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Enough As She Is: Rachel Simmons at Branksome Hall

The Branksome Hall community was thrilled to welcome internationally recognized educator and author Rachel Simmons to the school on October 27 for employee professional development and an evening talk for parents and donors, as part of the Branksome Speaker Series on Well-Being.
Simmons guides and empowers leaders worldwide to lead with purpose, courage and emotional intelligence. She serves on the faculty of the Google School for Leaders and was, until recently, the Director of the Lewis Leadership Program at Smith College. She co-founded the NGO Girls Leadership and has served as an advisor to Oprah Winfrey and Sheryl Sandberg.
 
As a speaker, Simmons is renowned for her ability to weave humour with social science research artfully. This was certainly the case for her time at Branksome, as she deftly provided frameworks for building a positive stress mindset and modelling self-compassion while also sharing stories from her own life as a mother of a 10-year-old girl and coach to leaders in the tech industry. Q&A sessions with both teachers and parents were truly thought-provoking, with many staying after the talks to speak with Rachel individually.
 
Thank you, Rachel, for your outstanding leadership in helping girls to see they are enough as they are. We look forward to welcoming you back to Branksome Hall soon!
Photo credit: Caley Taylor
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LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We wish to acknowledge this land on which Branksome operates. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work and go to school on this land.

Setting the new standard for girls' education everywhere takes collective action. From all of us.
 
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