Girls Who Start Hosts Inaugural Summit in Washington, D.C. Featuring Keynote Speaker Elle Macpherson

Teen-Founded Social Venture Dedicated to Empowering Young Female Students Through Exposure to Leading Female Founders and Entrepreneurs Hosts 200 Female Students from more than 40 schools at Free Summit Event in D.C.

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“GIRLS WHO START ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT 2019” Photo Credit: Hannah Mooy

Girls Who Start – Ariel Beck, Founder and National President

Keynote Speaker: Elle Macpherson, legendary model, Co-Founder and Creative Director of WelleCo

Additional Speakers: Claire Sliney, University of Pennsylvania sophomore and Oscar winner, Natalie Mackey, Founder and CEO of Winky Lux, Elizabeth Galbut, Founding Partner of SOGAL Ventures, Dayna Grayson, Partner at NEA, Lesli Foster, award winning journalist for WUSA9, Shizu Okusa, Founder and CEO of Wellthy & Co, Kori Hale, Founder and CEO of CultureBanx, Lauren & Carrie Dunne, Co-Founders of Varnish Lane, and Claire Shipman, author of The Confidence Code for Girls.

WHAT: On Saturday, April 6, Girls Who Start, the Washington, D.C. based non-profit social venture dedicated to inspiring young women to become entrepreneurs and leaders, hosted its first ever Girls Who Start Entrepreneurship Summit at Halcyon in Georgetown. Free to attend, the organization welcomed 200 people at the event, ranging from middle school to graduate school students. The Summit provided an opportunity for attendees to hear stories and advice from a mix of leading female entrepreneurs, including celebrity keynote speaker, supermodel, entrepreneur and mom, Elle Macpherson.

Fifteen-year-old Founder and National President of Girls Who Start, Ariel Beck, assembled a roster of female founders from leading companies and brands to speak at the event as well as a top-tier list of sponsoring companies and brands. Notably, Elle Macpherson participated in a keynote discussion with Beck discussing her career trajectory and offering advice for the young attendees.

The daughter of Marla and Barry Beck, Co-Founders of the iconic, national luxury beauty brand, Bluemercury, Ariel was first inspired to launch Girls Who Start in 2015 after hearing her mother, Marla, speak at Amazon’s first Women’s Entrepreneur’s Conference in Seattle. After learning of the unsettling statistics surrounding today’s female founders and how most funding goes to male entrepreneurs, Ariel Beck felt called to rally her generation of young women. She created Girls Who Start to provide successful female role models to serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement. She and her team of Chapter Leadershost events, Q+A sessions and workshops with female founded companies and social ventures.

Beck and her team expect this Summit to be the first of many.

“My goal when I first founded Girls Who Start in 2015 was to inspire girls to start their own businesses and organizations by exposing young women to leading female entrepreneurs, as well as providing tools and tips,” said Ariel Beck, Founder and National President of Girls Who Start. “Saturday’s Summit showed me that Girls Who Start has the power to encourage my peers to make their entrepreneurial ideas a reality. The energy in the room was overwhelming and I’m excited to see what the future holds for our social venture.”

Sponsors for this year’s Summit include Halcyon, J.P. Morgan, UBS, New Enterprise Associates, Merrill Lynch Bank of America Corporation, SOGAL Ventures, S’well, Supergoop!, Winky Lux, Kendra Scott, Cooley and LearnServe International, to name a few.

WHEN: Saturday, April 6, 2019 – 11:00am-2:30pm

WHERE: Halcyon Georgetown, 3400 Prospect Street NW, Washington, DC 20007

About Girls Who Start: Girls Who Start is a non-profit social venture with a mission to inspire young women to become entrepreneurs and leaders through exposure to other leading female founded companies and social ventures, as well as providing tools and tips on how to start a company or organization of their own. Girls Who Start was founded in 2015 after then twelve-year-old, Ariel Beck accompanied her mother, Marla Beck, CEO and Co-Founder of Bluemercury, to a speaking engagement at Amazon’s first Women’s Entrepreneur’s Conference in Seattle. It was there Ariel learned about the shockingly low statistics surrounding female entrepreneurship and leadership. Ariel realized how lucky she was to have this kind of exposure at an early age and felt she owed it to other young women to provide them with the same experience. Now a sophomore in high school, Ariel is on a mission to follow in the footsteps of the trailblazing women who are paving the way in entrepreneurship and is encouraging her peers to do the same. Ariel Beck, National Founder and President of Girls Who Start, directs a team of Chapter Leaders who host local events and Q+A sessions with female founded companies and social ventures and share tools and advice to inspire young girls to take on leadership roles.

For more about Girls Who Start, please visit https://www.girlswhostart.org/ and follow @girls.who.start on Instagram. Female students who wish to launch a local chapter of Girls Who Start at their own school(s) should contact Founder and National President, Ariel Beck through the girlswhostart.org site.

Press Contacts:

Alyssa Paugh

apaugh@paulwilmot.com