Our next Girl and Grownup workshops are right around the corner, and Girls Leadership staff have been hard at work to tailor this year’s program to the evolving needs of participants of every age and ability. To lead this intergenerational approach, Girls Leadership recently hired a Family Program Director, Laureina Toler-Farmer, or Beina, who is developing our content with an eye to bravery, resilience, and inclusion.
Beina has spent more than a decade in education, teaching at the elementary, middle, and high school levels as well as in teacher development. This has given her insight into the entire K-12 age group as well as a deep understanding of the role educators and guardians play. Across her career, she focused especially on working in under-resourced regions. “Having taught history in rural Arkansas, I saw what was included and what was missing from the curriculum, and I know what it means to have the power to include things that were left out.” Now, she designs programs with the needs of marginalized identities in mind, so that programs can help each and every girl.
Having seen firsthand the power that stories have, Beina wants to make sure that all girls are represented in the stories they hear. To make this happen, she works to make sure girls put themselves at the center of the stories they tell, and works hard to help girls develop the power of their voice. “Our thoughts and our memories are our stories,” she says. “And the stories we discover for ourselves end up being our reality.”
Beina has a bachelor’s degree in Development Studies (with a minor in Education) from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Arkansas. She also holds a K-12 Building Level Administrator License in both Arkansas and California, an additional credential for developing safe and effective learning environments. This especially includes equipping girls and grownups with the skills to manage social and emotional challenges. “Conflict is inevitable in life. We can’t take away challenges, so the question is how do we equip kids to exercise their voices in the moment?”
If you would like to learn more about how Girls Leadership develops our family programs, please feel free to email Beina at laureina (at) girlsleadership.org or leave your question in the comments.
All girl-identifying, non-binary, and gender-expansive youth are welcome and celebrated in our workshops!
Join our upcoming free webinars to gain tools to help you better support the youth in your life.
Free Webinar for Parents and Caregivers — September 25
Free Webinar for Coaches — October 3
Free Webinar for Educators — October 16
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