As students across the city go back to school, former First Lady and Founder of The Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, Michelle Obama, announced an additional commitment of $500,000 to empower and uplift girls in and out of the classroom. The Girls Opportunity Alliance will support 11 Chicago-based girl-serving organizations this back-to-school season. The Alliance will also continue to provide organizational support to more than 60 girl-serving organizations across the City of Chicago through the Girls Opportunity Alliance Network. This holistic approach will benefit thousands of adolescent girls on the South and West Sides, particularly in the neighborhoods surrounding the future Obama Presidential Center.
In a new video released today, Mrs. Obama expressed her excitement for the growth of the Alliance’s initiatives in Chicago. “As students head back to class, I’m proud to announce that the Girls Opportunity Alliance will be supporting some more incredible organizations in Chicago this school year,” Mrs. Obama said. “From leadership development to career training to violence prevention, these organizations are helping girls gain the tools they need to succeed in school and in life.”
The Girls Opportunity Alliance is dedicated to empowering and educating adolescent girls, helping them reach their full potential and create lasting change in their families, communities, and countries by connecting leaders, amplifying the impact of grassroots organizations, and raising public awareness. To date, the Girls Opportunity Alliance has supported more than 158 grassroots organizations across 43 countries, benefiting more than 120,000 girls.
With a vision set out by Mrs. Obama, in Chicago, the Girls Opportunity Alliance provides girl-serving organizations with support tailored to their specific needs, enabling them to enhance existing programs or develop new initiatives that address the unique challenges faced by girls across the city.
“Meaningful change begins at the community level. That’s why the Alliance’s investment in these Chicago-based grassroots organizations is so vital,” said Tiffany Drake, Vice President and Executive Director of the Girls Opportunity Alliance. “These organizations intimately understand the unique needs of the girls they serve, and by empowering them through opportunities and resources, we’re building a brighter future.”
The 11 Chicago-based girl-serving organizations are: Black Girls Jump, Distinctively Me, The Fig Factor Foundation, Girls Inc. of Chicago, Girls in the Game, Ladies of Virtue, The Medical Careers and Emergency Preparedness Initiative (MedCEEP), P.R.E.T.T.Y INC., SHE Chicago, Sisters in Cinema, and M.E.A.N. Girls Empowerment.
With the support of the Girls Opportunity Alliance, the 11 organizations will expand their programing and impact, for example:
- MedCEEP addresses healthcare inequities on Chicago’s South and West Sides by empowering youth with health emergency response skills and medical career exposure. Its in-school program provides a six session curriculum including hands-on emergency preparedness and career exploration. The Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund will support sustainable programming at Kenwood Academy, focusing on student leaders (primarily adolescent girls) who serve as peer mentors, providing them with exposure through medical career panels and medical simulations.
- Sisters in Cinema empowers Black girls, women, and gender-expansive media creators through education, visibility, and community engagement. It offers a safe space for girls to develop valuable media skills and explore issues like mental health, peer relationships, and identity. The Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund will support up to 50 adolescent girls on Chicago’s South Shore through “Pocket Cinema” (smartphone filmmaking) and “Podcasting for Beginners,” both mentorship-driven and integrating social-emotional learning. Empowered to share their own stories and build self-assurance, the programs will culminate in a community showcase.
The leaders of these and other girl-serving organizations across Chicago, will join the Girls Opportunity Alliance Network, a community of more than 4,000 leaders around the world, which facilitates the exchange of ideas, information, and resources to enhance organizational capacity and sustainability. As Network members, these Chicago-leaders will benefit from capacity building workshops, Obama Foundation programming, and advice shared by the Obamas.
To learn more about the Girls Opportunity Alliance’s work in Chicago and to support the efforts, visit: gofundme.org/girls-opportunity-alliance