Kaprece James, founder and CEO of the Hughesville-based nonprofit Stella’s Girls, has been elected Vice Chair of The Working Group on Girls, a coalition of NGOs that advocates for girls’ rights at the United Nations — the latest in a string of international leadership posts James has taken on since founding the organization in 2016.
James’s new role adds to an already substantial resume of overlapping leadership positions. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Charles County Commission for Women and was appointed to the Maryland Commission for Women in March 2022. In October 2020, she was elected Vice Chair for the Diaspora at FEMNET, the African Women’s Development and Communication Network, one of the continent’s largest women’s organizations — meaning this UN appointment is her second major international vice-chair role in six years, not a first foray onto the global stage. Stella’s Girls itself holds United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Special Consultative Status and operates chapters in Liberia and Sierra Leone, part of what the organization describes as work spanning three continents and seven countries, serving youth ages 8 to 24.
Olivia Saint-Pierre, UN Girl Advocate, Stella’s Girls, Inc.
March 2026
“This appointment is both an honor and a responsibility,” James said. “Stella’s Girls exists to ensure that girls are not only protected and supported, but prepared and positioned to lead. Serving as Vice Chair of The Working Group on Girls strengthens our ability to elevate girls’ voices within global advocacy spaces while creating opportunities for young leaders from our own communities to participate.”
Alongside James’s election, Stella’s Girls announced that Olivia Saint-Pierre, a senior at Thomas Stone High School and one of the organization’s youth leaders and UN Girl Advocates, has been selected to serve as a moderator for Girls Speak Out 2026, an international convening held for the UN’s International Day of the Girl. “I am especially proud of Olivia,” James said. “For a teen from Charles County to step into a visible leadership role on an international platform demonstrates exactly what can happen when girls are given access, preparation and the opportunity to lead.”
Stella’s Girls will lead a delegation of roughly 10 to 15 girls to Girls Speak Out 2026 in New York on Oct. 9, marking the fourth consecutive year the organization has brought a Southern Maryland delegation to the event. This year’s theme is “Advancing Equality, Accelerating Action; Building a World Where Girls Thrive.” Registration is open at workinggroupongirls.org.
The appointments follow the organization’s ongoing local work in Charles County, including its partnership with the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office and Charles County Public Schools on a chronic-absenteeism intervention program at Glymont Middle School, launched last December.
