32 Amazing Online Resources To Help Empower Girls
Susan notes: I’m sure there are many more sites, blogs and organisations out there dedicated to empowering girls. I will be happy to grow this list with your input.
Please email me information formatted as the entries are in the list below, with the URLs for Facebook pages, YouTube channels and Twitter accounts, and I will add them. Special thanks to @YasminMehbarand @NesimaAberra for helping to compile this list.
This video was produced by the Because I Am A Girl campaign. It's focused on the developing world. But the issues it briefly touches on are worldwide - they are what make all of the organisations below necessary. Let's hope that one day videos and lists like these won't be needed.
Did you know?
An extra year of school for girls will increase their lifetime income by 10 - 20 per cent.
An extra year of school for girls will increase their lifetime income by 10 - 20 per cent.
About Face
San-Francisco-based About-Face equips women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media messages that affect their self-esteem and body image. It does so through three programs: Education Into Action media-literacy workshops; Take Action, which enables girls and women to develop and execute their own actions; and About-Face.org, its web site.
About Face’s vision is to imbue girls and women with the power to free themselves from the burden of body-image problems so they will be capable of fulfilling their varied and wondrous potentials.
AfricAid
AfricAid is a nonprofit organization that supports girls¹ education in Africa in order to provide young women with the opportunity to transform their own lives and the futures of their communities.AfricAid was started in 2001 by a 16-year-old girl who believed that nothing is more important for girls in Africa than education. Since that time, AfricAid has supported thousands of students in Tanzania through scholarships, teacher training and vocational training. Most recently, AfricAid launched The Kisa Project, a girls' scholarship and leadership training initiative that connects girls in Tanzania with their sponsor families and student groups through the kisaproject.org website.Twitter: @AfricAid
Because I Am A Girl
Part of Plan Canada, the global campaign Because I am a Girl was created to invest in girls in developing countries to eliminate poverty and create a better world and a brighter, safer future for girls, boys and everyone.
The program's goal is to engage one million girls to raise money for projects such as clean water and food security, health care and education and livelihood initiatives, such as microfinance.
Because I Am A Girls says:
"We believe girls have a right to be invested in, a right to be acknowledged as an economic force to be reckoned with. It is time for us to really listen to the voices of girls - they are the key to change."
Twitter: @biaagcanada
Coalition For Adolescent Girls
The Coalition for Adolescent Girls is committed to creating lasting change for communities in the developing world by driving investments to adolescent girls. It’s a public-private partnership that brings fresh perspectives, diverse resources and concrete solutions to the challenges facing adolescent girls in developing countries.
Founded by the United Nations Foundation and the Nike Foundation in 2005, the Coalition has been joined by more than 30 leading international organizations, including its founding members, International Center for Research on Women, the Population Council and the International Women’s Health Coalition.
Empowering-Girls
Empowering-Girls is committed to reducing all threats to girlhood that crush girls ' true nature and potential.They focus on overturning the gender stereotypes that make girls obsess with body image, keep girls from taking leadership roles, limit girls' interests in sciences and maths and cause them to feel self-aware when playing sports.
The first years of a girl's life are a crucial time when their identity and model of world are being shaped. Empowering-Girls mentors parents and educators to nurture a strong empowered identity and belief system in young girls enabling them to overcome all the challenges they face as they grow up.
Twitter: @girlempowerment
4 Girls Glocal Leadership
4GGL plants the seed of self-worth and leadership that are nurtured and passed on through a multi-generational women’s leadership model. The foundation is Sofias, women with expertise, wisdom, and compassion to be role models, mentors, and resource to our local partners and 4GGL.
The driving force is Young Leaders, college age women, whose leadership we cultivate to be the local girls’ leadership trainers, the catalysts for local social change, and future women leaders. With wisdom of Sofias and energy of Young Leaders, 4GGL makes leadership development possible for the world’s poorest girls. It is developing a sustainable model—a legacy of women’s leadership—to advance gender equity globally.Twitter Facebook
Girls Action Foundation
Girls Action provides spaces for Canadian girls to speak out, build skills, and create action on issues that are important and real to them. Its national leadership program offers long-term investment and support to young women who are change makers in their communities. It supplies publications, resources and practical support, and its programs include: coaching, training and networking opportunities that help develop community initiatives and girls' programs.
