GAB & GIRLGOV CHESTER COUNTY

CCFWG
 

Virtual Girls in Action Summit

Thankss to all who joined us on May 18th for our Virtual Girls in Action Summit! Click to watch a recording of the program.

You can also access our Girls in Action Summit Resource Guide – filled with self-care tips, volunteer opportunities, info about local teen entrepreneurs, and even a Spotify playlist of empowering dance music – at this link.

 

Girls Programming at CCFWG

Applications are now closed for CCFWG’s Girls Advisory Board and GirlGov Chester County programs. If you have any questions, contact coordinator Maeve Kelly at mkelly@ccfwg.org.

A nationally recognized girls’ grantmaking program, the Girls Advisory Board (GAB) provides local high school girls entering 10th or 11th grade with an opportunity to learn firsthand about the deep and varied needs in their communities and equip themselves with the skills needed to address them.

Over the past 16 years, GAB has awarded over $260,000 to agencies that target the needs of women and girls through innovative services to tackle issues like poverty, violence, homelessness, mental illness, teen pregnancy and substance abuse. As a member of GAB, you will:

  • Learn about philanthropy and giving back to your community
  • Make new friends from different schools and communities in Chester County
  • Discuss pressing social issues with your peers
  • Meet non-profits doing “boots-on-the-ground” work for women and girls
  • Collaborate with peers to fund $19,000 to local organizations through strategic grantmaking
  • Participate in community service activities
  • Get to know influential women in your community

GAB is free for selected participants – accepted girls may participate in GAB for up to two years.

GirlGov Chester County is a civic engagement program that provides local high school girls entering 10th, 11th or 12th grade with an opportunity to learn firsthand about civics, government, advocacy, policy and leadership. As a member of GirlGov Chester County, you will:

  • Work with peers to develop and lead advocacy campaigns
  • Make new friends from different schools and communities in Chester County
  • Meet local and state elected officials
  • Get to know influential women in your community
  • Take a culminating advocacy trip to Harrisburg to meet with legislators about issues that matter to you

Due to a growing interest among high school girls in our programs to be involved in advocacy and policy work, CCFWG has partnered with the Women and Girls Foundation in Pittsburgh to start a chapter of its popular GirlGov program right here in Chester County. We are excited to bring this offering to local high school girls again this year. 

If selected, program participants will be asked to contribute $100 – if they are able to do so – toward the Harrisburg trip in June 2020. Financial support will be available for those who need it. Accepted girls may participate in GirlGov Chester County for up to two years.

 

 

Learn more

 

The Girls Advisory Board

  • Granted over 90 grants and $260,000 to area nonprofits serving women and girls in Chester County. 
  • Co-hosted the first national Girls Grant Making Conference where more than 30 high-school girls from across the country, including our own GAB girls, taught us and each other how they identify and implement change through community grantmaking. 
  • Brings together girls from 27 different public, private and parochial schools. Nearly every high school in Chester County has been represented on GAB since the program’s inception.
  • Awarded the 2007 “Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy” Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Greater Philadelphia Chapter.  

 

The 2019-20 GAB grant recipients were:

  • Alianzas de Phoenixville – $5,000 to support the Mariposas Women’s Program that includes clinical trauma counseling, a women’s support and sewing group, and an English tutoring program for immigrant women and girls living in Phoenixville.
  • The Crime Victims Center of Chester County – $3,500 to support direct services to their clients, more than half of whom experienced sexual violence.  Direct services include professional, personal and effective advocacy for their clients.
  • The Domestic Violence Center of Chester County – $5,000 to support safe housing and relocation for human trafficking victims.
  • Gateway Horseworks – $2,500 to support the Stable Pathways program which offers equine-assisted therapy to women in pre-release from prison.
  • HIAS PA – $3,000 to support legal services to low income immigrant victims of domestic violence living in Chester County. 

 

In the news

 

Four Girls on a Mission Blog

GirlGov Chester County members Althea Mae Hutchinson and Alessandra Bielli penned powerful blog posts for local apparel company, Four Girls on a Mission. 

A number of GAB alumna have also been featured on the Four Girls blog: read posts by Ananya, Bess, Caitlin, Carlee, Emma, Isha, Simran and Sophie.   

 

Philanthropy Network 

GAB girl Tali Levine, Class of 2019-20, reflected on her year of grantmaking and what the program has meant to her. 

 

Philadelphia Inquirer 

GAB girls Carlee, Simran, Sophie, Ananya and Isha were photographed by the Philly Inquirer for an article exploring a new wave of activism among younger generations. The girls spoke about discovering their collective voice through empowering apparel. 

 

WHYY 

Check out the interview that CCFWG Executive Director Michelle Legaspi Sanchez and GAB girls Emory and Bess sat down for with Dave Heller of WHYY’s NewsworksTonight! They spoke about the power of girls grantmaking and giving back to their communities.

 

Generocity 

Three of our second-year GAB girls were interviewed by Generocity.com, a social impact publication in Philadelphia, about the power of consensus and collaboration in fostering change. 

 

DACA in Chester County

The GAB Class of 2017 sat down with Kennett Square native and former GAB girl Anel Medina to talk about the importance of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in her life and the lives of many other DACA recipients in Chester County. Through this video, the girls hope to bring more awareness to DACA and show how changes to the program will impact Anel and young people like her living in our communities.

 

Hear from past GAB girls