In the past few years, the Department of Education, the Surgeon General, and the CDC all agreed: belonging isn’t a buzzword. It’s an essential factor in well-being, especially for young people, who need it more than ever in the midst of the current mental health crisis. But how can teachers make such a broad concept …
Creating belonging for young people is not a one-and-done project. It’s a cycle of effort, learning, and improvement. Does that sound like an opportunity—or does it already sound exhausting? For any educator who feels tired just thinking about working toward another goal, you’re not alone. K-12 education is still seeing the highest rates of burnout …
Welcome to Belonging in Action, a series about how Girls Leadership creates sustainable support for students and teachers. Today’s post asks, How did you learn SEL? Our facilitators ask this question of all the participating adults before most of our trainings, and in most cases, the answers are the same: they didn’t. Social and emotional …
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 …
Photo Credit: Coach Gary Marks Connection is one of the most crucial parts of youth sports. Whether it’s connections between players, with coaches, or with the sport itself, the way we build community can have a huge impact on young players’ enjoyment of and commitment to the game. In our expanding work with sports …
This year marked our 15th anniversary as an organization, including a major change. While we started as a direct-service girl-serving organization, we’ve arrived at a new approach. When you listen to girls for 15 years you learn a ton, and what we learned is that the girls are powerful; it is the adults in their …
Sports are a powerful source of leadership development and well-being for youth. Studies show that girls who participated in sports had higher rates of academic achievement and hope for the future. Yet by age 14, girls start dropping out of sports at twice the rate of their male peers. That rate is even higher for girls with …
You may have heard of the Alphabet Relay, a fun group relay to brainstorm as many ideas as possible using the structure of the alphabet. The Girls Leadership version, an Emotional Alphabet Relay, is a game to help players express how they are feeling and reflect on their relationship with their emotions. This version was …
One thing we know for sure is that educators want to know how to make social-emotional learning inclusive. One of our most popular posts of all time is about the many reasons social and emotional learning (SEL) — the process of developing personal and relational awareness, communication, and decision-making skills — is a priority as we …
Based on our many years of running programs, and countless conversations with girls, parents, caregivers, and educators, we know that our work is impactful. Yet we’re always so deeply moved to hear how our programs and tools help people make positive change in their lives. We had an opportunity to chat with Alejandra Cardenas, a …