Twitter: @_GirlsActionGirls for Gender Equity, Inc
Girls for Gender Equity is committed to improving the physical, psychological, social and economic development of girls and women. Through education, organizing, and physical fitness, Girls for Gender Equity encourages communities to remove barriers and create opportunities for girls and women to live self-determined lives.
Girls for Gender Equity will organize campaigns to achieve safety and equality in the social, political, educational, athletic, economic, health and media worlds of the smaller and larger communities in which girls and women live and work.Email
Girls Inc
Girls Incorporated is a non-profit organization that inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold through a network of local organizations in the United States and Canada. With local roots dating to 1864 and national status in the U.S. since 1945, Girls Inc. responds to the changing needs of girls and their communities through research-based programs and advocacy that empower girls to reach their full potential and to understand, value, and assert their rights. In 2009, Girls Inc. reached over 900,000 girls through Girls Inc. affiliates, its website, and educational publications.
Twitter: @girls_incGirls in the Game
Girls in the Game provides and promotes sports and fitness opportunities, nutrition & health education, and leadership development to enhance the overall health and well-being of all girls.
Twitter: @GirlsintheGameGirlStart
GirlStart is a non-profit organization created to empower girls to excel in math, science, and technology. Founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, GirlStart quickly established itself as a best-case practices leader in empowering, educating, and motivating girls to enjoy and become more proficient in math, science and technology.
Twitter: @girlstartYouTube
Girl Up
Girl Up, a campaign of the United Nations Foundation, gives American girls the opportunity to channel their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for programs of the United Nations that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. Through Girl Up’s support, girls have the opportunity to become educated, healthy, safe, counted, and positioned to be the next generation of leaders.
Twitter: @girlupGlobal Girl Media
Global Girl Media is a coalition of women broadcasters and journalists from around the world that has recognized that much mainstream reporting focuses on flash points of violence, celebrity or disaster, while the everyday experience and voice of the invisible majority, particularly young women, passes silently under the radar.
GGM puts girls at the center of the story, training a future generation of female citizen journalists. It is dedicated to empowering high-school-age girls from under-served communities through media, leadership and journalistic training to have a voice in the global media universe and their own futures.Twitter: @GlobalGirlMedia
Hardy Girls Healthy Women
Hardy Girls Healthy Women (HGHW) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the health and well being of girls and women. Its vision is that all girls and women experience equality, independence, and safety in their everyday lives. It creates opportunities, develops programs, and provides services that empowers girls; its resources and services are powered by the latest research in girls' development.
Twitter: @hghwI Am A Girl – documentary and online project
The simple fact of being born female means you are more likely to be subjected to violence, disease, poverty and disadvantage than any other group on the planet. “I Am A Girl” is a feature length documentary and online project currently in production and made possible through philanthropic support. The film will tell the stories of ten girls from ten different countries around the world and explore the realities of what it means to grow up female.iTwixie
iTwixie is a safe online social networking site for tween girls. The philosophy of the site’s founders is that girls are full of curiosity, smarts, ideas and beauty and they have the power to change the world. iTwixie challenges girls to express their unique talents, creations, natural beauty and true interests. It brings girls together to try new things; to explore tough topics; and to create a powerful bond between girls from all over the globe. (Sounds like fun to me!)Twitter: @iTwixie
Passion Foundation
Passion Foundation’s mission is to help young women achieve personal success in life by supporting each other. By providing opportunities for self exploration and positive role modeling it aims to decrease self harm and help young women to connect with their life purpose while being part of a community of success oriented peers; building on leadership and mentorship skills.Twitter: @passionteams
Related AWR links:
Grateful For Pain That Led To Passion
Powerful Words of Gratitude to Jackie from Alex
Perfectly Imperfect, Inc.
