WATERVILLE — Hardy Girls Healthy Women invites teachers, social workers, counselors, health educators, coaches, parents and anyone else who works with girls to attend their second annual Summer Institute, Wednesday through Friday, June 13-15, at Colby College. The theme is “Navigating Girl World: Connecting the Dots…Changing the Culture.”

Led by Hardy Girls’ co-founder and girls’ development expert Lyn Mikel Brown, EdD, University of Maine’s ADVANCE Rising Tide Center Director Mary Madden, PhD, and Hardy Girls’ Vice President of Research and Programs Jackie Dupont, LMSW, the institute gives professionals in-depth training on the latest theories about girls’ health and development.

Participants will also learn proven methods for supporting girls’ voices and scaffolding girls’ activism, including how to teach media literacy and how to engage girls in their schools and communities.

“The Hardy Girls Summer Institute is a rare opportunity for those who work with and care about girls to explore new understandings about girls’ development, learn strength-based approaches, and imagine creative ways to engage girls in social change,” Brown said. “It’s some of the most exciting and meaningful work we do.”

Last year the institute was attended by professionals and students from across the country and around the world. Up to 16 hours of continuing education credits will be available for social workers, educators and health education professionals for attending the summer institute.

Brown is a Colby College professor of education, and author of a number of  books on girls’ development, including “Meeting at the Crossroads: Women’s Psychology and Girls’ Development” (co-authored with Carol Gilligan).

In addition to directing the ADVANCE Rising Tide Center, Madden is associate research professor at the University of Maine and co-director of the National Collaborative for Hazing Research and Prevention. Her research focuses on the development, health, well being and education of adolescents.

To find out more about the lnstitute or to register, visit www.hghw.org or call 861-8131.

Hardy Girls Healthy Women is a nonprofit located in Waterville working to ensure all women and girls are independent, safe and equal in their everyday lives.