“This year, we are excited to welcome not only our largest class to date, but our most international class, with girls representing five countries, truly reflecting how global Girl Up’s movement is becoming,” said Anna Blue, Co-Executive Director of Girl Up.
WASHINGTON (PRWEB) June 01, 2018
Today, Girl Up, an initiative hosted at the United Nations Foundation, announced its ninth class of Teen Advisors. The announcement comes at the end of a competitive process with 400 applications. The campaign selected 24 teenage girls who share the common goal of supporting girls around the world and achieving global gender equality.
Teen Advisors are passionate changemakers who lead advocacy efforts, energize others to take action in support of United Nations programs for girls, and provide crucial feedback on Girl Up’s Club programs. These young leaders come from 17 different U.S. states and five countries – the United States, Mexico, Brazil, France and England. They are rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors in high school.
“Our Teen Advisors are the heart and soul of Girl Up. We incorporate their feedback into everything we do – from our partnerships to our leadership programs,” said Melissa Kilby, Co-Executive Director of Girl Up. “This year, we are excited to welcome not only our largest class to date, but our most international class, with girls representing five countries, truly reflecting how global Girl Up’s movement is becoming,” said Anna Blue, Co-Executive Director of Girl Up.
Girl Up’s Teen Advisor program is made possible thanks to its partnership with the Oath Foundation, which supports the global expansion of Girl Up’s leadership program. “Our mission is focused on building opportunities for girls and women to become future leaders, and we’re thrilled to support Girl Up’s Teen Advisor program cultivating global leaders of tomorrow,” said Sara Link, President of the Oath Foundation.
Teen Advisors are the backbone of Girl Up’s borderless movement, which has grown to more than half a million supporters and 2,200 Clubs in 103 countries. Girl Up helps girls develop leadership skills through online engagement, community mobilization, and trainings in advocacy, public speaking, and fundraising. As a result of these efforts, Girl Up has created a generation of current and future girl leaders who have helped raise millions of dollars for United Nations programs and led advocacy efforts for global policies to stop child marriage, ensure that girls are registered at birth, and help refugee girls have access to education.
“I’m honored to serve as Co-Chair for the Teen Advisor Class of 2018-2019 and I’m excited to lead this new class of Teen Advisors,” states Alex Riginos from North Carolina. I hope to inspire and empower them to use their voices to advocate for change and support girls everywhere. Teen Advisors are testament to what happens when girls stand together in solidarity to achieve gender equality. I know that girls are powerful when we stand alone but unstoppable when we stand together.”
The Teen Advisors are self-identified girls selected on an annual basis to serve for an academic year. When Teen Advisors graduate from the program they continue to lead efforts that drive global change on their college campuses and their communities around the world.
The 2018-2019 class of Teen Advisors includes:
Abigail Estrada, 14, Elgin, Illinois
Alessandra Mitchell, 14, Washingon, DC
*Alex Riginos, 17, Charlotte, North Carolina
Ali Cohen, 17, Tempe, Arizona
Anusha Tandon, 17, Acton, MA
Aya Labban, 17, North Potomac, Maryland
Desiree Junfijiah, 17, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
Elana Denver, 17, Ojai, California
*Elina Govil, 17, Cincinnati, Ohio
Elizabeth Libby Foster, 17, Prospect, Kentucky
Eugenie Park, 16, Bellevue, Washington
Eva Jones, 16, Hood River, Oregon
Fatimata Cham, 17, New York, New York
Helena Branco Gouveia, 16, São Paulo, Brazil
Ina Bhoopalam, 17, Lincoln, Nebraska
Ines Gartote, 15, Bourg de Pèage, France
Kavita Rai, 16, Camarillo, California
Laura Solano-Florez, 16, Wallingford, Connecticut
Leena Abdelmoity, 16, Overland Park, Kansas
Rebecca Fairweather, 16, Rego Park, New York
Salomee Levy, 16, Henderson, Nevada
Shushu Crevoshay, 17, San Diego, California
Toni Bamisaye, 17, London, England
Valeria Colunga, 17, Monterrey, Neuvo León, Mexico
*Denotes Teen Advisor Co-Chair
Press Contact: Beth Nervig, bnervig(at)girlup.org
About Girl Up
Girl Up is “by girls, for girls” – girl–led and girl–driven – and engages girls to take action to achieve global gender equality and change our world. Through our leadership development programs, Girl Up inspires, convenes, trains, and connects girls globally, helping to position them as leaders and changemakers. With more than 700,000 supporters, Girl Up leaders are a proven force for social good.
Our leadership training and skill development programs have created a generation of current and future girl leaders who have helped Girl Up leaders increase their confidence in their own leadership abilities, raise millions of dollars for United Nations programs, and advocate for global policies to stop child marriage, ensure that girls are registered at birth, and help refugee girls have access to education. Girls are the future, and through their work with Girl Up, girls have shown their schools, friends, and communities the true power of girls.
Girl Up is hosted at the United Nations Foundation, working across a global community of partners to achieve gender equality worldwide. Learn more at GirlUp.org.
About the United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual donors. Learn more at: http://www.unfoundation.org.
About the Oath Foundation
The Oath Foundation is a private foundation solely funded by Oath and wholly committed to building a better world. Our focus is on building opportunities for women, girls and underserved youth to become future leaders around the world. We give grants to organizations that provide access to education and technology, cultivate creativity and innovation, and teach the skills for taking on the world’s biggest challenges today and tomorrow.
Together with Oath, Inc. and it's brands we support organizations that are committed to inclusion and creating what's next. Learn more at http://www.oath.com/our-story/oath-for-good/ Oath For Good