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The City of San Antonio invites middle school and high school girls to participate in its 2025 Girls Empowerment Summit on May 30.
Girls ages 13 to 18 will participate in two days of leadership development, career exploration, and empowerment activities with a focus on public safety. The summit aims to give them a chance to explore real-world career opportunities, build leadership skills, and gain the confidence to shape their future.
The summit will highlight careers in law enforcement, fire, and EMS.
San Antonio City Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia said the summit will also include a self-defense session.
“There's a lot of women, unfortunately that are being attacked out there, not necessarily in San Antonio, but a lot of elected officials in other cities, towns and villages are experiencing some sort of verbal attack or aggression, and so they wanted to have that,” she explained.
She added that the event aims to show girls that they can attain careers that are not traditionally geared toward women.
Valerie Frausto, the first female fire chief in San Antonio, will be the keynote speaker. Frausto has been through every rank at the department.
The councilperson recalled a story the fire chief retells often.
“Every once in a while when she would get to the place, like a house fire or something, or anything going on, that there's a little girl, she would say, ‘Mommy, look, it's a girl,’” she said.
Rocha Garcia said she hoped the annual summit will help break gender barriers in public safety careers: “If you ask someone to draw a firefighter, even though it's firefighter, not necessarily firemen, they'll still draw a fireman. And so it's just the opportunity, again, to remind them that they have the power. They are empowered to do well in school and to be anything that they can.”
Also, a portion of the summit has been merged with the Women in Municipal Government Conference.
“Girls can also learn from women mayors and council women from all over the United States and listen to their perspectives about being in traditionally male-dominated areas and how they work at their level in their leadership positions,” Rocha Garcia said.
The second day of the summit will have the young girls attend the San Antonio Fire Department Fire Training Academy. “They get to learn how to do some of the basics — how to use the fire hose, how to dress in 30 seconds or less,” the councilperson added.
Registration is filled to capacity, but Rocha Garcia hoped for a waiting list to be added for next year’s summit.
The 2025 Girls Empowerment Summit is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, May 30, at the Henry B. González Convention Center, Rooms 006–007.
The Hero Like Her Camp is Saturday, May 31, at the SAFD Fire Training Academy, 300 S Callaghan Rd., from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
