You may not have noticed it, but October 11th was the first United Nations International Day of the Girl.
As the sponsors say, “The Day of the Girl is about highlighting, celebrating, discussing, and advancing girls lives and opportunities across the globe.”
Great idea. And The Junior League has been all over it for a long time.
Just take a quick look at these League programs focused empowering young women.
The Junior League of the Palm Beaches’ Girls Empowerment Mentoring Sessions (GEMS) brings needed supplies and educational events to young women while they are detained in a juvenile detention center. The goal is to teach skills, instill hope, and to empower the girls to change their lives to decrease the incidence of adult detention.
The Junior League of the City of New York’s volunteers work with the Supportive Children’s Advocacy Network (SCAN) to empower young girls in East Harlem and the South Bronx by teaching them leadership skills.
In a program called Strong Moms, Strong Girls, the Junior League of Ann Arbor is working with the University of Michigan Center for the Child and the Family (UCCF) to provide girls in grades 4-7 and their mothers resources to spot and challenge relational aggression.
Hoping to build upon the Junior League of Ann Arbor’s success with Strong Moms, Strong Girls, the Junior League of the Lehigh Valley has adopted the program for their community.
The Junior League of Boise‘s Especially Me program works with pre-teen girls on issues like self-image and self-esteem, puberty and dealing with peer pressure.
The Junior League of Pasadena‘s BodyWise conference helps middle school girls establish a foundation of healthy habits and positive body image that will last a lifetime.
The Junior League of Rochester’s GIRLSrock! helps girls in grades 7-12 through mentoring and sessions on self-esteem, health, leadership and mentoring.
The Junior League of Lancaster’s Girls in Business program provides girls with a foundation in business knowledge, giving them a foundation for success as they pursue careers beyond high school.
The Junior League of Austin’s Hispanic Mother-Daughter Program – now an independent organization in Austin called Con Mi MADRE – works to increase the representation of Hispanic girls in higher education through educational and social support services for girls and their mothers. Not only is JLA still very involved in providing Con Mi Madre with volunteers and financial support, the program has just been cited by the National Alliance for Hispanic Families as an example of a sustainable program that solves critical problems within the Hispanic community!
And those are just a few of the more recent “girl” programs started by Junior Leagues!