Important Update: Taking a Sabbatical

Dear Friends, 

Next month I will begin my first sabbatical.

After 16 years of working for the voice, power and leadership of every girl, I will be pausing my work as Co-CEO to rest, reflect and rejuvenate for the work ahead. In February, I will begin a four month extended leave, living with my family in Japan. Girls Leadership will be in the capable leadership of our Co-CEO, Takai Tyler, and a true dream leadership team comprised of David Schleifer-Lee, who will serve as Deputy Director in my absence, and Courtney Torres, our Chief Program Officer. I also have full confidence in our staff and supporters to continue our mission in my absence. Girls Leadership is at a strong and stable point where it is possible for me to step aside for these months.

It doesn’t feel intuitive to rest right now. Our girls and gender-expansive youth continue to come of age in the midst of a national mental health crisis, which still impacts girls at twice the rate of boys. After a lifetime of celebrating the growing successes of Title IX, these policies protecting our girls are now under threat. The safety of the most marginalized girls is more at risk than I’ve ever known. In this context, it feels difficult to step away.

Like most of us, I have never taken an extended rest before. My identity and confidence are built on the value of my hard work. This habit started in middle school, about five years before I was diagnosed with dyslexia, a common learning difference among entrepreneurs. I didn’t know I was dyslexic yet, but I did know that school work would take me about twice as long as most students. I’ve carried this habit of grinding away to get things done ever since then. I felt secretly proud when co-founder Rachel Simmons called me the Energizer Bunny during our long days of working at summer camp. I could just keep going, and going, and going…

For years, I have taught girls that their self worth was inherent. It was in their very being, not their looks or their achievements in sports or academics. I believed in this truth for them, young people, even as I continued to practice something different. Burning the candle at both ends was my superpower. 

While I am taking this breath for many reasons–to take a moment with my family before my kids become full-fledged teenagers, because I believe it is healthy for Girls Leadership to function without a co-founder–I am also taking it because I hope to convince my 13-year-old self that putting in those extra hours isn’t what makes her her. If I can convince my inner 13 year old that she is as worthy of respect and care while riding her bike down a quiet street as she is while writing a grant or giving a talk, I will be in a more authentic place to convince the 150,000 girls we impact a year of the same belief, no matter how much the world will try to convince them otherwise. 

I don’t yet know how this sabbatical will impact me, but I know it is important to take this time away from work because rest is an essential factor in the work of leading for social change. This fight that we are in together, for the power of every girl to be recognized, valued and celebrated, is the long game. Sadly, misogyny and racism will be waiting when I return on June 2nd. If we are going to stay in this struggle together, we will all need rest, so that we have the energy to come together in creativity and in play. I hope that you are also finding time for a deep breath, and a good laugh. I look forward to sharing updates when I return in June. 

 

All my love, 

Simone Marean

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