How Did She Make the Queen Laugh at An Awards Ceremony in London This Week?
“You’re doing good work.”
That’s what 19-year-old Alexia Hilbertidou was told by Queen Elizabeth at an awards ceremony in London this week.
On Tuesday, this driven Kiwi received a Queen’s Young Leaders Award for her work founding GirlBoss where she encourages women into science, technology, arts and maths (STEAM) careers and higher leadership. The NZ Herald reported that Alexia told the queen that currently in the NZX 50, there are more CEOs named John than CEOs who are women and that she was striving to change that. Alexia says the Queen chuckled at the John fact and said she was doing very good work.
Ms Hilbertidou, who has recently returned from a space mission with NASA, is visiting Christchurch’s Rangi Ruru Girls’ School on Monday (2 July) to share her story and talk to girls about GirlBoss, a women’s network of more than 8000 members.
School principal Dr Sandra Hastie says the whole school is really excited about Alexia coming to Rangi.
“We know about Alexia, our girls know who she is and how influential this amazing young woman is,” she says. “We all need positive and inspiring role models; Alexia is one of ours.”
“With strong and effective female leadership being such an important part of Rangi’s ethos, Alexia’s work around empowering women through STEAM (Science, Technology Engineering, Arts and Math) is a perfect fit for us,” says Dr Hastie.
Alexia’s passion for education is why she was named a Top 30 Global Teen Leader, the most influential New Zealand woman under the age of 25 at the 2016 Westpac Women of Influence Awards, and only this week being named a 2018 Queen’s Young Leader.
Alexia will be here at Rangi Ruru on the 2nd July and the 4th of July – photo / interview opportunities are available on Wednesday 4th July (see schedule on pg 2).
#weknowgirls #girlpower#girlbossnz #rangi4life
ENDS www.rangiruru.school.nz
For more information please contact Ali Jones 0272473112