Perfectly Imperfect was created, designed, and founded Brandi N. Matthews. It’s mission is to challenge motivate and empower the young women of our society, to promote education, life skills, and social awareness.Perfectly Imperfect’s main focus is to promote the “I.A.M. Our Tomorrows” Idea: Which implies that “I am Inspiring, Assisting, and Motivating our Tomorrows! “Inspiring” that inner self, that inner beauty, and that self worth which we all have within. “Assisting” in teen pregnancy prevention, life skills, PSAT/SAT prep, career assessments, preparing for transition from middle school to high school from high school into college or workplace, counseling, and other peer group sessions. “Motivating” to believe it, achieve it, and set no limits.
Perfectly Imperfect believes this concept helps increase the knowledge and well being of our young women.
Twitter: @BrandiMatthews
Pigtail Pals
Pigtail Pals was created by a mom who refused to accept the stereotypes and messages being sold to her young daughter. Creator Melissa Wardy decided to become the change she wanted in the girls’ marketplace. Pigtail Pals has set out to Redefine Girly, and believes we need to change the way we think about our girls. We use bold color and artful design to show girls of all ages that they can be smart, daring, and adventurous. Pigtail Pals offers an online store, Redefine Girly Media Literacy Workshops, a blog about girls’ issues and marketing, and active social media groups.Twitter: @PigtailPals
Blog
Powered By A Girl
Powered By A Girl is a girl-driven activist movement that uses satire, humor, and a passion for social media to talk back to sexism and sexualization in media. The PBG team demands more creative, more diverse, and more positive images of girls and women. They are transforming the landscape of girls' media, one image at a time – AND they have THE coolest do-it-yourself-by-recaptioning sexualized ads gallery you’ve ever seen.Reel Grrls
Reel Grrls empowers young women from diverse communities to realize their power, talent and influence through media production.It offers a variety of hands-on workshops for teenage girls in specific skills including animation, cinematography, script writing and more. Reel Grrls mission is to cultivate voice and leadership in girls at a vulnerable age in their development. Its program has the high-level of support of female mentors. Participants develop lasting relationships with women filmmakers and learn skills that propel them to leadership roles in their community, college scholarships, and careers in the media industry.
Twitter: @reelgrrls
YouTube
Richard’s Rwanda
Richard’s Rwanda is a group of Seattle students who are working together to support Rwandan girls’ education. We provide financial support to low-income girls in the rural area of Nyamata to enable them to complete their primary education and six years of secondary school. Fifteen-year-old Jessica Markowitz, a freshman at Garfield High School in Seattle Washington, established Richard’s Rwanda IMPUHWE in October 2006 to help Rwandan girls receive the education they deserve.The organization’s objectives include reducing the gender discrimination that prevents girls from completing primary and secondary education, developing an on-going cross-cultural exchange program between high school students in Seattle, WA and primary and secondary girls in Nyamata and Kigali Rwanda and supporting the mentorship provided by girls from Fawe Girls School in the Rwandan capital Kigali, to low income girls in the rural district of Nyamata.
SHARE
Many girls who attend primary school in East Africa struggle to become literate. They are expected to perform household chores, such as fetching water, collecting firewood, and planting beans, instead of pursuing their studies. SHARE is edicated to addressing this problem by empowering girls in Africa through education. SHARE has created 4 libraries, equipped with a total of 23,000 books and serving more than 3000 students in rural Tanzania.In Africa, SHARE:
- runs girls reading classes
- renovates schools & builds libraries
- trains teachers
- and more!
- spreads awareness & raise funds to support work in Africa
- conducts book and school-supply drives & ships donations to Africa
- operates a Pen Pal Program
- and more!
Facebook YouTube
SheHeroes
SheHeroes wants kids to know that there are people like them who have worked hard and overcome challenges, so that kids today too can dream big and become tomorrow’s heroes. It uses new and traditional media as well as kids’ events to tell the stories of extraordinary women who are role models in diverse careers.It aims to provide both girls and boys with broader potential visions of themselves, and to balance the imbalance of gender role models as seen in mainstream media. There are lots of cool video interviews with amazing women on the SheHeroes site.
