Next in our series of posts about new Charitocracy nominees, we have nominee Girls Leadership, nominated by donor Elinora. They teach girls to exercise the power of their voice, creating impact for over 150,000 girls per year. You can find their web site here.

A few words on Charitocracy

Firstly, for newcomers: here's how it works. Donors pool their monthly contributions, as little as $1. The cause with the most votes each month wins the pot. No matter how much or how little you contribute, each donor at Charitocracy gets one vote. This is where charity meets democracy. So please share this post (see social sharing icons at top of post) and ask your friends to join us and vote! That's how we spread the word and, as a result, grow the monthly pot. The bigger the pot, the bigger our positive impact on the world!

About nominee Girls Leadership

Mission

We teach girls to exercise the power of their voice through programs grounded in social emotional learning. We provide programs for girls, workshops for families, and professional development training for teachers, guidance counselors, and non-profit staff.

Girls Leadership centers gender and racial equity in our work to address the internal and external barriers to leadership development.

There are 25 million K-12th grade girls in the United States. If you combine the efforts of all national girl-serving organizations, they collectively are only reaching about three million, or about 12% of the country’s girls, leaving a staggering 22 million girls in the US without support. Girls Leadership’s bold goal is to close that gap.

Research & Innovation Approach

We create impact for over 150,000 girls per year through a three-part, integrated strategy:

1. Innovation engine: We innovate in our Power Lab, a unique partnership model where our staff build relationships with girls, study and listen to their needs, and then design programs to meet these needs. Programs are validated in the Power Lab to ensure impact is applicable to all girls. Our current labs include the Student Leadership Network in New York and Latitude High School in Oakland, CA.
2. Impact engine: Once we have evidence that programs are working in the Power Lab, we scale that impact by training professionals and partner organizations nation-wide.
3. Advocacy engine: By designing programs to meet the needs of our most marginalized girls, we teach girls the skills they need to exercise the power of their voice to defy the systems that silence them. We partner with schools, community-based organizations, and programs to build their capacity to understand their vital role in upending these systems so our girls can come of age within supportive and healing environments.

Values

We structure our work around four central values: Authentic Communication, Courageous Growth, Equity, and Play.

What Makes Us Unique?

1. Girls Leadership works not only with girls, but also with their primary influencers – parents and caregivers, teachers, and program staff – to create systemic and scaled impact.
2. We put social and emotional learning (SEL) at the foundation of leadership development.
3. We see girls’ every-day relationships with peers, friends and family as the primary opportunity to develop and practice the leadership skills that generate agency and influence over a lifetime.

Definitions

GIRL
At Girls Leadership we recognize that gender is a reflection of identity, biology, and expression.

LEADERSHIP
Leadership is making others and situations better as a result of your presence, and making that impact last in your absence. This work can begin at any age, and doesn’t require a title or role.

So please visit the page of nominee Girls Leadership to vote for, like, or discuss this cause! And check out this powerful video about girls finding their voices: