Girls At The Center
In 2022, we launched Girls at the Center, a year long program funded, in part by a grant from the Women’s Foundation of Alabama. Our cohort initially included 15 girls, all girls of color, who met twelve times during the course of the year to discuss the issues faced in their communities. Led by Birmingham based journalist and former educator, Javacia Harris Bowser, the girls learned about sexism, racism, inequities in education and safety, women’s rights, and other issues. As a group, they decided how to approach these issues and the solution they came up with was mentorship. They felt that if girls had access to strong mentors, that had experienced these things themselves, then they would be well equipped to handle the challenges they were faced with.
The links below include interviews created by the girls in the program. We hope you will take time to read them all.
This program is an interactive program created to address the specific needs faced by girls of color and/or from marginalized communities. We are looking for girls ages 14-17 to participate in this program which runs August 2023-May 2024. Program participants will meet with community leaders to learn about issues that affect girls such as mental health, safety and sexual harassment, confidence and public speaking, and other issues of gender equality. The program participants will work together as a group to present what they’ve learned to the public on GirlSpring’s website and at a public event at the end of the year. The goal is to encourage discussion around these topics and to create true change through education and self-advocacy.
