Haley Kilpatrick
Haley Kilpatrick is an author and the founder of the national nonprofit organization, Girl Talk™. Girl Talk was founded in 2002 and serves more than 60,000 in 48 states and 7 countries each week throughout the school year. The organization provides a leadership opportunity for high school girls to mentor middle school girls, by leading a Girl Talk Chapter in their communities. Girl Talk exists to help to inspire all girls to develop the confidence to lead. Haley believes that if girls have the tools to lead a confident life, they will grow in to women who support and encourage one another. Girl Talk's goal is to provide the necessary resources at no cost, for all girls, during their most formative years.
Haley’s dedication to helping young girls inspired her to write the bestselling book, The Drama Years, (Simon & Schuster, 2012), a guidebook for parents and educators to help girls navigate the often-difficult transition into adolescence. She is currently leading research and working with thought leaders to help better understand how to address what she’s coined the, “Confidence Crisis” facing women and girls. Her hope is that her work will help to instill the values that will help girls grow up to become kind, confident women.
She serves as a contributor for NBC’s Today Show and CNN, has been featured on NBC Nightly News, HLN, and Forbes. Haley has been named one of Glamour Magazine’s “20 Young Women Changing the World Now,” and People Magazine’s “All-Star Among Us,” among many other honors. She regularly volunteers, contributes and writes for publications and documentaries that invest in girls. Some of her recent efforts include, She is Without Limits; Hear Me Now; The Body Image Workbook for Teens; Bullying Workbook for Teens; Quiet Influence; and Bully. She is proud to serve on the Boys and Girls Club of America’s SMART Girls Advisory Board and to have been a Founding Board Member to two nonprofit that she wholeheartedly believes in, I AM THAT GIRL and Team Summer.
Haley lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, Paul and their daughter, Grace.
“Here's one way that we try to actively and immediately bring in kindness in our meetings and camps: we ask our girls to stop before they speak and reevaluate what they're going to say based on this acronym:TrueHonestImportantNecessaryKindIs what they're out to say True? Is it Honest? Is it Important? Necessary Kind?We ask the to T.H.I.N.K. before they speak text, or type, and try to incorporate it into their daily lives -- especially within their interactions with their friends and classmates -- as much as possible. It's a choice girls can make: Do they want to encourage others with their words, or bring others down?You might think this won't resonate with your middle school girl, but I promise that it works. It's not about self-editing or asking her not to speak her truth, of course; it's about thinking of others too.”