2022 4GIRLS Workshop

Save the Date! April 2nd 2022, Long Beach, CA

Free empowerment workshop for middle school girls. Join 4GIRLS for a day of vision journaling, self-defense, body positivity, and much more!

4GIRLS is a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire and empower middle school girls to identify themselves as authentic, confident, and resilient, preparing them for real life success. Our empowerment workshop is our marquee event, and we are very excited to hold this event in-person for the first time since 2019.

Participants can expect an action-packed day filled with activities intended to empower middle school girls including vision journaling, self-defense, discussions on mental health, social media and body positivity, and a fabulous keynote speaker. The best part: this workshop is free for all middle school girls.

Registration for the the 2022 Workshop is opens February 7th!

Middle School Participant Application: https://tinyurl.com/y8e8n8tn

Jr. Mentor Application: https://tinyurl.com/4k6mw5pn

Adult Mentor Application: https://tinyurl.com/2tkpfe4c

Space is limited so please sign up fast!

4GIRLS New Board Member

4GIRLS is excited to introduce our newest board member, Caryl Strong, Managing Director at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Caryl brings extensive experience in accounting to the organization and will be closely aligned with our CFO, Sharon Faustina . Welcome to the team, Caryl!

Global Giving November 2020 Update

Greetings 4GIRLS Friends,

We hope that this message finds you all healthy and safe.

During the past several months, 4GIRLS has been hard at work designing and delivering our program in a new virtual format. The culmination of this effort was the first 4GIRLS Virtual Workshop ever, which was held on November 7, 2020. By all accounts, the event was impactful and accomplished our goal of inspiring and empowering the middle-school girls in attendance. The feedback received from the girls included “This is the best workshop I have ever done”, “I am ready for new ideas to come my way”, and, “Thank you so much for today!!! I haven’t felt this happy and powerful ever until today.” WOW.

The theme of our Virtual Workshop was “Bold”, and one clear embodiment of the word was our keynote speaker, Brenda Villa, the most decorated female water polo player ever. She is a four-time Olympic medalist and four-time World Champion! Brenda, a child of Mexican immigrants, began playing water polo at age 8, and, in high school had to play on the boys’ water polo team because there was no girls’ team. She was the first student from her school to go to Stanford University, where she was awarded the 2002 Peter J. Cutino Award as the top female college water polo player. Through her keynote message, Brenda demonstrated to the girls what it means to have grit and tenacity and how important it is to follow your dreams. She is now helping other kids follow their dreams through the Brenda Villa Foundation (https://www.bvfdn.org/our-story), which strives to give access to aquatic sports to youth in under-resourced communities. Brenda shared, “Anything that you are the first in, make sure that you are not the last.” Excellent words of wisdom. Brenda!

Some other important topics covered during the workshop included mindfulness to teach the girls how to be present in the moment, breathwork to show the girls breathing techniques to control the mind, which in turn controls the body, and a segment on mental health. The topic of mental health is always important and especially so during these challenging times in which we are living. Symptoms of anxiety and depression have increased, in some cases significantly, during the pandemic and youth are not immune. In fact, we learned during the 4GIRLS workshop discussion, that mental health issues are on the rise in youth and that girls have a higher incidence of depression than do boys. Important tips, tools, and resources for coping with anxiety and depression were shared with the girls. In addition, segments on journaling, accomplishing goals, sparking joy, and self-affirmations also provided the girls with methods to shift any negative thoughts or self-talk. Some of the powerful affirmations shared by the girls included, “I am unstoppable”, “I am a trail blazer”, “I am good enough”, “I am worthy”,  and, “I am ready to be me.” The middle school girls that attend our 4GIRLS Workshops never cease to amaze us!

The 4GIRLS leadership team and extended team of volunteers feel energized by our first Virtual Workshop and look forward to continuing to leverage a virtual platform to help drive our mission of inspiring and empowering middle school girls. We are also very excited that our board continues to grow with new and diverse talent, including the latest addition, Caryl Strong, Managing Director at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Caryl brings extensive experience in accounting to the organization and will be closely aligned with our CFO. Welcome to the team, Caryl!