Twitter: @SheHeroes
She's the First
She's the First promotes the importance of educating girls, especially in the developing world. We sponsor girls around the globe by encouraging young women to unlock the power of their social networks and creatively fundraise, giving underprivileged girls the means to break barriers and become the "first" to achieve their special goals.Twitter: @shesthefirst
Related AWR links:
Tammy Tibbetts (Activist/Leader/Founder of She’s the First)
Spotlight on Girls Television & New Media
Spotlight on Girls Television & New Media is a TV- video and film forum where the visionaries and the resilient tell stories that transform lives. Spotlight brings a distinct, authentic -girl's voice- to public discussions of issues that affect the lives of young women.Spotlight on Girls television crews in numerous cities invite viewers to see through the lenses of girls who convey powerful messages that can uplift millions. Shows expose and counteract the perpetuation of gender-based stereotypes in the media. The Spotlight advocacy framework prepares young women to become social change agents in their communities and within the broadcast communications industry.
Twitter: @SpotlightnGirls
Starfish International
Starfish International’s mission is to establish a state of the art academy of excellence that will provide the Gambian girl-child an advanced education from pre-school to graduate school. By providing a diverse staff from around the world, experts in their respective fields, Starfish hopes to give the Gambian girls an unparalleled educational experience.Twitter: @StarfishIntl
YouTube
Starfish One By One
Starfish One By One is a non-profit organization that empowers young Mayan women in Guatemala through education and mentorship to become leaders in their community. Starfish was founded on the principle of providing a high-quality program on an individual basis so that they in turn can promote the profound changes needed to break generational cycles of poverty for many.Through a unique combination of a scholarship and mentoring, Starfish ensures a young Mayan woman¹s sustained access and success in middle and high school. These capable young women become empowered to change their family, community and country.
YouTube
Blog
Story Scarves Goodwill Movement
A non-profit goodwill movement for girls in South Africa, Story Scarves offers hope-fueled friendships through arts-in-action and a cross-cultural Diaspora for girls that initiates international friendships. The Story Scarves girls are teenagers living in Soweto, South Africa. Most are in foster care or live with their guardians. Their sisterhood meets on Saturdays at a care centre to sew scarves, which help spread love and friendship throughout Africa and the world!Twitter: @storyscarves
10x10
10×10 is a groundbreaking film and a global social action campaign that will highlight the fact that investing in adolescent girls in the developing world creates a ripple effect of change that transforms families, communities and entire countries for generations.The film, directed by Academy-Award nominated director Richard Robbins, will explore these young girls lives and the barriers they confront. The action campaign will bring together NGOs, corporations and individuals who share a common commitment to the empowerment of girls and young women around the world.
Twitter: @10x10act
The Black Girl Project
The Black Girl Project provides tools, guidance and support for girls to prepare themselves physically, socially, emotionally and culturally for the responsibilities of young adulthood. It confronts the issues that most-impact girls head-on all within the context of being a Black female in an ever-changing world. It utilizes literature, the arts, individual and group work, along with a host of interdisciplinary modes to help bolster self-esteem, critical thinking and leadership skills.Twitter: @blackgirlproj
The Girl Effect
The Girl Effect is the potential of 600 million adolescent girls to end poverty for themselves and the world.It’s an untapped force in the fight against poverty, and it’s driven by champions around the globe: the Nike Foundation, the NoVo Foundation, the UN Foundation, the Coalition for Adolescent Girls, CARE, Plan, the Population Council, ICRW and the Center for Global Development – and many others.
Twitter: @GirlEffect
Girl Effect Videos On AWR (they are SO cool!)
The United Nations Girls' Education Initiative
The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) was launched in 2000 by the UN Secretary-General to assist national governments as they fulfill their responsibilities towards ensuring the right to education and gender equality for all children, girls and boys alike.It has a challenging, focused and simple goal: “A world where all girls and boys are empowered through quality education to realize their full potential and contribute to transforming societies where gender equality becomes a reality.”
Twitter: @UNGEI
7Wonderlicious
7Wonderlicious was created to provide young girls with great empowering role models that they can relate to and aspire to be.They have created seven amazing characters that guide and inspire young girls all over the world to play full out in life and fulfill their true nature and potential.
The 7Wonderlicious girls will be soon featured in books and other educational products that will showcase them fixing and building things, applying maths, being active in sports and other activities that help reduce the impact of gender stereotypes that make girls obsess with body image, keep girls from taking leadership roles, that limit girls' interests in sciences and maths and cause them to feel self-aware when playing sports.
Twitter: @7wonderlicious
