On 10 September 2011, Ms. Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, will honor greenlight for girls ASBL with a prize purse in the name of the International Compostela Group-Xunta de Galicia Prize being awarded to Ms. Kroes this year for playing "a relevant role in the development of world values."

For its XV edition, the Compostela Prize Jury unanimously decided to award the prize to Ms. Kroes in acknowledgement of her work "in fostering communication among different cultures and mutual understanding," in the spirit of the Prize and the Group itself. Commissioner Kroes has chosen Greenlightforgirls.org as the benefactor of the 6000 Euro purse attached to the Prize.

Cheryl Miller, European Director and Technology Chair of greenlight for girls ASBL, will be on hand to present Ms. Kroes with her award, and to formally accept the prize purse on behalf of Greenlightforgirls.org, at the Compostela Prize ceremony in Braga, Portugal on 10 September 2011.

The Compostela Group is a consortium of nearly seventy member universities worldwide whose main aim is to foster cooperation and promote dialogue in all fields related to higher education.

Update on Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 10:27PM

style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; color: rgb(98, 98, 98); font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; ">The video address of Commissioner Kroes on the event of her acceptance of the Compostela Prize has now been shared with us by the organizers, and boy are we excited!

Commissioner Kroes had some lovely things to say -- in general, and about greenlight for girls, in specific! Please see the video, and in particular, from 5’30”:

And, I am particularly pleased to be able to donate the Prize funds to an organization very close to my heart:
greenlight for girls exists to promote science, technology, engineering and math to girls of all ages. These days, the ICT sector needs a wider range of skills than ever before. If we are not to risk a skills gap in the future, we need to make sure that we aren’t keeping women from fulfilling their potential for careers in the sector.
greenlight for girls are to be congratulated for their active work, so important and relevant to the digital agenda goals. Thank you once again.”

Thank you, Vice President Kroes!