Uzo Aduba Hosts Glamour's 'The Girl Project' Rally in Celebration of International Day of the Girl

In celebration of the International Day of the Girl, Glamour today hosted a high-energy, interactive morning full of compelling talks and performances designed to address the social, cultural, and political issues that young girls face every day in school. Hosted by Emmy Award-winning actress Uzo Aduba ("Orange Is the New Black"), the event brought together 300 16- and 17-year-old girls from public schools in New York and New Jersey to rally for their future. The event was presented by Maybelline New York and the Caterpillar Foundation.

The program featured conversations with actress and future Harvard fresh(wo)man Yara Shahidi; award winning actress Frieda Pinto; model, designer, author, and body activist Ashley Graham; trailblazing supermodel and face of Maybelline Herieth Paul; Senator Cory Booker and Glamour Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive.

"Our society needs to condemn this type of behavior by saying that our generation, and in this case your generation, that we are going to change this reality by making it absolutely unacceptable anywhere in our society when we see harassment." said Cory Booker when asked about his take on Harvey Weinstein.

"I started dating when I was 16. My first boyfriend Craig was a bad boy. A skater. An artist. But three months into our relationship he told me we had to break up. First, because I wouldn't have sex with him. Second, because he was afraid that I was going to get; "as fat as his mom." If I could go back to that moment and talk to myself, I'd say, 'Ash, I know you feel awful right now, but that guy is a total loser. You are worthy. That little bulge on your hip is not just okay to have, it's going to change the world someday.' Craig made me feel like my body was worthless. But cut too many years and experiences later, my amazing husband saw me for my worth and liked me so much he put a ring on it" said Ashley Graham.

Artist, poet, and social media superstar Cleo Wade performed a piece on perseverance. The inspirational young women of STEP, the Baltimore-based dance team featured in the award-winning Sundance documentary "Step," entertained with a powerful performance using just the sound of their own feet and
DJ Vashtie Kola kept the energy flowing.

At the end of the event, each girl was gifted a backpack provided by STATE Bags as part of one of the company's well-known "bag drops."

As the founding beauty sponsor of Glamour's The Girl Project, Maybelline New York continues its efforts to make an impact with this initiative by presenting the October 11 event. The cosmetics brand first announced its philanthropic partnership with The Girl Project at its 100 Years Celebration in May 2015.

The Caterpillar Foundation announced its philanthropic support of "The Girl Project" at Glamour's 2016 Women of the Year Awards in Los Angeles.

The entire event was live-streamed on Twitter, Facebook and Glamour.com. Join the conversation on social media by following @glamourmag and using #Glamour4Edu.

About The Girl Project

The Girl Project, Glamour's global philanthropic initiative in partnership with the organizations Communities in Schools, CARE, Plan International USA, She's the First, Lower East Side Girls Club and Girls Inc., raises funds to break down the barriers to secondary education for young women all over the world. Fifty million girls worldwide are denied the right to an education; some are forced into child marriage, live in areas where education is forbidden, walk to school in fear of being kidnapped, or are unable to afford school fees. The Girl Project helps address those obstacles by allowing women in the U.S. to help support the actual schooling of girls around the globe. For more information, visit TheGirlProject.com.

About Glamour Glamour is one of the biggest fashion and beauty media brands in the world, currently reaching an all-time high of one out of eight American women, with 9.7 million print readers, more than 11 million unique monthly users online, and over 14 million followers across social media platforms. Glamour believes in the power of women being themselves and stands with women as they do their own thing: honestly, authentically, and awesomely. Across every platform, Glamour is the ultimate authority for the next generation of changemakers.

About Maybelline New York Maybelline New York is the number-one cosmetics brand in the world, available in more than 100 countries. By combining technologically advanced formulations with on-trend expertise and New York City edge, Maybelline New York's mission is to offer innovative, accessible, and effortless cosmetics for every woman. For more information, visit www.maybelline.com. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.

About STATE Bags Not just a backpack-a #GiveBackPack. STATE was created to address the immediate needs of American children living with challenging-and in some cases critical-circumstances. For each bag sold, STATE donates a fully stocked backpack to an American child in need at its motivational bag drop donation events. STATE offers a collection of bags-predominantly backpacks, for men, women, and kids-and has partnered with a variety of influencers and brands such as Beyoncé's #BeyGOOD charitable movement, President Obama's My Brother's Keeper Initiative and Chance the Rapper. The brand can be found nationally at retail partners including Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, and Shopbop.

Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for Glamour

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