The New Orleans Museum of Art will host a panel discussion on “The Future of Southern Girls” in partnership with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune on Wednesday, February 1. Susan Taylor, The Montine McDaniel Freeman Director of NOMA, will be among the women leaders selected as guest speakers, joining Carol Bebelle, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Ashe Cultural Arts Center; Rachel Ornelas, Cultural Heritage Coordinator of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival; Julie Stokes, Louisiana State Representative, District 79; and Danielle Wright, Division Director of Navigate Her.

The Times-Picayune’s “Southern Girls Project” has brought its readers stories from the lives of girls in New Orleans and across the South. Working with AL.com and other journalists in the region, the project aims to amplify the voices of the young women who will “inherit the future South we’re creating for them.” The Times-Picayune is partnering with the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) as part of the National Community and News Literacy Roundtables Project to host this live event focused on that future, how Southern girls are considering and approaching their adult lives, and how a generation of empowered and confident women have and will help shape the evolution of the South. Stories and videos from the series have been uploaded to NOLA.com.

The event is free and open to the public from 6 – 7:30 p.m. in the Stern Auditorium. Interested participants are asked to register in advance on eventbrite.com. For more information, contact Clair Lorell at clorell@asne.org or 571.212.3836.