Girls on the Run of Greater Milwaukee (GOTR), a non-profit organization that encourages life-long learning and health and fitness among girls, welcomes Paralympic Ski Medalist, Fortune 500 Business Consultant, Rhodes Scholar, Former White House Official and Best-Selling Author Bonnie St. John as keynote speaker for its annual Sneaker Soiree fundraising event on Friday, March 10 at Marquette University.

St. John, who has risen to the highest levels of achievement in a variety of endeavors throughout her life, had her right leg amputated at age five, but went on to become the first African-American ever to win Olympic or Paralympic medals in Winter Olympic Competition, taking home a silver and two bronze medals in downhill skiing events at the 1984 Paralympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

The celebrated author of seven books, including the just released, Micro-Resilience: Minor Shifts for Major Boosts in Focus, Drive and Energy, St. John co-authored the #1 bestseller, How Great Women Lead, with her teenage daughter, Darcy. Together they traveled the world on an extraordinary mother-daughter journey into the lives of fascinating women including Former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

St. John will keynote the Girls on the Run of Greater Milwaukee fundraising event, which is open to the public. During her presentation, she will challenge the audience to question their own limitations, providing practical, actionable tools and techniques to help achieve peak performance.

St. John, a Harvard graduate and a Rhodes Scholar, served under President Bill Clinton as a director for Human Capital Issues on the White House National Economic Council. Twice she represented the United States as a member of President Obama’s official delegation to the Paralympic Games; first at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, and again last summer at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. St. John regularly appears in national and international media, and NBC calls her, “One of the five most inspiring women in America.”

The money raised at the Sneaker Soiree will help Girls on the Run fulfill its mission. In 2016, the program awarded more than $80,000 in financial aid for girls to participate, regardless of their circumstances.

To register, visit:
https://www.gotr-milwaukee.org/sneaker-soiree

WHEN: Friday, March 10, 2017
5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Reception, cocktails, silent auction
7 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. Dinner, presentation by Bonnie St. John, dancing

WHERE: Marquette University Alumni Memorial Union, Monaghan Ballroom
1442 West Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53233

Parking available in the 16th Street Parking Structure, located between Wisconsin Avenue and Wells Street or the Wells Street Parking Structure, located between 12th and 13th streets.

OTHER: The GOTR Sneaker Soiree event welcomes men and women interested in supporting the mission of GOTR. Ticket Price: $175 for individual registration, (the cost of sponsoring one girl in the program).

About Girls on the Run
Girls on the Run is a national physical activity-based positive youth development program for 3rd-8th grade girls. Participants develop and improve competence, feel confidence in who they are, develop strength of character, respond to others and oneself with care, create positive connections with peers and adults and make a meaningful contribution to community and society. Each session is led by trained volunteer coaches that guide and mentor the girls. The ten-week program concludes with all participants completing a celebratory 5k event which gives them a tangible sense of achievement as well as a framework for setting and achieving life goals. Since 1996, Girls on the Run has served more than 1.2 million girls nationwide. Girls on the Run of Greater Milwaukee has served more than 5,000 girls over the past ten years.