Girls Empowerment Network announced its one-of-a-kind girl power, Spark Kit called Lead with your Voice especially for teen and tween girls to inspire them to make their dream today their reality tomorrow. Featuring a colorful journal and all the supplies for 25 hands-on activities, the LEAD WITH YOUR VOICE Spark Kit cultivates girls’ beliefs in their own abilities to become leaders. Every page features prompts and activities that help her use her own voice to understand her values and community, embrace creativity and declare her own vision for her future. We spoke with Claudia Arellano, Program Engagement Manager for the Girls Empowerment Network to discuss the Gift of #girlpower all year long.
FWM: Tell us about the Girls Empowerment Network.
Girls Empowerment Network is a non-profit that was founded 25 years ago in Central Texas. We help girls 3rd-12th grades discover they are powerful. We do this by teaching self-efficacy, which is a girl’s belief in her ability to succeed. Whether she is shooting for an A, overcoming a bully, becoming the first in her family to go to college, breaking up with an abusive partner, or just trying to take care of herself when she feels like no one else will – when a girl experiences our self-efficacy curriculum, she realizes she can do it and she becomes powerful. 25 years from when it was first founded, we now have programming in Houston, Dallas, and continuing to grow throughout Texas.
FWM: Your new Spark Kit, “Lead With Your Voice,” is a box packed with hands-on activities full of ways for girls to explore their identities, families, community and beliefs. How does this open imagination, creativity, and purpose for girls?
Spark Kits are girl power in a box! It is a one-of-kind gift for girls ages 8-13, with more than 25 activities. Each Spark Kit comes with all the supplies for hours of fun — alone or with friends. More than just supplying crafts, Spark Kits give connection! Every girl gets access to a connect via our Connectline and out Virtual Check-In’s with girl experts and other girls.
Why is this the perfect gift?
This one-of-a-kind gift gives girls the power to be unstoppable! Not only that, it is the gift that keeps on giving. All sales benefit the services that Girls Empowerment Network is able to provide. Girls are not only receiving the supplies to be creative, but they are gaining the opportunity to collaborate with girls from all around Texas. In a world where connection with others is hard, Girls Empowerment Network is providing the chance for girls to communicate with others who are going through similar struggles and successes.
FWM: You took much thought into developing this amazing kit. How did developing this kit remind you of your childhood?
I am so proud of the community in southeast Austin where I was born and raised. I often am grateful for knowing that there are unique things about being from the place I grew up, and having a community where others were just like me. In ‘My Place in My Community,’ girls write and draw about their families, city, state and country where they live to explore their communities and where their families came from. It really gives girls time to think about the things that make them proud of where they are from, but also when they share with others they can see how people from all over might also have things in common with where they are from.
FWM: Tell us about the Journal included. Why is journaling so important?
The Spark Activity Journal has all of the information and instructions needed for girls to complete the Spark Kit independently on their own. Parents have busy schedules, and this allows them to hand it off and not need to worry on being with their girl throughout the entire activities. The beauty about the Spark Activity Journal is that it was completely designed by our own “girl experts” with a colorful and clear vision of girls in mind. Examples of these are:
How Diverse is Your Universe? – This colorful activity creates a three dimensional example of diversity in her life.
RGB Collar – By making a collar inspired by those of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, girls learn how one woman can elevate the voices of all and be herself at work and in the world.
Stump Speech and Say It Loud and Proud – After she imagines and defines her vision of the world at its best, she communicates her beliefs through a six-word stump speech. Then she makes a personalized megaphone to share her slogan and stump speech with friends and family.
We have created three Spark Kits, and all of their activities are different and have different effects: Glitter Jars increase self-efficacy in girls’ coping skills; the activity “OK, No Way” improves communication, critical thinking and teaches setting boundaries, collaboration, self-advocacy.
How is the Girls Empowerment Network teaching girls the skills they need to believe in their ability to be unstoppable?
Our self-efficacy curriculum revolves around our Six Cs, which include: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, coping skills, and confidence. We know that if a girl increases in any of these Six Cs, their self-efficacy increases as well. For example, if a girl increases her communication skills and raises her hand to speak up in class, she is more likely to do so as in a situation as an adult, too. As we create the curriculum, we make sure we are teaching all of these skills in different activities.
FWM: Share your projects/initiatives for the Girls Empowerment Network in 2021.
Girls Empowerment Network will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2021! We will continue our current programs including e Spark Kits, Virtual Girl Connect, and our Connectline. The celebration of 25 years also includes the launch of our Spark Change Project. The Spark Change Project is a formal collaborative with the Excellence and Advancement Foundation. The Spark Change Project’s mission is to center girls of color as leaders in advocacy, who also discover their activist voices, and galvanize their peers to engage in their own passions for positive social change. In addition, we will host our annual Girl Advocacy Day virtually in the spring.
www.girlsempowermentnetwork.org
