Alliance for Girls

Today, we come together to feel deeply and honor what is real within each of us. We feel the sadness, unease, and profound frustration, alongside the weight of knowing that our girls and gender-expansive youth, especially those of color, may face futures that don’t yet reflect the justice and hope they deserve. Though the election news is sad, it is no surprise. Our deepest humanity—at its best and its worst—has been laid bare. There will be much to say and much to do, but right now is the time to grieve, rest, and reflect. We ask nothing more of our communities than this, for within this pause lies the path to healing and strength. Today, we unclench our fists and allow ourselves time to restore and replenish our spirits. We hold others with love and make space for compassion for those who act from fear. This is a moment to feel, to heal, and to galvanize our strength for the work ahead. Remember, this moment is a chapter, not the whole story. To read the full statement from our Co-Executive Directors Linda Lu & Chantal Hildebrand, click below 👇 https://lnkd.in/gjCMZ9aV

On September 19th and October 2nd, Alliance for Girls will host our first two Pláticas. Alliance for Girls will be hosting a series of Pláticas focusing on several issues from our youth participatory research that are are resonating strongly with them. The Pláticas, community conversations rooted in the tradition of dialogue and storytelling and inspired by Latinx and Chicanx indigenous research methods, are part of AFG’s ongoing effort to develop localized SGI County Profiles that uncover the true "state" of girls and gender-expansive youth as they define it—what matters to them, the systems that shape their lives, and the solutions they envision for their future. We are excited to announce two fabulous speakers for the upcoming State of the Bay Area Girl Initiative Pláticas: Julayne Virgil has more than 15 years of nonprofit leadership experience with national and local organizations. At Girls Inc. of Alameda County, Julayne has overseen the deepening of partnerships, introduction of new program offerings and longitudinal impact data, increased efficiency through the integration of new technology, and the shoring up of infrastructure and operational reserves all to support the mission of inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold. Holly Martinez leads The Representation Project's work to challenge gender stereotypes and shift norms. As the leading gender watchdog organization, TRP uses film and media as a catalyst for cultural transformation. Holly has years of experience advocating on behalf of women and girls. Most recently, Holly served as the Executive Director for the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, advancing women-focused initiatives including the nation-leading California Equal Pay Pledge campaign, the Women’s Recovery Response to the pandemic, and historic efforts to bring medicated abortion access to all of California’s public UC and CSU health centers. Julayne and Holly will share their own stories about the issues that girls and gender-expansive youth are highlighting as most important to them, including Identity and Expression, Participatory Power, and Representation & Leadership, and why this work is so important to us all. They will be joined by youth facilitators from Girls Inc. of Alameda County and the Radical Monarchs.   Don't miss out! Join us for the State of the Bay Area Girl Initiative (SGI) Pláticas on September 19th (in-person in Oakland) and October 2nd (virtual), co-hosted by Alliance for Girls (AFG) and Girls Inc. of Alameda County. Let’s uncover the true "state" of girls and gender-expansive youth as they define it—what matters to them, the systems that shape their lives, and the solutions they envision for their future.   Register for the In-Person Plática on Sept. 19th: https://bit.ly/SGIPlatica1 Register for the Virtual Plática on Oct. 2nd: https://bit.ly/SGIPlatica2

🌟 Join Us in Shaping the Future! 🌟 How do you measure an imagined community that's yet to be created? Let's find out together Alliance for Girls is excited to launch the State of the Girl Initiative (SGI)—a groundbreaking effort designed by and for girls and gender-expansive youth of color right here in the Bay Area. This initiative is all about harnessing the power of youth voices to shape a community that truly reflects their strengths, needs, and aspirations. 💫 Why now? Alliance for Girls (AFG) has set a bold 5-year goal to create a Bay Area community where girls and gender-expansive youth of color are valued, respected, and safe. Central to this vision are the State of the Bay Area Girl Initiative (SGI) County Profiles, designed to center the lived experiences of these youth through actionable data. 🌟 Join Us in Shaping the Future! 🌟 Drawing from nine years of research, the SGI County Profiles include insights from 27,484 youth and 73 community organizations, identifying over 150 promising practices in safety, wellness, digital literacy, and more.  To develop these profiles, Alliance For Girls and Girls Inc. of Alameda County will be co-hosting the first two Pláticas. What are Pláticas? —they are family and community gatherings of powerful conversations in a warm, friendly environment. 📅 Upcoming Pláticas: In-Person: Sep 19, 2024, 4:30-7:30 pm at Girls Inc. Simpson Center, Oakland Virtual: Oct 2, 2024, 3:30-5:30 pm 👥 What to Expect: Community meal, youth-led discussions, and participatory decision-making. 🔗 Register Now: In person:  https://bit.ly/SGIPlatica1 Virtual:  https://bit.ly/SGIPlatica2 🛡️ COVID Precautions: Testing and KN95+ masks required. Tests and masks will be provided. Let's build this vision together, ensuring every voice is heard and valued. SGI art by Liz Mayorga

Thank you Zellerbach for uplifting our work and for your consistent support of Alliance for Girls! When we center girls and gender-expansive youth of color and their leadership, and have strong and supportive communities behind them every step of the way, positive transformations ripple across our society.

