By Paul Tuthill
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South Hadley, MA – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced a partnership between the US Department of State and five all-female colleges, including Smith and Mount Holyoke in Western Massachusetts. The goal is to break the glass ceiling confronting women in political leadership around the globe WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports
The new partnership, called the Women and Public Service Initiative will bring together the resources of the historic colleges and the State Department to push for greater political leadership roles for women around the world..Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was proud to announce the partnership .
Clinton was the key note speaker at the Women in the World Stories and Solutions conference, which was held in New York City, and sponsored by Newsweek and the Daily Beast website.
Clinton said promoting the next generation of women to take leadership roles in their countries is vital to the national security of the United States .
The participating colleges are Smith, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, Barnard and Bryn Mawr. Officials of the colleges said they were delighted with the proposed collaboration.
Smith College President Carol Christ said women have made lots of advances in the private sector in the last century, but not so much in public service .
Details of the new collaboration are still being fleshed out, but Christ said planning is underway for a conference at the one of the colleges in the fall, and other projects on each campus..
Mount Holyoke College President Lynn Pasquerella says the colleges will bring a lot of resources to the effort, since they all have distinguished alumnae in the fields of public service and international affairs ..
Pasquerella says it is the first time the prestigious all female colleges have partnered on such an endeavor
Officials say the collaboration will not lead to a direct role by the colleges in US foreign policy.