Girls Empowerment Network Leans on Community Input to Craft a Theory of Change
In January 2022, Girls Empowerment Network embarked on a mission to update our organizational Theory of Change, informed by extensive community feedback. Through listening groups, we identified key challenges for girls today, including post-pandemic social navigation, academic pressure, and mental health issues. We learned the critical importance of skills like self-confidence, goal setting, relationship-building, and coping mechanisms. Our findings highlighted the necessity for brave spaces, relatable role models, and empowering youth to use their voices, all of which are pivotal for our future programs and advocacy efforts.
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Discovering My Inner Power as a Leader – 3 Takeaways from New Strategies Program at Georgetown University's Business for Impact
Kameryn Sampson, Interim Deputy Director at Girls Empowerment Network, reflects on her participation in the Georgetown University's Business for Impact program. She shares how she discovered her inner power as a leader and learned how to embrace her strengths as Interim Deputy Director working towards helping girls across Texas ignite their own power.
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Meet Radiant G: Unveiling the Evolution of Girls Empowerment Network's Self-Efficacy Curriculum and Programs
We’re thrilled to share the exciting rebrand of our self-efficacy curriculum – a transformation that symbolizes a radiant new era for our organization.
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Impact Highlights: Reflecting on Impactful Moments for Girls Empowerment Network's 2022-2023 School Year
At Girls Empowerment Network, each year marks a celebration of our impact, a moment we call 'Ring the Bell.' This year, our journey with 4,889 girls through workshops, camps, and conferences was a testament to our commitment to empowering young minds. This journey isn't just about numbers; it's about the growth we witness in every girl, empowering them to express, create, and envision possibilities. Join us in igniting the power in girls and making a lasting difference in their lives.
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The Rally Cry: A Collaborative Zine Project Created by Girls Empowerment Network and Texas Youth
"The Rally Cry” is a one-time zine publication by Girls Empowerment Network made up of submissions from Texas youth in grades 3-12.
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State of Girls Mental Health
Mental health is a state of well-being in which a girl can cope with the normal stresses of life, participate effectively in activities like school, and contribute to her community. While mental illness can affect all children and youth, research shows girls are at greater risk for certain mental health conditions. Self-efficacy, a girl’s belief in her ability to succeed, enhances a girl’s sense of well-being and promotes good mental health.
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Ring the Bell: Building Girls’ Self-Efficacy – Impact Highlights 2020-2021
Our programs reach a broad range of Texas girls in many grades and districts, but you may wonder who the average Girls Empowerment Network Girl is. For our 2020-2021 program year, she is in 5th grade (17.5%) and attends Girl Connect at a school in Austin ISD. She is Latina (37.4%) and is from a low-income household (82.4%). She arrives at our programs with strengths in collaboration and creativity but needs to build her coping skills and communication to build her self-efficacy or her internal belief she can be successful. She will attend Girl Connect on average 6 times and by the end of the program will have grown her self-efficacy in all Our Six Cs (communication, confidence, coping skills, critical thinking, and creativity).
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Building Self-Efficacy Through Critical Thinking: Fixed vs Growth Mindset
Did you know that your brain is like a muscle that can grow stronger? This activity will help us understand how we can "train" our brain to change our mindset and believe that we are unstoppable!
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How Media Representation, Gender Stereotypes & Self-Efficacy Connect
Media representation and gender stereotypes can affect girls in negative ways. On average, teenage girls use media for 9 hours and 19 minutes each day, the majority of their waking hours. Whether girls are scrolling through Instagram or watching Netflix, the images and narratives they consume online have a measurable impact on their perceptions of themselves and others. Media matters…
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Grow Her Self-Efficacy- Articles, Activities and Resources
We know girls are powerful and it’s our mission for them to know it too. Throughout this year, albeit a weird one, we wanted girls and people who support them to have the tools and knowledge to continue to grow her self-efficacy. See articles written by our girl experts, activities taken from our curriculum, and more resources on self-efficacy.
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Building Self-Efficacy Through Coping Skills: 5,4,3,2,1
Using a self-efficacy grounding technique like “5,4,3,2,1” helps us come back to the present moment when our thoughts and feelings take over.
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Six Ways to Build Self-Efficacy in Middle School Girls (Six Cs)
Girls Empowerment Network understands that the difference between cultivating self-efficacy and having self-esteem is important. The distinction allows us to widen the doors and be creative in the ways our activities let girls practice developing their skills and abilities that increase self-efficacy.
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Building Self-Efficacy Through Communication: Toothpaste Social Media Safety
Can what we post today affect our future? This activity will help us understand how our social media activity creates our digital footprint and online identity.
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How Girls Benefit from Increased Self-Efficacy
Fostering self-efficacy in girls and equipping them with the mindset to believe in their ability builds a future where girls are resilient and confident leaders. At Girls Empowerment Network, we believe all girls are powerful and we want them to know it, too.
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Building Self-Efficacy Through Creativity: 9 Tiles- All About Me
We build girls self-efficacy through their imagination for art and STEM activities. 9 Tiles offers us the opportunity to reflect on our values and interests, express them creatively, and share them with others.
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Building Self-Efficacy Through Collaboration: FriendSHIP
This activity helps to visualize qualities in friends that can be both negative and positive. We build self-efficacy through collaborating about what we like in friendships, and it sparks a conversation about the friendships we have.
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Building Self-Efficacy Through Collaboration: Guidelines
Girls will learn self-efficacy through collaboration by creating guidelines and boundaries they can use wherever they are.
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Building Self-Efficacy Through Coping Skills: Flip The Lid
Flip The Lid helps explain how our brains operate under stress in a girl-friendly way. It is also an excellent introduction around building self-efficacy through coping skills.
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Building Self-Efficacy Through Confidence: Just Because Poem
Build your self-efficacy through confidence by doing our Just Because Poem that dismantles stereotypes!
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What is the Difference Between Self-Efficacy and Self-Esteem?
Self-efficacy is a girl’s belief in her own ability to succeed. It is a research-based principle for us; we know that giving girls a strong belief in themselves has an important impact on academic success, future career achievement, and long-term positive outcomes.
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