moxie newsletter

Michele Pino signed on as a Coach during the pilot program in Phoenix and has been a GFC Coach at Orangedale Elementary in Phoenis for two years:

I was very shy as a teen and I didn’t want to speak up. I had a lot to say, but it was all inside and I didn’t know that anybody would want to hear me. Then organizations that came into my realm lead me in high school and college to become a leader.

I have kind of an international background. I did some work with teaching women leadership in Siberia. What blew me away was that these women were so strong and capable and pulling their families together while everything was falling a part around them. It made me think that women are the same everywhere and we need more balance in leadership positions. I thought wouldn’t it be great if we could get more women into leadership in our communities. I learned about GFC and that was the magic pill!

continues...

2008

Spring

Winter

Fall: SV/National

Fall: PHX

Summer

Spring

2006

October

July

March

2005

December

September

July

March

2004

December

November

In 2006-2007, Adrian Reznik, a GFC Coach who is an expert in training adults on teaching and parenting skills, was a coach for Team 18, Kuban Elementary School. It was the first year this school had a Girl Action Team.

With the support of Adrian (pictured left) and her co-coach, Debra (pictured right), the team worked on teaching their peers about conflict resolution in order to empower youth with confidence and self-esteem so that they are able to deal with peer conflict in a safe manner. The girls delivered public service announcements to 5th grade students in their school by acting them out live in the classrooms.

"This year I was blessed with dozens of energetic middle school girls," Adrian says. "These eager young women showed up with passionate visions of serving their community. They were excited, hopeful, playful and ready to contribute."

Read the rest of Adrian's inspirational story about being a Coach on her web site.

Karen Kang, a GFC Coach in , recently wrote about why she thinks Girls For A Change is a powerful organization. The article appeared in her marketing industry newsletter:

Branding non-profit organizations can be a difficult task for some marketers because there is rarely a large advertising budget and the marketing sophistication of the staff is often limited. Girls For A Change (GFC) is a non-profit organization based in and Phoenix that has built a strong brand despite having no advertising budget. How they have done this is branding the old-fashioned way: developing a compelling product or service, creating word-of-mouth and loyal partnerships, and delivering on the brand.

I know this from personal experience having been a volunteer coach for one of GFC's Girl Action Teams in East Palo Alto this year. GFC's mission is to help disadvantaged girls to become social change agents in their communities, and in the process nurture confidence, self-worth and leadership in each girl.

continues...

Before GFC I was shy and I didn’t have much self-confidence, I always hid in the corner. I thought everyone was smarter than me. After the first three weeks of GFC I started coming out of my little shell and participating in class more and everyone noticed. Now I’m the first person to raise my hand to go in front of the class to give a speech. In GFC they made me realize that everyone is equal and no one is better than anyone else.

continues...

Addy Bareiss is a first-year Coach for the Girl Action Team at A&A Cottages. Addy and her Co-Coach Liz Allen have have been meeting with their team to identify an issue for their social change project. The girls have decided that their project will focus around child abuse.

Addy was recently awarded the Outstanding Volunteer Award by her fellow employees at Boeing for her volunteerism and service with Girls For A Change.
Boeing employees voluntarily  register and donate part of their earnings to the Boeing Employees Community Fund. Monies from this fund are granted to community serving organizations and are awarded to the Outstanding Volunteer Award winner's organization of choice. Addy selected Girls For A Change! Thanks to Addy's passion and dedication to GFC, Boeing awarded us $1000.00 to help with our efforts of empowering girls to create social change in their communities.  Thanks Addy!

Addy shares her GFC experience below: 

"I am consistently in awe of the work of Girls For A Change. After the initial Coach training, I felt so empowered, so ready to bring that energy to the girls and so sure that GFC was clearly awesome that I immediately told every strong woman I know, GFC is the place to be!

Every time I meet with the girls or my Co-Coach, it renews my confidence that we, as women, can create the change our communities and world need. I adore working with my co-coach. There is such a positive spirit among women in GFC I haven't experienced anywhere else. I hope we bring all of that spirit to the girls.

I hope the award from Boeing's Employee Community Fund, graciously donated by individual employees, allows GFC to continue to do their amazing work: empowering professional women to empower young women to change the world!"

Girl Action Team 22, Evergreen Valley High School, South San Jose was featured in the November 2004 edition of Moxie as they had just completed the brainstorming phase of their anti-smoking campaign entitled SCUPINO. Since then, girl action team 22 has secured grants from GFC and Youth Service America and is in the final stages of image design and placement.

