On Day 4 of 49ers Training Camp presented by SAP, the team welcomed women’s empowerment groups and community-serving charities from around the Bay Area to watch practice and meet their favorite 49ers players.

We are excited to spotlight Girls Inc of Alameda County, which plays an important role in supporting literacy and enrichment in Oakland schools. Girls Inc programs serve youth both in schools in OUSD and at the Girls Inc. Simpson Center for Girls in after school programs. Their K-5 programs serve both girls and boys with a focus on Literacy and Enrichment curriculum.

Leaders at Girls Inc. of Alameda teach participants about relationship violence, social media, social justice, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and how LGBTQ people are portrayed in the media, among other conversations about issues that are affecting them.

Daisha was in a dark place when she found Girls Inc. of Alameda County four years ago.

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — The future isn’t only bright for Bay Area youth, it’s golden. The Warriors Community Foundation and Kaiser Permanente teamed up to cultivate a non-profit hub that assists Bay Area organizations and schools through enriching programs.

“It has been a space that holds the health and wellness programming for our staff, to uplift our staff, and our youth development professionals at this time,” stated Julayne Virgil, the CEO of Girls Inc. of Alameda County. “(It’s) also a space for the girls when they have time to come here and be in the gym, and the gym is an incredible space.”

A big thank you to KTVU 2 for the opportunity to discuss the worsening sadness, sexual violence and declining mental health among American teen girls, and talk about the roles all of us can play moving forward.

We can ensure our schools are truly physically and emotionally safe spaces for all youth, equip youth with tools and resources to develop their social emotional skills, invest in quality youth development programming to provide opportunities for positive peer interactions, and truly listen when they share their experiences. This is within our collective power!

Girls in our programming shared that many adults in their lives do not listen to them or believe them when they share their truths. We can all do better!

At Girls Inc. of Alameda County, we’ve invested in this work for 65 years, and we welcome support as we continue to respond to the needs of girls across our community.

This International Women’s Day, 14 Girls Inc. of Alameda County participants hopped on 19th St. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in Oakland and headed for the Lake Merritt Transit Operations Facility, where they had the opportunity to shadow a diverse group of BART employees from across the agency, including representatives from Engineering, Transportation, Financial Planning, BART Police and more!

College Access Now! (CAN!) participant Daisha Williams documented Girls Inc. of Alameda County’s summer college tours and was published by the Post News Group. During this year’s Senior Summer, Girls Inc. of Alameda County took their participants on four college tours, led by two Girls Inc. of Alameda County employees, Gabi Reyes-Acosta and Judy Cordova.

California State University, East Bay hosted Girls Inc. of Alameda County at the Hayward campus as part of an annual summer partnership. Girls Inc. and CSUEB have maintained a long-standing collaboration under the Eureka! Program, wherein a group of middle- and high-school girls across the East Bay area are given an opportunity to attend university-level classes and immerse themselves in a college environment.

Giving girls the confidence that their voice, their story, their art matters — and that “how they view the world is meaningful” — can be transformative, says Virgil. She remembers one New Literary Project showcase where a father wept listening to his daughter read her work. “This is so important for her,” he told Virgil. “She’ll never be the same.”

Of the elementary schools working with Girls Inc. Of Alameda County, 60% exceeded the average Oakland Unified School District literacy growth amongst Black students, Latinx students, and/or English learner students.  

“Girls Inc. of Alameda County taught African American and Latinx girls in middle and high school about safe dating and healthy relationships. These programs addressed the role that race, gender, and economics play in violence and its prevention.”

Girls Inc. of Alameda County receives grant from The California Wellness Foundation as part of their latest round of grants. The California Wellness Foundation announced $8.9 million in grants to advance health equity in California including grants for wildfire disaster relief, equitable access to safe water, support for women of color at risk of HIV/AIDS, and bold new initiatives for advancing economic security in low-income communities.