❕SAVE THE DATE❕ We're excited to announce the State of the Girl* Initiative, created in collaboration with girls and gender-expansive youth of color and the organizations that support them. This initiative is focused on developing a fully participatory and sustainable model driven by what girls and gender-expansive youth of color say they need to thrive. We'll use recommendations from our youth-informed and youth participatory Lived Experiences of Girls Research Series conducted over the past 7 years to create the first-of-its-kind State of the Bay Area Girl County Profiles, measuring the conditions and well-being of girls and gender-expansive youth of color in each county based on their voices. We invite our members and champions to our State of the Girl Initiative Pláticas . The literal translation of pláticas is “talks;” however, pláticas are more than talks—they are family and community gatherings where powerful conversations occur in a warm, friendly environment. Save the Date and Be Part of This Groundbreaking Effort! ✊🏾 Join us for our in-person and virtual State of the Girl Initiative Pláticas and participate in powerful conversations. In-Person: Alameda County, Exact Location TBD Thursday, September 19, 2024 4:30pm-7:30pm Virtual: Wednesday, October 2, 2024 3:30pm-5:30pm For Questions, reach out to Irina Nuñez, Director of Participatory Research irina@alliance4girls.org Together, we can ensure girls and gender-expansive youth of color are positioned as solution builders and lean into their expertise to meet their needs. ❕Watch out for a link to register soon! ❕ * “Girls and gender-expansive youth" refers to cis girls, trans girls, non-binary youth, gender non-conforming youth, gender queer youth and any girl-identified youth.

Dear Members & Champions, Join us tomorrow, Wednesday, May 29th, 11am-1pm, for our Virtual Members Meeting. This hallmark event will continue our conversation about what an imagined community** looks like, where girls and gender-expansive youth, especially those of color, are valued, respected, and safe. We invite all AFG members, former members, girls and gender-expansive youth, and any service provider, community leader, parents/caregiver, and advocate in the girl-serving sector to attend.   We also want to treat you to lunch! AFG will send a $30 digital gift card to everyone who registers for the event. We’re excited to hear your feedback on AFG’s new 2024-2029 Strategic Plan and key projects, share opportunities and updates on your work, and introduce the AFG team, including our new co-executive directors and staff.   And, we’ll hear from Xochtil Larios (she/her), youth researcher and Youth Justice Coordinator at Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ), about her work on a youth participatory evaluation team that is reimagining the youth justice system in Oakland and her vision for the world she and her peers want to see.   Your participation and insights will be instrumental in shaping this vision. We hope to see you there!    In community,  The Alliance for Girls Team * “Girls and gender-expansive youth" refers to cis girls, trans girls, non-binary youth, gender non-conforming youth, gender queer youth and any girl-identified youth.   ** "Imagined Communities" is an influential concept drawn from Chandra Mohanty's scholarship. It challenges dominant and oppressive universal truths that often erase or distort marginalized communities. An Imagined Community is one that starts by collectively gathering knowledge and sharing it for the benefit of all. It aligns and brings together coalitions and solidarities among women* of diverse communities and identities, transcending borders and conceptualizing power as fluid and evolving. bit.ly/AFGmembersmeeting

🎉 We are excited to share Alliance for Girls’ new strategic plan! It charts the course 🧭 of our collective future to facilitate generative change with and for girls and gender-expansive youth of color and the organizations that serve them. ✨ By implementing this strategic plan, AFG aims to create an imagined community where girls and gender-expansive youth, especially those of color, are valued, respected, and safe, through youth-led research, storytelling, and collective advocacy. In the coming years, we’ll focus on 4️⃣ core strategies: 🔎 YOUTH RESEARCH HUB: Expanding and strengthening AFG's research capacity is at the heart of AFG’s next chapter. With youth as the expert researchers, we’ll continue to reimagine research to facilitate, validate, and elevate girls' and gender-expansive youth of color’s experiences and stories as truth. 🫱🏽🫲🏿 COMMUNITY BUILDING: We’ll center relationship-building, connection, and care throughout AFG practices, engaging our members through our network, ongoing learning opportunities, speaking engagements, events, as well as in our research and power-building work. ✊🏽 DATA-DRIVEN SYSTEMS CHANGE: We build power with communities to catalyze data-driven systems change advocacy by centering the lived experiences and policy recommendations made by girls and gender-expansive youth of color and the organizations that serve them. 🫶🏽 WALKING THE TALK: We are investing in and supporting AFG‘s internal culture through improved processes, structures, and development that align with our values and organizational integrity. We are also thrilled to welcome Evaluation Studio’s all-women-of-color research team, which is now integrated and part of AFG, to lead our fee-based consulting and technical assistance for participatory research and transformational evaluation. Huge thank you to the AFG staff, board members, organizational members, youth, and champions, who generously contributed their time and knowledge to our truly collaborative strategic planning process. Join us in creating a world where every girl or gender-expansive youth of color is valued, honored, safe, and cared for. 🔗 View our strategic plan, meet our new team, and learn more about work: https://lnkd.in/enCmNxpd