They have networked with design and marketing consultants, including New Girls Network Project Consultant, Shirley Horn. SCUPINO is now ready to take off and reduce the "cool" factor of smoking and to make sure young people realize the consequences and dangers of smoking before they actually start. Beginning in April 2005, SCUPINO images, with the slogan "Don't Give In" will be placed on billboards, buses, mail kiosks and everywhere teens hang out to warn prospective teen smokers about the health issues associated with smoking in a way that is informative and makes an impact.

Judy Kramer was the very FIRST individual donor to GFC. Just a few short years ago, Girls For A Change was approached for the first time by an individual interested in contributing to the magic of GFC. Four years later, we have grown our individual donor base ten-fold, yet still remain close to our first donor. This year, we were thrilled to receive the fourth check over four years, from Judy, and wanted to share the exhilarating moment with you all:

Whitney Smith, GFC Co-CEO: "When I checked the mail, I saw a check from Judy with a great note of support. I was filled with such gratitude; it was as if the challenging week just disappeared. I felt re-invigorated. We at GFC have amazing individual donors and Judy led the way for this! Each time we get a check in the mail from an individual donor, each time we open that envelope, it is not just the valuable monetary support that is encouraging, it is also the affirmation that people are cheering us on to empower young women. It is the reminder that there are many individual donors, a community, who believe in the mission of GFC and the power of young women to change the world. Thank you Judy from the bottom of my heart for being our partner in Girls For A Change."

GFC would like to Judy Kramer and all ensuing donors who have contributed through their time, money and energy to empower girls to create social change in their communities. Each and everyone one of you makes a difference. Thank you.

Here at GFC, we honor our donors and supporters and enjoy the relationships we have been able to build with may of you. We also think it important to let you know how your contributions, financial and otherwise, are deeply appreciated.

That is why we like to honor some of you from time to time, to publicly thank you and share your experience with others. This edition of Moxie honors long time donor, Rebecca Ramirez.

Rebecca is a long time supporter of Girls For A Change—in terms of supporting her niece’s participation in the program for the past 3 years and through her generous donations.

Rebecca first decided to donate because she saw the transformed relationship between her niece, Stephanie, with Stephanie’s mom, a GFC coach and long time volunteer. She saw that as Stephanie’s outlook on the world changed, and that as Stephanie realized her power as a young woman, her relationship with her family improved.

Rebecca continues to donate today because she sees how GFC creates a rare space where girls are consistently encouraged to speak their mind and take action on their ideas. GFC creates a space, she says, where girls know they are valued, no matter where they come from, who their family is, and who their friends are. She sees girls learning skills that they can use later in life. Most of all, she sees girls who are learning how to feel good about themselves while creating a change in their communities. She says,

"GFC allows girls to move from victims or passive observers, to powerful, action oriented members of the community."

We honor her commitment to young women and social change, and thank her deeply for her ongoing support.

Stopping the Name Calling at School

Team 8 knew that many of the fights and broken friendships at their school resulted from rumors, name calling and talking about other people. The team created one day at the school where students were encouraged to stop name-calling and stop talking negatively about others. The girls and coaches were role models on Don't Hate Appreciate Day by wearing special t-shirts and being leaders in the effort. They also presented to Ida Jew Elementary School students about the issue and encouraged the students there to participate in the movement.

First year coaches Sasha and Sarah had this to say about their experience:

"The wisdom the girls brought to the project amazed us. The growth and connection we experienced as a team was so rewarding, and then on top of that we felt so proud to see the girls follow through on tasks every week. This experience taught us so much!"

Thank you Sasha, Sarah and Team 8 for the change you've created this year.

This summer, we were fortunate enough to have two amazing young women, Claire Kiely and Stephanie Ramirez, take on internships with GFC. We loved every minute of having them in the office! They have described some of their experiences below.

Claire Kiely
Not only did Girls For A Change lay a foundation of skills that can be useful in any future endeavors of mine, but it also re- confirmed the principle of GFC."

"Through the internship, I continued along my path to supreme self-confidence and empowerment. GFC has been pivotal in my growth to the powerful woman I am.

Stephanie Ramirez"
The summer has finally ended and today is the last day of my internship here at Girls For A Change. I can honestly say that I have gained effective working skills, but most importantly I have learned how to build positive relationships with my fellow co-workers.

Overall, I have taken away fantastic life values with me. GFC truly reaches out to young women to change their communities, but they take it even farther than that. GFC takes young woman on a journey. They have guided me in changing my community and have also opened doors of opportunity for me. By welcoming me into an internship they have showed me how important it is to them to have young women surrounding every level of GFC. They have given me a priceless gift: the gift of experience. I have built great relationships here and I use the skills I learned in my personal life. I have grown again this summer in my mind and morals. This summer has lifted me up more in becoming a strong adult woman.