Go to the Source.
If you are looking for honest insight into what kids are experiencing, ask and then listen to a teen girl. We are currently in the eighth class of our Girls Granting Initiative (GGI) that began over 15 years ago. Since then nearly 150 high school junior and senior girls have participated - granting over $80,000 to local nonprofits. Using the knowledge of school counselors to determine the right mix of girls who will be honest, vocal and have diverse backgrounds, every other year, we bring together 20 girls ages 15 to 18 from public and private Oshkosh High schools. The girls are representative of all different socio-economic backgrounds.
We meet with the team of girls and a facilitator, who guides the team through discussions about the most pressing issues facing their generation, and each year they give us a longer list of concerns.
The main mission of this initiative is the education and empowerment of young women in our community through philanthropy; but the bigger lessons are ours. We can make educated guesses about what challenges teens might have, but on many levels we simply cannot relate or even imagine what their lived experiences are. So learning from them, directly, is invaluable knowledge that we can then use to help drive some positive change. Some of the grant efforts past GGI classes have funded include:
Mentoring Support for Teen Girls and programming focused on preparing for life after high school, safe teen activities, and social emotional support.
A collaborative pilot program at two local schools w/ sessions on: self-esteem, resiliency, determination, healthy relationships, body image and more
“4-Real” program, an interactive multi-week program for middle school girls focused on: healthy relationships, positive body image and social media management.
A week-long camp focused on healthy relationships held with team building, classes and small group work.
“Participating in Girls Granting showed me how a small thought can turn into a whole movement. In the future I want to work with kids who have a poor upbringing to improve their lives.” Class of 2016
The GGI continues to be one of our most engaging and enlightening granting efforts. The contribution each class of girls makes on the community will have ripple effects on the lives of girls in our community.
