Girls for a Change: Call for Mentors

Girls for a Change, a nonprofit that pairs women with middle and high school girls to help them create social change in their communities, is looking for mentors in the Bay Area and Phoenix.

Courtney Macavinta, coauthor of RESPECT: A Girl's Guide to Getting Respect & Dealing When Your Line is Crossed, talks about her experience as a GFC mentor on her blog:

One of the most amazing experiences I get to have week after week is coaching Girls For A Change Team 13 at Overfelt High School in San Jose. Through this awesome after-school program, these young women are becoming true social change agents.

Their project this year is to prevent teen pregnancy by educating girls about: how to make informed choices, how to protect against the risks that come with being sexually active, and how to get support and resources along the way.

Already they have invited experts to their meetings to educate them about pregnancy and STDs. They came up with a timeline for developing their program and planning a workshop presentation. They have narrowed down the three points they will cover. They even got a grant to fund their project! Every meeting, they are making decisions, leading, listening to one another, and forming strong bonds of sisterhood.

Mostly, they are discovering as one team member, Thalia, put it: "I'm learning that teen girls can get together and change their community."

Mentors can be a:

Girl Action Team Coach (10 -15 hours per month, September - May) who co-facilitates teams of 5-10 girls as they identify challenges in their communities and create projects to help solve those challenges,

or a Girl Action Team Consultant (10-20 hours per year starting anytime) to provide professional support to the girls as they plan and implement projects.

To volunteer in the Bay Area, contact contact Patty Torres at patricia AT girlsforachange.org.

To volunteer in Phoenix, contact Carrie Ellett, at carrie AT girlsforachange.org.

The GFC blog, InHer City, is also looking for girls to be guest authors.

Illustration credit: Logo via Girls for a Change.

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