Career Girls Role Model Video Platform
You can’t be what you can’t see. Career Girls addresses the lack of role models for girls, especially for under-served populations, such as girls of color and girls facing economic hardship.
But seeing a role model is not enough. Girls also need the instructional ‘how to be it’ component to set themselves on a path for success.
Career Girls is a free digital career exploration and readiness platform - accessible both online and offline - featuring videos of hundreds of diverse and successful women role models. The platform not only provides inspiration and insights, but offers tangible action steps and tools for girls to plan and prepare for their futures.
Pilot programs in the US and in Rwanda already demonstrate the current demand and potential for increased global impact. Keys to successful global scaling include filming local role models and the development of culturally relevant curriculum and programming.
Globally, there is a staggering lack of access to diverse, accomplished women role models for girls. This problem is particularly pronounced for girls of color and in areas of economic hardship.
Role models are a vital component of education because they show what is possible and provide a roadmap for success. Role models motivate girls to stay on track academically, which positions them to pursue higher education and a career of their choosing.
Without education, girls are shut off from higher-paying jobs and higher standards of living. They have less agency over their lives, GDP suffers and the cycle of poverty continues.
A girl’s access to role models is limited by geographic and social proximity, cultural expectations and stereotypes. These barriers are magnified by economic disruptors such as the COVID 19 pandemic.
“Parents in more traditionally conservative nations tend to prioritize the education of their sons, experts say. So when families lose income, they’re more likely to stretch the budget on schooling for boys”, said Laila Gad, UNICEF’s representative in Liberia, a former Ebola hotspot.
While providing inspiration for girls, the presence of women role models with high earning potential could also persuade families that education is worth the investment.
Career Girls is a free digital career exploration and readiness platform – accessible both online and offline – featuring video interviews of diverse and accomplished women role models sharing what they do, how they got there, and what girls need to do now to prepare for a career of their choosing.
Career Girls can be accessed directly online by girls, or can be used as a teaching tool by educators, mentors and parents.
The CareerGirls.org website offers:
- 13,000+ videos from interviews with 700 women role models
- A personality based career quiz
- Detailed career information pages
- College major information pages
- Career exploration video lesson series
- Skill development video lesson series
- Toolkits for educators, parents and mentors
Career Girls also offers:
- Career Girls Empowerment Workshops
- Career Girls Clubs
- Career Girls Day Events
- Career Girls Virtual Camps
Offline access is provided through World Possible’s RACHEL portable hotspot and their OER2Go portal and Learning Equality’s Kolibri App.
Our content is reflective of our global viewing audience and our downloadable curriculum can be easily tailored to fit within a local context. Partnerships with local implementing organizations ensures that our content is culturally relevant.
Our target population is all girls ages 10 to 13, with a special focus on girls of color and girls facing economic hardship. We selected this age group based on research from the American Association of University Women (AAUW). In their study, “Why So Few”, this is a crucial time for girls to learn from women role models. If they see women they identify with, they are much more likely to stay on track academically. Their subsequent academic success helps to level the playing field with boys and keeps them from falling behind.
We conduct focus groups and implement pilot projects to test and iterate our programming to understand and meet the needs of the girls we serve. We gain additional insights from our school counselor advisory board, curriculum experts, teachers, and other youth development experts.
As an international platform we currently include hundreds of role models from around the world, including 18 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. As we scale, we will continue to interview inspiring women from all over the globe so that every girl, no matter her background, will be able to find women that she can relate to, learn from and begin to imagine her future.
- Increase the number of girls and young women participating in formal and informal learning and training
Career Girls aligns with the goals of the Challenge and Dimension:
- Problem - Marginalized girls and young women have unequal access to quality education.
- Goal - Increasing number of girls and young women participating in formal and informal learning and training.
- Our Solution - A free digital career exploration and readiness platform featuring videos of hundreds of diverse, successful women role models:
- Inspires girls to invest in their own education
- Changes societal perceptions to encourage investment in girls’ education
- Offers valuable insights and skill-based career readiness curriculum
- Focuses on digital literacy and STEM careers
- Easily scaled and adapted for cultural relevance
- Scale: A sustainable enterprise working in several communities or countries that is looking to scale significantly, focusing on increased efficiency

Founder and CEO