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14th annual Milwaukee Girls' Day
Milwaukee City Hall dressed in pink on Wednesday, March 20, all to welcome 200 young girls across the county for the 14th Annual Girls' Day.
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee City Hall dressed in pink on Wednesday, March 20, all to welcome 200 young girls across the county for the 14th Annual Girls' Day.
The goal is to expose young women to political leadership and public service careers.
16-year-old Cree said she already has a political role model at home; her mom is Alderwoman Andrea Pratt.
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But attending this event years ago pushed Cree's involvement with public service. Now she's part of the Milwaukee Youth Council.
"I see my mom do it over and over by herself with no help," Cree said. "It impacted me in a way, it made me feel like I can do it."
In nearly 200 years, Milwaukee has only seen 20 women hold positions within the council, and they were honored at the Wednesday event.
"It's definitely still needed," Alderwoman Milele Coggs said. "I think as women, we add to the conversation. Particularly about legislation."
Coggs said when she first took a seat on the council, very few women were elected for these roles, especially women of color. She hopes events like Girls’ Day motivate a new generation of women to consider public service.
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"Those of us that are here won't be here forever, so there has to be a continuous pipeline of young women that want and are interested in public service," she said.