership and as changemakers,” said PCGL Director Sophie Paris.

Several programs fall under the PCGL’s umbrella: (1) ChangeMaker’s Institute, a four-course certificate program cofounded in 2020 by Ms. Paris and Ancients Catherine Lindroth ’04 and McKenzie Roller ’20; (2) Global Seminar Series; (3) Summer in Farmington (for middle- and high-school girls); (4) Summer Online courses for high school students; and (5) Porter’s LEADS (for middle schoolers). Some 600 students from 30 countries have participated in the PCGL offerings to date, and Ancients have been integral to the programs’ success.

More than 40 Ancients have lent their expertise as guest speakers, panelists, facilitators and teachers, Ms. Paris said. “It’s a connection with school and beyond. They care about the future of young women, and I’m sure a lot of it goes back to their time at Porter’s. These Ancients feel strongly that PCGL programming should be accessible to any high school girl around the world.”

In 2022, Ancient Nancy Zhou ’18 worked as a teaching assistant and residential advisor for Summer in Farmington, which brings middle and high school girls to

Porter’s LEADS Summer Online

campus for one-, two- or three-week residencies. “All of our PCGL scholars have such inspiring life stories that led to their passion, and it was such a joyful experience connecting with them,” she said.

Yeabsira Desalegn heard about ChangeMaker’s Institute from one of her high school teachers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Eager to have an impact on her community and her country, she has completed two of the institute’s four courses and is enrolled in the third. “I’m changing and developing myself so that I’m prepared to address problems and change the world,” she said. “I know I will be making big moves and will make a change.”

Ms. Lindroth said participating in ChangeMaker’s programs makes her feel like “I’m talking to the future leaders of the free world. And I’m honored.”

Meet Sophie Paris

Sophie Paris, director of the Porter’s Center for Global Leadership and a professional photographer, never set out to be a teacher. But in 2010, a funny thing happened in the small Haitian village where she lived and worked. Children began trailing her around town, fascinated by the foreigner and the camera she carried with her everywhere. So she procured some used cameras and began holding workshops to teach the kids how to use them.

Up until then, Ms. Paris had spent 14 years traveling the globe as a photojournalist for the United Nations (UN), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Clinton Foundation, and various newspapers and wire services. When the UN sent her to Haiti in 2004, the Ohio native became enchanted by the country and its people and stayed for eight years.

natural to teach about “issues and different cultural spaces and community” along with the technical aspects of making an image.

“Often in my travels, I might be the only American, or the only female, or the only white person,” she said. “Who you are, who I am, informs our perspectives. Global education is the right space for me to be in.”

Kristen E. Guest ’04 is a licensed social worker who has been co-facilitating ChangeMaker’s Institute since 2021. “This institute is creating connections the world over,” she said. “If we want peace, love and joy throughout the world I know I do it would certainly be helpful to know and care about the people who want the same, no matter where they are.”

Surprised by how much she enjoyed sharing her love of photography with the children in her village and looking to move back to the United States with her infant son, she began applying for teaching jobs in 2012. She began working at Porter’s that fall.

In Farmington, Ms. Paris brought the world into her classroom. “Everything I did as a photographer had to do with diving deep into a discovery of the human condition,” she said, so it was

Since arriving on campus, Ms. Paris has designed and launched the Institute for Global Education, through which every 11th-grade student is required to travel abroad, and she has established a two-year diploma Certificate in Global Studies. She was a natural choice in 2020 to help create and lead the Porter’s Center for Global Leadership, which makes the school’s pedagogy accessible to girls around the world through online programming and summer residencies.

“I’m forever a learner and a student of life,” said Ms. Paris, who lives on campus with her husband, her son and the family dog.

“I learned how to learn in a way that involved active observation and listening, as well as sharing and connecting through this shared understanding of the human condition.”