LiveGirl

Dear Elevate,

We are humbly applying for The Elevate Prize, because we whole-heartedly believe that every girl deserves the chance to lead. Did you know? Just 1.6% of U.S. philanthropic funds go to programs supporting women and girls, and just 0.5% toward women and girls of color, according to the Women’s Philanthropy Institute. What does this say about how much we truly value women’s empowerment and leadership? 

Why now? It is a promising time for women and girls, with the election of the first woman and woman of color, VP Kamala Harris, and the formation of the White House Gender Policy Council. Hopefully, the time has come to restore America as a champion for women and girls. However, women and girls (especially women and girls of color) have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and face enduring systemic racism.

If selected, 100% of the funding will be invested in LiveGirl. Our Five-year Strategic Plan has us on a course to extend our reach and impact, and this prize will allow us to do so – and ensure that more girls of color have the opportunity to realize their futures as leaders. Together, we can build an equal, inclusive future.

I grew up on a Michigan farm, worked hard, traveled the world, enjoyed a successful corporate career, and then in 2007 moved to Fairfield County CT. I was grossly shocked by the inequality. While the racial makeup of Fairfield County is similar to that of the US, ⅔ of the towns here are more than 85% white, highlighting the segregation. In 2014, with a passion for equality and over 25 years of corporate and leadership development experience, I founded LiveGirl. My husband and three kids all contributed to getting LiveGirl (named “Liv” after my daughter Olivia) off the ground. LiveGirl is a nonprofit girls leadership organization that builds confident, inclusive leaders. Our mission is to close the female leadership gap and contribute to a world free from both gender and racial inequality. The pandemic has amplified inequality and disproportionately impacted women and girls of color, and our work is more important than ever. I am committed to doing everything I can to scale LiveGirl and to building an equal, inclusive future -– one where my daughter can be President. PS. My daughter (UPENN ‘25) now serves in a leadership capacity and together we co-host the Confident Podcast.

We are addressing the internal, external, and invisible barriers holding young women back. 

We serve thousands of girls annually (grade 5 through college, 67% girls of color) in our innovative, evidence-based leadership development and mentoring programs. Our leadership development approach is skill-based, anti-racist, healing-centered, and gender-inclusive. Our free-of-charge after-school programs range from our middle school Confidence Clubs, creating a safe space for girls at a crucial developmental stage in their lives, to She Works, our career-readiness and internship program for college-aged women. From preteen to young adult, we equip young women with the skills, mentors, role models, and experiences necessary to thrive and gain social mobility.

We provide girls with a safe space to learn new skills and experiences themselves. {self-esteem}

We give girls the tools to be self and socially aware and to discover the power of her voice. {social emotional intelligence}

We provide opportunities for young women to build authentic bridges to other people whose lives are different from their own. {empathy}

Neya Krishnan (HS Senior): “LiveGirl taught me that anything and everything is possible,” Krishnan said. “The specific leadership skills I learned – resilience, public speaking, advocacy, and networking – are the superpowers I need to rise.”

We get loud to advocate for women and girls. We also encourage our girls and women to get loud and take up space. We build confident, inclusive leaders through high dosage, year-round programming, and access to one-on-one mentoring and paid internship opportunities. LiveGirl focuses on skill development that breeds confidence, including public speaking, conflict resolution, networking, advocacy, and activism. We provide the power of community, including access to an extensive network of fierce female role models and mentors. We create BRAVE SPACES where adults are listening to young people on the issues they care about. Our evidence-based programs are proven to build self-esteem, social-emotional intelligence, and empathy. We provide young women ACCESS to key experiences including paid internships to foster social mobility.

Our LiveGirls are proving not only to be tomorrow’s leaders, but today’s, spearheading protests, working to end period poverty, speaking out against sexual violence, and more. (See a list of our high school projects here: https://golivegirl.org/livegirl-league) In ten years, we believe we will look back on this time as the catalyst for gender equity, seeing our first female president, 50% of women in boardrooms, and a philanthropic ecosystem that fully recognizes and supports female leaders.

Since 2014, LiveGirl has reached over 10,000 young women, including 67% girls of color. LiveGirl is recognized as an expert in girls leadership and was named “Best Friend to Girls” by Moffly Media in 2019. LiveGirl was named by the Connecticut Post as one of the top nonprofits innovating to serve their community during the pandemic. LiveGirl was featured in the New York Times on March 6, 2021.

Our movement is based upon feminist intersectionality, which makes us more powerful. We champion all girls and women. Our girls come from communities affected by racism, ableism, religious oppression, economic exploitation, and other forms of injustice. They know from lived experience that these injustices cannot be addressed separately. We are building inclusive leaders who are sparking change in climate justice, disability justice, LGBTQ+ rights, violence prevention and economic opportunity. There is no power for change greater than a female leader. Our organizational lens and solutions-making are centered upon girls and women of color. We don’t need to give Black women and girls voices; they already have voices. Rather, we must hear them, heed them, and hold ourselves accountable to them – and then let them lead the way.