GirlDreamer

The 👏🏽 Charity 👏🏽 Sector 👏🏽 Is 👏🏽 Not 👏🏽 A 👏🏽 Soap 👏🏽 Opera Our own Kiran recently dropped a powerful piece on LinkedIn and it's a must-read! 💬✨ She highlights a crucial issue in the charity world: the constant focus on struggle stories when it comes to marginalised communities. Why is hardship the default narrative funders (and especially white ones) are drawn to? Why are we overlooking resilience, brilliance, and the innovative solutions these communities bring? 🚀 It’s time to change the conversation and focus on real empowerment, not just crisis narratives! 🤨 We’ve gotta start supporting leaders for their talents and achievements, not just their challenges. 👉🏽 Check out the full article on our bio and join us in flipping the script on these outdated narratives.

‼️We’re taking you BTS with @thenoirespace today‼️ Meet Amara & Annie, who are not just killing it as a trainer solicitor and working in finance and marketing, but they’re also the powerhouse Co-founders of ‘The Noire Space’ — an incredible organisation that provides a safe haven for Black women to express themselves, interact and be free 🙌🏿💃🏿 and WE had the incredible opportunity and honour to see the passion and potential in them and be their first funder‼️ …We couldn’t be more PROUD ✊🏾🥹 Whether it’s through their podcast, their daily content, IRL events — The Noire Space know just how to serve their community the space to flourish and show up as their authentic selves and we’re all about creating more opps and spaces for Black women to do just that 🫶🏿 We can’t wait to see where you take @thenoirespace next ♥️ and we’re constantly going to be shouting about the magic and impact you continue to make! 🥳‼️

It’s time for us to dream even bigger. GirlDreamer has officially landed in the US and after a long nap, we’re getting straight to work! 🇺🇸 We’re officially talking all things ‘GirlDreamer’ in the USA! 🇺🇸 Yes, we’re jumping across the pond. No, we won’t start saying “wahder”! 💧 This decision is equally scary as it is exciting, and it’s definitely a huge move for us to have considered. To put you at ease: No, GirlDreamer UK is not going anywhere. Phew! 💪🏾🇬🇧 We want to look at understanding the differences and similarities between diaspora communities of women across two different continents. Our work will involve connecting with women of colour, fellow non-profit organisations and how our work and context here, can support women of colour across the pond. This move will come to happen during the next couple months, but we wanted to let you in on the big news. And to start writing down our to-do list, we wanted to ask you if there’s any organisations, people or places you think we should connect with whilst out there, and of course, if there’s any GirlDreamer’s based out there - TELL US! We wanna meet you! 💓 Feel free to mention them in the comments or DM us and we’ll check them out! 👇🏾

Excitingly, GirlDreamer has been shortlisted for Social Mobility Initiative of the Year category at the European Diversity Awards 2024! 😍 🥳 As a small team, it takes a real collective effort and a whole lot of passion and commitment to design and deliver the programming and initiatives that we do for a mission much bigger than ourselves, and although we don't do it for the awards, it's always a nice little surprise when we receive news that our work is being highlighted! Launched in 2010, the European Diversity Awards are now firmly established as the continent’s most prestigious and widely respected Diversity event. The awards celebrate the amazing individuals, organisations, companies, charities and networks that drive Diversity, Inclusion and Equality into the heart of everything they do. Congratulations to all other shortlisted individuals and organisations who continue to contribute to the future of EDI!

If you’ve been with us for a while, you probably know we like shaking things up once in a while with the community. 😜💃🏾 The DreamFund is at full speed now, we’re holding a GirlDreamer photoshoot next month, and we have a couple more announcements to drop very soon… ⏳ Actually, expect another drop this… Thursday❗🤭 So, as you can already see, we’re cooking up some big things for 2025. 😏 Something we’ve never done before, and may just be the beginning of so many more opportunities. Although we’d love to, we can’t tell you more just yet, but we’re super excited! This is what a GirlDreamer in one of our previous “experiences” felt: 👇🏽 “My highlight was the connection I felt in emotional, mental, physical and spiritual ways with both nature and the incredible women I was with.” We want to keep bringing you this feeling of connection ⚡ 2025 is literally around the corner... Are You In?

