What if before you got your driver's license, you were equipped with skills and certifications to help you on your career path? What if you had opportunities to learn digital, professional and soft skills alongside peers who share your drive to succeed?
Girls For A Change kicked off its 2022 Girl Ambassador Program this month with a cohort of 30 high school girls eager to learn and grow their network. The program is designed to help girls in ninth through 12th grades prepare for 21st century jobs, as well as address employment inequalities for girls and young women of color.
Through paced learning and development, GFAC’s certified instructors work with girls based on their individual software and hardware proficiencies and life experiences to teach hybrid skills and prepare them for better-paying jobs and leadership roles.
Help usher in the next generation
The students learn from thought leaders about job readiness, leadership, networking and financial literacy to give them a head start on professional and entrepreneurial career pathways. Upon completion of the 10 weeks of classroom training, girls are paired with employers for a six-week paid summer internship so they can put the skills they learned to work in the real world.
A summer internship that changes trajectories
“Too often, we hear that people of color are not being hired because they are not qualified, they are not applying or companies do not know where to recruit them. Girls For A Change aims to ensure our girls are prepared, qualified for and connected to job and career opportunities with which they are compatible. Through our program, we seek to create a pipeline of qualified, ready-to-work girls of color to flood the local workforce with diverse, qualified candidates and yield significant opportunities to disrupt generational poverty,” said Angela Patton, CEO of Girls For A Change.
This year, Girls For A Change celebrates its fifth year of the program, with lots of success stories along the way. Past participants of the Ambassador program have earned college scholarships, certifications, admission into top universities and job placements as a direct result of the program.
Currently, Girls For A Change is training this year’s group of participants while actively vetting hiring partners for the summer. Once their 10 weeks of training are complete, there will be a speed networking session designed to match each girl with a hiring partner. The girls will have an opportunity to work with top employers, build their skills and widen their professional network.
In this video, Girls For A Change participants discuss their experiences within the Girl Ambassador Program.
“As a small business owner, I’ve experienced firsthand the pros and cons of bringing in an intern. Girls For A Change does a wonderful job of setting expectations and preparing both the girls and the hiring partners for their summer internships — to include a pairing process that ensures both employer and intern are excited about working with each other. I was delighted to have Breeana as my intern and loved working with her so much that I hired her part-time. It was a truly rewarding experience,” said Ashley Ray, owner of Emergent Social Solutions.
Richmond-area business owners can make a difference through internships
Girls For A Change hiring partners have come from a diverse array of industries, including small businesses like Adiva Naturals, higher education institutions like Virginia Commonwealth University and nonprofits like Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Greater Richmond Fit4Kids. Girls For A Change is hoping to place 30 girls in summer internships and is currently in need of companies to commit to hiring one of the bright, young participants in the program.
All hiring partners must be vetted and go through diversity and inclusion training to help ensure these experiences are impactful and rewarding for everyone. There’s also a fee for the six-week internship that helps the organization recoup costs and also provides a stipend to each girl for their work. For more information, click here.
GFAC’s research shows that early access to companies results in improved academic success and substantially higher college enrollment that will help create a pipeline of experienced, empowered women of color that our economy desperately needs.
“The Girl Ambassador program really opened my eyes about the endless possibilities in the workplace. This experience definitely is opening up pathways that I wouldn’t have been able to see just from my previous cashier job,” said Breeana Gant, a Girl Ambassador Program alumnus.
Black girls are one of the most untapped resources in our country. Through training, work experience and access to business professionals, barriers can be broken and real change can happen.
How you can help:
- Hire a Girl Ambassador — click here to complete the application for the Girl Ambassador Program.
- Make connections — share info about the Girl Ambassador Program with the CEOs and hiring managers you know. Register for one of our upcoming info sessions here.
- Donate — Cover the fees for another organization that could use assistance this summer or cover field trip costs for a girl.
- Support a Black girl’s higher education journey by contributing to the Private Donor Fund.