🎉 We are excited to share Alliance for Girls’ new strategic plan! It charts the course 🧭 of our collective future to facilitate generative change with and for girls and gender-expansive youth of color and the organizations that serve them. ✨ By implementing this strategic plan, AFG aims to create an imagined community where girls and gender-expansive youth, especially those of color, are valued, respected, and safe, through youth-led research, storytelling, and collective advocacy. In the coming years, we’ll focus on 4️⃣ core strategies: 🔎 YOUTH RESEARCH HUB: Expanding and strengthening AFG's research capacity is at the heart of AFG’s next chapter. With youth as the expert researchers, we’ll continue to reimagine research to facilitate, validate, and elevate girls' and gender-expansive youth of color’s experiences and stories as truth. 🫱🏽🫲🏿 COMMUNITY BUILDING: We’ll center relationship-building, connection, and care throughout AFG practices, engaging our members through our network, ongoing learning opportunities, speaking engagements, events, as well as in our research and power-building work. ✊🏽 DATA-DRIVEN SYSTEMS CHANGE: We build power with communities to catalyze data-driven systems change advocacy by centering the lived experiences and policy recommendations made by girls and gender-expansive youth of color and the organizations that serve them. 🫶🏽 WALKING THE TALK: We are investing in and supporting AFG‘s internal culture through improved processes, structures, and development that align with our values and organizational integrity. We are also thrilled to welcome Evaluation Studio’s all-women-of-color research team, which is now integrated and part of AFG, to lead our fee-based consulting and technical assistance for participatory research and transformational evaluation. Huge thank you to the AFG staff, board members, organizational members, youth, and champions, who generously contributed their time and knowledge to our truly collaborative strategic planning process. Join us in creating a world where every girl or gender-expansive youth of color is valued, honored, safe, and cared for. 🔗 View our strategic plan and learn more about work: https://lnkd.in/enCmNxpd

Over the last three months, AFG and BART hosted intergenerational and interactive Community Learning Exchanges. These workshops convened girls and gender-expansive youth, leaders from girl-serving organizations, and community members who ride BART to reimagine how BART evaluates issues of safety, specifically when it comes to sexual harassment and gender-based violence. To further expand our learning, AFG and BART invite leaders and youth to a community meeting. Reimagining Safety on BART: Building a Youth-Informed Evaluation Tuesday, April 23, 2024 5:00pm to 7:30pm Ed Roberts Campus, 3075 Adeline St, Berkeley We’ll share what we learned in the community learning exchanges, particularly from and with girls and gender-expansive youth of color, and discuss as a broader community how safety should be assessed and upheld across BART’s system. Together we will dream, reimagine and learn from one another, and develop a vision for the safety and accountability of girls and gender-expansive youth on BART. We welcome all transit advocates and community leaders, particularly from organizations and groups that serve girls and gender-expansive youth across the Bay Area, organizations that serve them. But most importantly, we want you to encourage your youth to attend. Dinner and childcare provided! Limited spots available. 📍 Register: https://lnkd.in/evtbFxMk - #endgenderbasedviolence #notonemoregirl #sfbart

📢 ICYMI! A big thank you to Mineta Transportation Institute for inviting AFG's Co-Executive Director, Chantal Hildebrand, to discuss rider harassment on public transit. 🚍 🚊 Together with our members and BART we turned our research into action – and created Phase 1 the Not One More Girl (NOMG) initiative. This first-of-its-kind campaign is a community-driven initiative centering girls and gender-expansive youth to reimagine safety for riders on BART. It reflects the voices and needs of the community, especially the voices of girls and gender-expansive youth of color.  Our groundbreaking work is not done. AFG has begun work on the first youth-informed evaluation framework. It will support BART in assessing the prevalence and impact of sexual harassment and assault on its trains and platforms and the impact of BART’s current interventions. 📌 Here’s a list of additional resources from the “Putting the Brakes on Rider Harassment: Research Tools, Community Partnerships, and Data-Driven Solutions” conversation: https://bit.ly/3HNTBU3.