Prancing Ponies Online Leadership Academy teaches Leadership skills to high school girls grades 9 – 12.  Its goal is to develop leadership skills in girls to create a future generation of Women Leaders placed into positions where their decisions will change the world. Our Online Leadership Academy takes the curriculum from our Leadership-Abroad Academy and brings it stateside to classrooms and after-school programs providing practical skills and tools to encourage them to take on leadership roles in college and later in their chosen careers.  Since our Leadership Abroad Academy only reaches up to 10 girls each summer, our Online Leadership Academy allows us to reach thousands of undeserved girls nationally.

Prancing Ponies Online Leadership Academy’s mission is to ‘Create Women Leaders One Girl at a Time’.  We accomplish this goal by developing leadership skills in high school girls through a series of video talks available online and accompanied by a discussion workbook to facilitate in-depth learning and full information integration.  Each online video addresses a workbook module from different perspectives presented by various thought-leaders.  The online discussion workbook can be licensed for classroom use.  Providing both video and discussion workbooks online enables the girls to access the information from either home or school with ease and ensures information is safely secured and backed-up so instruction is not interrupted for loss of data. The video talks will be offered free to participating schools and organizations who license our online discussion workbooks.

The Leadership Modules are designed for the average school year of 36 weeks and are updated annually.  Each module covers a leadership development topic specifically garnered to help girls develop the fundamental skills necessary for effective decision making and ultimately global leadership.

Prancing Ponies Online Leadership Academy modules are(sample workbook requires password):

• The Basics of Leadership
• Leadership and You: Understanding Everyday Leadership
• Communicating Like a Leader (extended module – 5 sessions)
• Finances: First Step in Leadership (extended module – 5 sessions)
• Decisions and How They are Made
• Critical Thinking: Making the Right Choices for Your Life
• Conflict Resolution
• Using Your Intuition as a Decision-Making Tool
• Your Passion Your Business
• Leading From Your Greatest You

Benefits of the Online Leadership Academy

ACCESS

“One of my mentors told me “They may not like that you are here but if you show up they can not deny you access to the information.”  Providing girls access to the information that will lead to their success as leaders is the primary goal of Prancing Ponies Online Leadership Academy.

MONEY MANAGEMENT

The number one reason Women don’t take risks and go for that top position at a startup company or run for political office is that they can’t afford to due to either external barriers like the wage gap or lack of knowledge and skills in managing their money.  Prancing Ponies seeks to equalize opportunity for Leadership opportunity by providing a real understanding of financial management and analysis.

LEADERSHIP/LIFE SKILLS

What is Leadership for Girls?  Is it running for class President or Treasurer? Is it initiating a fundraiser to help their suffering classmate? Is it starting their own internet business to make sure no one eats lunch alone?  The answer is…Yes!  Leadership and Life are intertwined.  I remember during a beauty pageant, I was asked “Should a politician’s private life be separate from their public life.” Just then I heard my Mother from the audience say “Oh she’s going to nail that question!”….and I did.  My answer then and now is “If you are living a life of purpose – what you do and how you do it is the same.” Most Girls know what they want but many don’t have the information or skills to execute their visions.  We fill this gap.

INSPIRATION/MENTORING

Many question the value of inspiration and mentoring because it is challenging to quantitatively measure the return on investment.  I challenge this assumption.  During my first fundraising all-female Ferrari Rally from San Francisco to Santa Barbara I had the honor of meeting Oprah Winfrey.  After recovering from my initial shock, we had a lengthy conversation about our Academies for Girls.  It was at this moment that I realized that my life mimicked Oprah’s in that as my situation changed, I immediately sought to live my life’s purpose and help as many girls become leaders as I can.  Not unlike her.  Without knowing, Oprah’s life had inspired mine and Prancing Ponies Foundation was created.  We also found out we share the same birthday….and started screaming ‘Aquarius!’ which is what you see in the photo below.

Who Benefits?

The Online Leadership Academy benefits girls ages 14 – 18 from inner city high schools and low-income households within participating school districts.  The online leadership academy targets college-bound girls or girls who aspire to go to college and have participated in either college prep courses or enrichment programs.  Included, are girls who display leadership potential as supported by teachers/counselors.

According to the US 2001 Census Report on School Enrollment there are a total of 17 million students enrolled in grades 9 through 12.  Girls represent half of this population at 8.3 million. [1]

This population represents the potential impact of Prancing Ponies Leadership Development Academy for Girls within the US.

Why is the Prancing Ponies Online Leadership Academy valuable now?

“We will not accept a world where decisions about our future are made in rooms girls cannot enter.” -Malala

The Online Leadership Academy provides young girls an opportunity to understand what authentic leadership requires and learn skills necessary to critically think and make good decisions which will result in future leadership roles in college and their careers. Once in Leadership positions, they can begin to sustainably address current social inequities Women experience every day.  We strategically select college bound high school girls from low income communities to engage their openness to new experiences.  It’s during this time that if girls come to believe they can be Leaders and are provided the necessary skills and information – they will more than likely, become Leaders.  The Online Leadership Academy seeks to teach girls how to lead themselves before they lead others, supporting our goal of Creating Women Leaders One Girl at a Time.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” -Albert Einstein

For more information, contact us.

[1] School Enrollment in the United States 2011: Population Characteristics Bauman et. al. September 2011 https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p20-571.pdf