💜 Welcome to the “Meet the Dreamers” series! 💜 We’re taking you behind the scenes to hear from the incredible GirlDreamers who’ve received Dream Fund support for their social impact missions, projects, and organisations ✨ Today, we’re celebrating the unstoppable @_nabbosa from @elimucommunity 💫‼️ A huge congratulations to Lynette and the Elimu team for the amazing work they’re doing and the opportunities they’re creating for their community. Going from supporting 1-10 people per year, to now 300+ per year is a huge accomplishment ⚡️ We’re proud to have supported Elimu and will continue to spread awareness and shine a light on your incredible work 🙏🏽 Keep shining, Elimu ♥️ We’re here to champion and support you ✊🏿

🌟 Good things are worth being reminded about 🌟 While we aim to keep our community updated about what’s happening and the latest opps we post on our website, we wanted to pause for a moment and remind everyone about all the ways our Opportunities service can actually help. Most of you know it exists, but let’s look at it from the other side. 👀 Simply put, we offer companies or brands a way to reach our community of thousands of women of colour, helping to bridge the gap between access and opportunity. As the saying goes “you don’t know what you don’t know” - and for more young women of colour to seize opportunities, we kind of need to know about them in the first place! So here’s how it works: 1. This is a paid service, and there are both one-off and subscription packages to fit your needs. You choose the package, fill out a simple form, we receive it and do the rest. 1. Think jobs, trustee vacancies, fellowships, internships, funding, scholarships, events… We’ll advertise them on social media, website and our newsletter till their deadline. And that’s it! 💡However! As our extra push, we offer this as a **free** service for our community and fellow women of colour-founders. Meaning you can post your opportunity at no cost with the rest of the GirlDreamer community! 💫 🤗 You can find and download the information pack on the Opps page itself on our website, or get in touch if you need more support!

Unique GirlDreamer event coming soon! Get ready! 🏃🏾♀️🎇 Need an excuse to meet other GirlDreamers, get some new professional photos of yourself, and be part of our new 2025 brand? Well, we’re holding a GirlDreamer photoshoot in London this November (date TBC) 📆 Instead of only having the GirlDreamer team represent the brand, we’d love nothing more than to have the actual core of the organisation: our community, at the forefront. 💪🏾🙌🏾 If this is sounding good, make sure to tap the link in our bio and register online, as spaces are very limited. Oh and as always — there’s no cost for you, just pure vibes 😍

💜 Welcome “Meet the Dreamers” series 💜 We’re taking you BTS to hear more from the GirlDreamer’s who have received Dream Funding by us for their social impact missions, projects and organisations ✨ Today we’re highlighting the incredible force that is @neelamheerashergill of @cystersgroup 💫‼️ A huge congratulations to Neelam and the team at Cysters for creating awareness, advocating for change and building an inclusive community for all. We’re so proud of you for believing in your vision and always doing your best 🙏🏽 Keep shining and doing what you do Cysters ♥️ and we’ll be here continuing to champion and support all that you do 🙏🏾

📣 Introducing our Dream Fund Grantees! 🌟 Next up: Dr Khadija Owusu , Founder of AKAYA 👩🏾⚕️✨ Dr Khadija Owusu is an award-winning leader, international speaker, and junior doctor making waves in healthcare and beyond. As the visionary behind AKAYA, she's dedicated to driving change and empowering Black and Ethnic minority individuals in medicine. 🏥🌍 Khadija's mission extends far beyond the hospital walls. She's a powerful voice for equality, diversity, and inclusion, working tirelessly to tackle these crucial issues in healthcare and education. Her passion for female empowerment and global health has touched the lives of hundreds of young girls across Ghana and Africa. 💪🏾💖 Under Khadija's leadership, AKAYA is making a significant impact by: - Advocating for aspiring medics, medical students, and doctors from Black and Ethnic minority backgrounds. - Promoting diversity and inclusion in healthcare and education. - Empowering young women through initiatives in Ghana and across Africa. - Bridging gaps in global health and creating opportunities for underrepresented communities. Khadija's impressive achievements include being a guest of Michelle Obama at the White House, winning the Women in STEM Award presented by HRH Princess Anne, and being named a 2021 Diana Award Recipient. She's also a TEDx speaker and has been featured on major UK news outlets. 🏆🎤 We're thrilled to support Dr Khadija Owusu with £2.5K in funding and our 6-month capacity-building programme. Here's to amplifying voices, platforming leaders, and creating lasting change in healthcare and beyond! 🚀