Through local conferences, AAUW launched a nationwide dialogue among girls in 1997 to help girls build a network and strengthen their voices, sister to sister. Since then almost 200 of these summits have been held around the U.S. and Puerto Rico with much success. The first-ever summit in the state of Tennessee was held at Maryville College in November, 2001, and was one of eight in the country to have received national recognition.

The Sister-to-Sister Summits bring girls together to address issues that schools often cannot adequately address. The AAUW Educational Foundation’s The AAUW Report: How Schools Shortchange Girls (1992) labeled these issues—such as sexual harassment, violence, early sexual activity, substance abuse, and body image—the "evaded curriculum."

In the Spring of 2000, a Maryville therapist with 20 years experience began noticing this same theme among teenage girls coming for counseling. Though they came from schools all over the region, they were all experiencing daily assaults in the form of sexual harassment, sexual pressure, even outright physical attacks, at school. Assaults were happening both during and in between classes, as well as outside of school hours on dates, at sporting events, etc. One young woman received a concussion when her boyfriend pounded her head against the lockers in between classes. Most striking of all, these attacks seemed to occur to all girls regardless of socioeconomic class, race, academic strength, social status or apparent coping skills.

Sexual harassment and domestic violence are enormous problems in Blount County, as evidenced by local experience and statistics. Forty percent of the women who come to the Blount Memorial Hospital emergency room are treated with injuries resulting from battering. National research indicates that this an issue for girls everywhere. (See Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing, and Sexual Harassment in School, 2001, Updated 2004)

Teen pregnancy is a major issue as indicated by Health Dept. statistics. The death of an abandoned baby in Townsend led to Safe Place legislation for newborns and a new awareness of girls who feel they have nowhere to turn for help.

AAUW reports and subsequent Foundation research revealed that evaded curriculum issues are inextricably linked to education. Teen girls who use drugs, fear violence, become preoccupied with their physical appearance, join gangs, or get pregnant cannot take full advantage of the educational programs available to them.

The report by the Tennessee Economic Council on Women and the Institute for Women's Policy Research, The Status of Women in Tennessee, November 2000, indicates that Tennessee ranks in the bottom third, and sometimes fourth, on virtually all indices of quality of life for women. Girls who feel powerless have no economic future as adult women.

Yet societal messages glamorizing sex, smoking, alcohol, and thinness pervade our culture, reinforced by peer pressure to experiment with risky behavior. Sister-to-Sister Summits are bringing these issues to light, letting girls express themselves and propose strategies to address their common concerns. Each summit results in a platform for action—a consolidation of concerns and steps toward solutions.

Twelve years after the introduction of the AAUW Initiative for Educational Equity, focused on grades K–12, some people may ask, "Why are we still focusing on girls?"