Mission
To mentor and empower teen girls for future success through promoting career exploration, confidence building, and leadership development.
History
GIRL began in 2009 when Danielle Blunt Craddock and two staff members at the Pinn Community Center led GIRL Talk meetings for a small group of middle and high school girls who shared concerns and stories about school, relationships, family, and career goals. Danielle decided to start a nonprofit to address the concerns that the girls shared during GIRL Talk meetings. GIRL was incorporated in April 2010 and on June 5, 2010 hosted its first workshop titled, “Fit and Fabulous,” which emphasized physical fitness and self-esteem. In December 2010, GIRL became a 501(c)(3) organization and began hosting workshops on STEM, academic success strategies, preparation for college and careers, leadership development, healthy relationships, health and fitness, positive self-esteem, entrepreneurship, and social etiquette. GIRL began to host annual career conferences to encourages girls, especially those from underrepresented groups, to study STEM and pursue 21st century careers.
GIRL, Inc. Day Proclamation
On September 20, 2014 the Fairfax City Council declared GIRL, Inc. Day in the City of Fairfax.
Program Awards
2015 Business Women's Giving Circle Grant to GMU Foundation for FOCUS STEM Camp
2016 Business Women's Giving Circle Grant for Today's Girls, Tomorrow's Leaders Program at Francis C. Hammond Middle School in Alexandria, VA
2016 Giving Circle of Hope Grant for Pathways to Careers Program
2016 - One of the 2016 Programs That Work awardees by the Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition with GMU College of Science for FOCUS
2017 - Fairfax County Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Community Service Award with GMU College of Science for FOCUS
2019 - George Mason University Jack Wood Award for Partnership Initiative with GMU College of Science for FOCUS
Past Programs
Community Service
Projects have included collecting and donating holiday food baskets to the Alternative House: The Abused and Homeless Children’s Refuge (Second Story), collecting school supplies for back-to-school projects, making Christmas cards for residents of a local nursing home, and preparing care packages for children at Children's National Hospital and MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital.
GIRL has hosted three Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service events in partnership with the City of Fairfax Commission for Women to prepare care packages for young survivors of human trafficking (2015), donate clothing to Women Giving Back (2016), and collect and package hygiene items for Courtney's House (2017).
FOCUS STEM Summer Camp
GIRL partnered with George Mason University College of Science STEM Accelerator Program in 2014 to create a summer camp called Females of Color Underrepresented in STEM (FOCUS) to expose and prepare middle school girls of color for STEM careers. Since 2014, 350 girls have attended, and 24% attended multiple years. In the summer of 2018, the FOCUS Academy residential program for high school girls was introduced. For more information, visit https://www.focusonstem.org.
Saturday Tech GIRLs
GIRL created a partnership with the Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS) Computer Clubhouses and Tech brought together girls from the community centers throughout the county to join monthly GIRL meetings. At various community centers, GIRL offered an aviation camp in 2018, spring break camps in 2018 and 2019, and a monthly Saturday program in 2017 and 2018 where the girls learned how to build a mobile app and create a podcast. GIRL has also provided scholarships for girls to attend the FOCUS camps and career conferences.
Career Exploration Series
The two-part workshop series in the spring of 2019 introduced girls to career paths, education requirements for that career, strategies for securing internships, and writing winning essays and a standout resume. The first session was in partnership with SecureTech360 and session two in partnership with Women in Media presented strategies for turning your passion into a career, communicating in the workplace, handling stress, and producing a podcast.
STEAM Camps
- App Development - girls learned how to create games by coding in Scratch and Unity. Sponsored by Verizon
- Music technology - girls learned how to make beats and produce, edit, and remix electronic dance music. Sponsored by Regal Foundation
- Sponsored by STEM for HER, Spring Break camp topics have included digital art, programming, video game design, web page development, and entrepreneurship, as well as fashion design technology, and forensic science.