What organization are you from? What does your organization do?
Our organization is called Girls Go For It and we are an afterschool program currently in the champaign community. We are focused on making girls feel more empowered and lighting the candle for the entrepreneurial spirit and really helping them develop as leaders.
Why did your organization choose to focus on 5th graders, specifically?
We choose 5th graders for a very specific reasons. One of the things we were looking at when we started this program was that really wanted to make an impact for these girls going forward. We started noticing that test scores for girls were starting to drop between 5th and 6th grade looking at publicly available information. We thought maybe there is a tie between how they feel confident in the classroom and what their test scores are showing. If we can get in and try to increase that confidence and develop those leadership skills before they have those drops in scores maybe they will be more engaged in school and succeed in their academic careers.
Girls Go For It’s end goal is “to go forward with the armor of knowledge, education, confidence, and a plan.” Why and how did you choose these goals?
Let me give you the backstory of how Girls Go For It was born. I was a mentor at the Champaign school system and my mentee at the time was in 5th grade. I went to her classroom, and she has a picture of everyone in the class on a chalkboard of what they want to be when they grow up. I was so excited because she’s said “doctor,” and when we were talking a little bit more about it, she said, “I don’t know if that’s what I want to be because we just had to write something to take this photo.” Where she wants to be when she grows up was not part of the conversation. I was with some friends who were also doing the mentoring program that noticed the same thing. We thought, what can we do to help these girls get some professional development experiences early on, so they have a plan and know what it takes in 5th grade, high school, and beyond to get to the level they want to be. Planning has been a big part of our curriculum because we want to expose them to decisions they have to start making pretty early on depending on what career choice they want to go on. It’s not like they have to stick to the plan in 5th grade but when you start understanding what it takes to plan and what it takes to reach a goal you can do that so much faster if you are changing your mind.
What is the first word that comes to mind when you think about the Junior League?
Passion – because I think that it’s filled with people who want to make a difference. When you join the Junior League, they are very upfront that it is a community service organization, which is part of their mission. But, from the people I have met from the organization have some element of being mover and shaker to them, and I love being around that energy.
What do you wish the community knew about the Junior League?
I think that Junior League is a strong center of influence in this community and it is filled with women who are passionate about making a change, and who are dedicated to helping those in need. There is so much heart behind what the members do individually and together, so I would want more people to understand that it is a resource for the community, but it is also a place where you will find passionate people that will help YOU understand the cause. It is an excellent source of funding with CAF grants and that kind of things, but it is also a place for you to spread your message about what you are doing for the community.
How has being part of the Junior League influenced your involvement in other organizations?
I founded Girls Go For It after I joined the Junior League and quite frankly a lot of Junior League members were inaugural board members and continued to serve with Girls Go For It. It is so great because JL is all about the potential of women and Girls for it is about reaching the potential of younger women, so it is a great tie to have those two organizations supporting one another.
Where do you see Girls Go For it five years from now?
We want to be wherever we can help whether that could be more schools around here or branching out other communities and other states. We want to expand. We just want more women to feel empowered and, however, we can best do that and best reach those people we want to be there for them.
Junior League of Champaign-Urbana 