 In closing, we wish our 4GIRLS community joy and peace as we embark upon the holiday season.

Sincerely,

The 4GIRLS Board of Directors

4GIRLS Participation in Long Beach Gives

Dear 4GIRLS Community,

4GIRLS is excited to share that we have been selected to participate in the Long Beach Gives campaign, the city’s annual day of online giving. The 24-hour online fundraiser takes place on September 24, 2020. This opportunity means a lot to our organization, as this year, due to COVID-19, 4GIRLS will not be holding our annual fundraising gala. The Long Beach Gives campaign will be the primary source of funding for our 2021 programs, so please mark the date and help support our organization if you are able.

Though we haven’t been able to hold any in-person events, for several months, our Virtual Connections Committee and Social Media Committee have been very busy at work delivering virtual empowerment events and social media campaigns designed to keep the girls engaged, inspired and empowered! And, one of the best outcomes of this new way of delivering our program has been the leadership skills that our Junior Mentors (who are high-school aged) are honing as they develop and lead many of these activities.

4GIRLS will continue to innovate with how we deliver our program and we will continue to expand our reach virtually so that we can inspire and empower even more middle-school girls. As most, if not all of you know, we are a 100% volunteer organization and everything that we do is provided at no cost to the girls. Please help us to continue doing the good work into 2021 and beyond by contributing to the Long Beach Gives campaign on September 24, 2020. For more information about supporting 4GIRLS through Long Beach.

Gives please visit https://donate.longbeachgives.org/4girls-organization. Early donations will be available starting September 17th, 2020.

Thank you all for all that you do to support this program! We wish you continued health and safety.

Sincerely,
The 4GIRLS Organization

4GIRLS New Board Members

4GIRLS is pleased to welcome several new Board and Advisory Board members to our organization!

Joining our Board are Gail Schwandner, retired Dean of Career and Technical Education at Long Beach City College, and, Tamara White, Group Manager and data analytics architecture expert at Avanade, Inc.  

And, joining our Advisory Board are Stephanie Seecof, Educator for the Long Beach Unified School District, Kimberly Mendez, Social Media Advisor, and, Sion Charles, student at California State University, Long Beach.

All have contributed either their time, talent or treasure to 4GIRLS in the past, whether as a general volunteer, adult mentor, junior mentor, committee member (or a combination thereof!) and we appreciate their ongoing commitment to 4GIRLS and are really excited to be working with them in this expanded capacity. 

4GIRLS Response to COVID-19

Dear 4GIRLS Family,

4GIRLS writes today to convey our hope that you and your family are healthy and safe, express our gratitude for your engagement with our mission, and share a couple brief updates and reflections.

In some ways, our mission has never been more relevant. We will continue to empower middle school girls with confidence – even as we adjust our methods, which have always relied on the large and small group interaction of girls who do not know each other.

Because the health and safety of our girls are paramount, we postponed our Long Beach Workshop, scheduled for March 21 and 22.

With Californians living under the State’s “Stay at Home” order until at least April 19, we are evaluating when and how to hold our 10th Long Beach Workshop and assure safety and health of all who participate.

We’ll be in touch with you, our valued community, when we make any decisions.

Our mission has always struck a balance of our individual inspiration with collective responsibilities. Alumni of our Workshops have shared how they now stand up for victims of bullying, share food with classmates who have less and take leadership roles within their school, sports teams, families and communities. The impact of our work has significant implications for our local communities in the years ahead.

Thus, our mission remains:  we empower the next generation with self-confidence, authenticity and resilience so they’re equipped to navigate through the uncertainty and respond to the complex challenges they will face as adults.

In closing, we’d like to ask each of you:

Since we’re now living in an era of social distancing and economic uncertainty, let us focus on social solidarity—not just within our families and immediate communities, but also with those who are most vulnerable and most marginalized. When individual girls are empowered, they effect positive changes on everyone around them.

Again, we are continuing to explore strategies of adjusting our empowerment models to an online world. Please be in touch if you have ideas on that front.

Warmly,

4GIRLS Board of Directors, Advisory Board and Chapter Leadership