Please Join Us
Thursday, April 17, 2025
9:00 am - 10:00 am
Registration Opens 8:15 am
Registration Opens 8:15 am
Join the GMS community to hear Keynote Speaker Tara VanDerveer, former longtime Head Coach of Stanford Women’s Basketball, speak about her experience as the second-winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, and Bennett Scholar Alum Speaker Eréndida Cerrillo '02 share the impact of a Bennett Scholars Scholarship on her education and career.
The Bennett Scholars Breakfast is an annual celebration of GMS, our values, and our community. The school’s only fundraising event of the year, the Breakfast plays an essential role in GMS’s ability to fully support the Bennett Scholars Program, which provides scholarships and wraparound support to ten high-achieving girls per grade who are from under-resourced communities and often represent the first generation in their families to be college bound.
In 2025, GMS’s goal is to raise $1.5M for the program. Proceeds from table sponsorships, ticket sales, and donations on the day of the event all go towards funding ten scholarships for the 2025-2026 school year. Past speakers have included Vice President Kamala Harris, Former Senator Barbara Boxer, Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Jessica Aguirre, Cecile Richards, Sheryl Sandberg, Stacy Brown-Philpot, and, most recently in 2024, Cori Duncan.
Become a Sponsor
$10K Celebration Sponsor - 10 tickets with priority seating, including an invitation to a post-event reception with the Keynote Speaker; and a photo with and signed merch from the Keynote Speaker.
$5.5K Inspiration Sponsor - 8 tickets with priority seating, including a photo with and signed merch from the Keynote Speaker.
$3.5K Innovation Sponsor - 8 tickets, including signed merch from the Keynote Speaker.
Purchase an Individual Ticket
$200 per ticket
All tickets include admission, breakfast, and parking.
Keynote Speaker: Tara VanDerveer
The second-winningest coach in NCAA basketball history spanning a 48-year coaching career, Tara VanDerveer spent 38 of those at the helm of Stanford’s Women’s Basketball program and amassed 1,216 wins over her career. One of the top coaches in the sport internationally, Tara is a five-time national coach of the year, 18-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, and a member of both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Even after her retirement in 2024, she is a steadfast ambassador for both Stanford University and the sport of college basketball.
In addition, Tara also served as head coach of the USA Basketball National Team in 1995-96, leading the team to a 52-0 exhibition record and the Olympic gold medal with a perfect 8-0 run at the 1996 Atlanta games. A published author, Tara wrote the book Shooting From The Outside, which chronicled this coaching experience.
A Boston native who grew up in upstate New York, Tara is a 1975 graduate of Indiana University, where she held one of the starting guard positions for three years on the women’s basketball team. For her efforts at Indiana and accomplishments after leaving, she was also inducted into the Indiana University Hall of Fame in 1995. In her free time, Tara is an avid piano player.
Distinguished Bennett Scholar Alum Speaker: Eréndida Cerrillo ‘02
Eréndida Cerrillo ‘02, raised in North Fair Oaks, was among the second cohort to help shape and pioneer The Girls’ Middle School. She went on to attend Menlo-Atherton High School, where she was a part of school leadership, the girls’ soccer team, and College Track, an after-school tutoring and mentorship program for first-generation students. Eréndida then began her pursuit of higher education at Pace University. While in New York City, she built a career around helping others, working across retail brands such as Express, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, and Cartier, and ultimately pivoting to community-centered work in the NYC Department of Education.
Eréndida has now returned to the Bay Area after 16 years in New York City and, since 2023, has served as the Administrative Manager at Pal Center, a nonprofit organization that provides holistic support, resources, and enrichment opportunities to underserved families across the Peninsula.
Beyond her work in the community, she cherishes time with family and decades-long friendships, travels to music festivals, and has become an avid runner, training for races like the Livermore Valley Half Marathon. She is currently finalizing her degree in Psychology from Mercy University. She feels immense gratitude for her time at GMS, which helped instill in her a sense of independence, critical thinking, and resilience, all of which continue to shape her identity and journey today.
We recognize that not everyone will be able to attend the Breakfast. We encourage you to consider making a gift or pledge in support of The Bennett Scholars Program. Your gift will be recognized in our Annual Report.