Woke Girls

Woke Girls is a children's brand (chapter & activity books, doll line and games) which shows girls that even when the world is unfair, they have the power to overcome adversity and make the change they want to see.

Woke Girls is a children's brand (chapter & activity books, doll line and games) which uses characters and their stories to teach girls how to leverage their social and emotional capabilities towards navigating an unfair society to achieve their goals.

Woke Girls portrays a diverse set of characters (diverse in race, religion, gender, socioeconomic status, immigration status, and more) who give voice to the real-life issues girls experience today, but are ignored by mainstream children’s media. Each story is written to align with established Social Justice Standards and Social and Emotional Learning frameworks. This means that the stories go beyond fashion and friendship to introduce more difficult topics such as coping with discrimination or being unfairly stereotyped. We incorporate fantasy elements to keep the stories light and the girls transform into superheroes which allows us to redefine negative stereotypes as "super powers". Each character finds her power to make change through entrepreneurship, technology, or a range of other skills/activities.

With each new chapter book, a doll based on the book's main character will be released. The dolls have authentic facial features, hair types and skin colors that are unique to each doll, and realistic body proportions to generate positive self-esteem.

The Woke Girls brand ensures accessibility by growing into activity books, online games and other forms of children's entertainment. Girls will develop:

• Self-esteem and self-love for aspects of their identity that may be devalued in mainstream society (i.e. immigration status, religion, hair texture, etc.)
• Belief that they are worthy of opportunity, justice, and empathy
• Improved understanding of how they can navigate around unfair barriers and proactively find ways to fill systemic gaps in opportunity
• Recognition that people just like them have power to make change in ways which benefit themselves and their communities

Girls from disadvantaged backgrounds aren’t explicitly taught about the systemic obstacles they face or shown that they are capable of overcoming them.

Therefore, they’re less likely to:

• Build a healthy self-identity
• Recognize the adaptability, resilience and other strengths they may develop from working through adversity
• Develop effective strategies and coping techniques to counter the harmful effects of inequality
• Identify and utilize opportunities that will prepare them for the workforce of the future

The definite way for girls to thrive is to eliminate all systemic barriers. Until that happens, we must educate girls to successfully navigate the world they live in.

Woke Girls will be effective because through engaging with empowering toys, games and narratives, girls will adopt a "hero" mindset, which will make them better equipped to overcome systemic barriers.

Girls will be empowered by internalizing the idea that their backgrounds make them uniquely capable in solving the challenges which concern them the most. And when girls recognize their individual and collective power, nothing can stop them from pursuing the skills they need and changing the world!

Through interacting with Woke Girls as a source of entertainment, girls (ages 4-11) will become competent in age-appropriate Social & Emotional Learning and Social Justice standards. 

• Chapter Books (middle grade) - narratives provide scenarios which reflect the above standards
• Fashion Dolls - diverse dolls improve self-esteem and drive social and emotional development by giving children the opportunity to be creative and role-play
• Activity Books - books which include coloring, drawing and writing. The images and prompts reinforce the standards introduced in the chapter books
• Visual Novel Games  (Online)- interactive narratives allow for deeper exploration of the stories and reinforce standards

Print book and track sales;

Receive feedback via reviews and surveys - Book #1 published and sold/distributed to 1000 girls (By Q2 2018)

Produce/print and track sales - First doll and activity book produced and sold to 1000 girls (By Q3 2018)

Game created using a low cost visual novel engine;

Track downloads/hits on website - First chapters of Visual Novel Game created and received 3000 plays (by Q4 2018)

The online visual novel game is the technological aspect of Woke Girls. Stories will be interactive and reinforce learning concepts.

The games will introduce the Woke Girls characters' narratives to pique girls’ interest. Furthermore, they’ll allow readers to explore alternate scenarios depending on the choices made. This shows how different choices impact outcomes.

This is innovative because while mainstream dolls with stories (i.e. American Girl) offer games online, they are purely for entertainment (i.e. fashion studio, etc.) and have minimal storytelling elements. Woke Girls' games are entertaining and educational.

Woke Girls is 100% human-centered because of who we are and who we serve:

• Start: The narratives, art and everything else are created by a team of women who come from underserved communities 
• End: While the games will appeal to all girls, they are created for girls from underserved communities. Girls will see relatable scenarios that will help them learn how to safely and healthily respond to unfair situations.
• Involved: We depend on underserved communities to choose what issues the narratives address. Our brand will be successful because we truly value the input we receive from families from underserved communities.

Deployment: Online and mobile apps

They’ll be advertised via book and doll product packaging, social media, online ads, and potentially partner organizations who serve the same population. 

Accessibility: Our target customer can access games via smart phone or on a computer at school or at home. 

Affordability: The first few chapters of the games will be available for free. We will likely charge ~$5 to unlock the whole game. However, if we earn enough profits from the dolls and books, we will make the games completely free.

We have chosen a for-profit model to ensure financial sustainability. The shifting demographics of American children combined with the proven demand for characters from underrepresented backgrounds imply that we have a strong business case for profitability. 

We are also incorporating a sister non-profit which will open up additional funding opportunities.  

Pilot: Our pilot consists of the first character's full line (doll, book, activity book and games).  The book and activity book are self-funded and we will pursue grants and crowd-funding to produce the dolls and game (~$45k). Profits from this line will be enough to produce additional inventory and potentially contribute to the launch of other characters.

Grow/Scale:  Next, we will seek crowd-funding, grants, and business loans to establish the full line (~$40k/per character), bring team members on full time, and cover marketing expenses. 

Each character line should be financially self-sustaining after start up costs.

1. Brand awareness

• We have learned that without media attention or advertising, it will be difficult to crowdfund or acquire customers. We anticipate that publicity will be easier to attain when the first book is released, but have not received media attention so far.

2. Reluctant Funders

• We’re the first to introduce characters with these identities. Potential funders may be afraid of negative backlash.
• People from similar backgrounds to our characters have expressed excitement because they understand the problem. Most potential funders don’t come from underserved backgrounds and may be less convinced that this is a valid problem. 

https://www.facebook.com/WokeGirls/

https://youtu.be/s8mXpQu10IQ

https://youtu.be/iouvYH5IANo

Woke Girls is applying to MIT Solve because joining this community would accelerate our progress and amplify our impact.

The technology-based part of our solution, the visual novel game, will appeal to the largest audience and be most engaging. Solve would give us access to mentorship and expertise which would allow us to make a higher quality product. 

We are deeply passionate about the issues Solve addresses because many of these issues have shaped our lives. We would love the opportunity to share the knowledge we have with the Solve community and solve these problems together!

We have no partners currently. After pilot line is launched, we plan to connect with girl empowerment organizations and educators. 

Our main competitor is Mattel (Barbie, American Girl, DC Super Hero Girls, etc.).