March is Women’s Empowerment Month

March is an important time to ground ourselves in women’s history and empowerment, and the work at the intersection of gender, race, and economics. While the girls we serve are entering into a world very different from the one that generations before them entered, we cannot deny that they will face iterations of the very same struggles. We must make room to hold competing truths at the same time: we have made a great deal of progress in the lived experiences of girls and women, and we have a great deal more work to do.

We saw this in evidence during the height of the pandemic when heavily gendered caregiving responsibilities served as a barrier between girls and their schooling, and women lost decades of gender equality progress in the workplace. We have seen this as states across the nation have begun to rollback  hard fought protections regarding women’s ability to decide whether and when they will start or expand a family. We are seeing this in the unfair treatment and bad-faith scrutiny of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of the most qualified nominees whose historic nomination could position her to be become the first African American female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

With your support, we affirm the voices of girls and young women, build their hard skills, networks, and social capital, and launch them off into the futures they envision for themselves. Our girls regularly interact with adults (whether staff or volunteers) who: 1) Leverage their privilege to create opportunities for others, 2) Seek out the unheard voices at the margins, 3) Share their learnings to support others’ growth, and 4) Commit to being a champion for girls and women. This is the work we live and breathe, and we are grateful for our greater community at Girls Inc. of Alameda County that is not only committed to inspiring girls to be strong, smart, and bold, but also committed to breaking down the systemic and structural barriers they face in the world.