Charlotte, NC, April 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Girls on the Run International today announced the appointment of Sheila McGinley and Jennifer Ebbitt to its national Board of Directors.
“We are honored to have Sheila and Jennifer serving as officers on our board,” said Elizabeth Kunz, Chief Executive Officer of Girls on the Run. “Each woman brings significant knowledge, passion and expertise to the organization that will enable it to further advance its mission and positively impact hundreds of thousands of girls each year.”
Sheila McGinley serves as President of Industry Verticals businesses at Cigna, overseeing solutions and services for local governments, schools, hospitals and health systems. She was the inaugural chair of the Cigna Women’s Colleague Resource Group, an employee-led, company-sponsored group that works to harness the capabilities of Cigna's female employees to build stronger connections with customers and communities and to grow women leaders. Sheila has over 30 years of experience in health care, having served in diverse roles at Cigna including network management and product development.
“Since 2014, Cigna has been the exclusive health care national partner to Girls on the Run because its programs and volunteers help empower girls with a strong foundation for life-long good health, vitality, and self-confidence,” said McGinley, “I am honored to be joining the board of Girls on the Run as an extension of our strong collaboration, and am both grateful and excited for the continued opportunity to positively impact the lives of young women around the U.S.”
Jennifer Ebbitt, is a Director at X, Google parent company Alphabet's moonshot factory where ambitious, world-changing new ideas such as self-driving cars, drone delivery and internet from balloons are developed. She manages the X Partnerships team and helps X projects connect with the real world. Jennifer has nearly 20 years of business development experience in consumer technology, mobile, strategic partnerships and content and IP licensing. She enjoys lacing up her running shoes and volunteering at school with her four young children.
“I'm inspired by how Girls on the Run encourages girls to be courageous, active and to live life to their fullest potential,” said Ebbitt, “I'm in awe of the profound impact that Girls on the Run has had on so many lives and I’m honored for the opportunity to serve on the board to further inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident.”
Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based positive youth development (PYD) program that is designed to enhance girls’ social, psychological and physical skills and behaviors to successfully navigate life experiences. The program’s evidence-based curriculum places an emphasis on developing competence, confidence, connection, character, caring, and contribution in young girls through lessons that incorporate running and other physical activities.
The appointments of McGinley and Ebbitt expand the board to twelve members.
# # #
About Girls on the Run
Based in Charlotte, N.C., Girls on the Run is a nonprofit organization with local councils in all 50 states. Founded in 1996 with 13 girls, Girls on the Run has now served more than 1.4 million girls. Over the course of the ten-week program, girls in 3rd-8th grade develop essential skills to help them navigate their worlds and establish a lifetime appreciation for health and fitness. The program culminates with girls positively impacting their communities through a service project and being physically and emotionally prepared to complete a celebratory 5K event. With the largest 5K series by number of events in the world, Girls on the Run hosts more than 330 5Ks per year.
Girls on the Run was recently included as a top research-based program in a Social-Emotional Learning Guide developed by researchers at Harvard University and has been recognized by the National Afterschool Association (NAA) as one of the most influential after-school programs.