It’s finally time to reflect on our progress with GirlForward’s Safe Spaces Neighbors Campaign. Over the past few months, Aklesiya, our Junior Intern, has conducted three informational interviews and engaged with 10 local businesses on Devon Ave. to establish them as official Safe Spaces for girls. Aklesiya is excited to tell you about her experiences [...]

Today, we’re going to brag about our interns – one in particular. At GirlForward, interns are really important to us! As a small (but growing!) organization, we value the opportunity to give our college interns experience at a start-up non-profit, and we benefit from our interns’ diverse passions and talents! Laura Bowers is a senior [...]

Our GirlForward Junior Intern Aklesiya has spent the past few weeks working diligently to create a plan that will address safety concerns in her neighborhood. This is part of our Safe Spaces Neighbors Campaign – an initiative to improve safety for girls in our far north side community. To begin, Aklesiya identified some of the major [...]

With spring right around the corner, everyone at GirForward is busy matching girls with new mentors, planning this summer’s Camp GirlForward, and holding all sorts of great workshops like this month’s financial education program. With so much to do and so much to look forward to it’s easy to get overwhelmed or lost in our [...]

What does “SWOT” mean to you? No, not SWAT, although some of us might feel like we need a SWAT team to come and save us from our poor financial decisions. We’re talking about SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This was one of the main items of discussion last night at the first gathering [...]

Hello, GirlForward fans! It’s our first Mentor Spotlight of the new year. How’s 2013 treating you so far? Our year is off to a rockin’ start. Our mentors are awesome, our mentees are awesome, GirlForward HQ is in business, and we’ve got big plans for this year. We are so thrilled with the mentors who [...]

Here at GirlForward we are busy ringing in the new year and celebrating National Mentoring Month! This month is all about honoring the wonderful women who dedicate their time and their hearts to GirlForward’s Mentorship Program. Whether it’s help with homework and college applications, exploring the city, or simply offering advice, our mentors work hard [...]

Here we go, GirlForward fans! It’s time to shine the spotlight on another one of our fantastic GirlForward mentors. This month, we are very pleased to introduce you to Charleen Recto. Charleen is an accountant for an advertising company here in Chicago. She is originally from the Philippines and moved to the United States when [...]

Why hello, GirlForward fans! Far too many months have passed since our last Mentor Spotlight, and for that we are TRULY sorry. We have been so busy the past few months moving into our new space, meeting new girls, and matching girls with awesome mentors! And today, we are thrilled to introduce you to one [...]

We know – it’s tough to be a girl sometimes. But there are those few and fun moments when it rocks! Today is the International Day of the Girl, created by the United Nations, and this is our special excuse to spread the love to our sisters around the world. Day of the Girl is [...]

It has been one week since the end of Camp GirlForward. As I write my final blog post, I’m in the middle of Millennium Park. The summer is simmering down and the crowds are dwindling. This scene is very different from how I have spent every Thursday in the classroom for the past few months. [...]

A few days ago, Domi seemed a little nervous. She was getting ready to start college classes, but found out she needed to submit additional information in order for her student financial aid to go through. It seemed like the paperwork, questions, and special requirements would never end. I finally joked with her yesterday, “You [...]

Last week, Camp GirlForward was fortunate to have guests from Loyola University’s Writing Center work with us on telling personal stories. We talked about essays – the kind colleges want to see – and how simple stories can represent who we really are. We’re excited that Neera, one of the girls participating in Camp GirlForward [...]

These past few weeks have been busy ones as we close in on the last month of camp. Last week was certainly no exception as we spent a busy week at Loyola University practicing our interview skills, learning about journalism, and enjoying lunches by the lake. Last Thursday, we were lucky to have journalist and [...]

This week will mark the end of the first month of Camp GirlForward- how time has flown by!  As I think of everything we have done and achieved with the girls so far, nothing stands as a better memory than our trip to Camp Greene Wood last week. It was one of those days where [...]

This past week, as many of you know, Chicago experienced a heat wave. Since I’ve been living on the Northwest Coast for the past ten years, I was definitely unprepared to face the Chicago humidity or what I like to call “going outside and feeling like you’re being cooked in an oven.” We at Camp [...]

This week was a very exciting one here at Camp GirlForward. In our second week, the girls have started their summer curriculum, doing everything from setting up their own e-mail accounts to beginning Anne Frank. On Wednesday, a few of the girls participated in a Google+ Hangout with Teen Advisors from Girl Up, a United [...]

Welcome to “Tales from Camp GirlForward” – our special series of blog posts about all the goings-on of our academic summer program for refugee girls. Katherine and Zara are our Camp GirlForward interns and will be giving you the scoop on camp from now until August! Here’s Zara’s post from our very first week. As [...]

Summer is in full swing here in Chicago! That means that our girls and mentors are having lots of fun getting out and about, without having to worry about snow boots and scarves. Deanna Lesht is one of our fantastic GirlForward mentors, and she and Beatrice have been taking full advantage of all that Chicago [...]

Last weekend, the girls at GirlForward were given the opportunity to participate in two amazing events. I just arrived in Chicago for the summer to work in the classroom at Camp GirlForward, so this was my first time getting to meet and interact with the girls. I really enjoyed the chance to get to know [...]

Meet Ashley Cureton, this month’s Volunteer We Love! Ashley found us earlier this spring and since then has served as an awesome volunteer and huge advocate for GirlForward.  As a Research Associate at Northwestern University, a world traveler (she has traveled to South Africa, Morocco, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, and Turkey and plans to travel to [...]

“Do you like meeting with your mentor?” The response to the first question on our mid-year Mentorship Program evaluation was unanimous: a huge, resounding YES. We recently surveyed the first group of girls who joined our Mentorship Program in 2011 – the first GirlForward girls ever – to make sure their experience was everything it [...]

It’s April! It’s spring! And it’s time, once again, to meet another inspiring mentor. Meet Alicia Samp: world traveler (she has lived in England, Cambodia, and Honduras), passionate volunteer (while traveling, she shared her skills as a CPA to help women-focused NGOs expand their work) and all-around awesome woman! Alicia became a mentor to Sandrine, [...]

It’s time for our March Mentor Spotlight! On this beautiful March day, we are thrilled to introduce you to Kristen Black, a California native and terrific GirlForward mentor who has spent several months exploring Chicago (and at times, braving the horrible cold weather) with her mentee, 15-year-old Sarah from Iraq. Kristen is currently a student [...]

Here at GirlForward, we absolutely adore our volunteers! We spend a lot of time talking about how awesome our mentors are (in case you haven’t heard, they’re pretty awesome.) but not all volunteers are mentors. We have terrific volunteers who help us with many things, from making videos to giving our web site a much [...]

Often, International Women’s Day is celebrated by highlighting the incredible past achievements and accomplishments of women.  GirlForward focuses on the potential of young girls as they set the foundations for successful futures.  Today, we celebrate the steps women have taken to provide girls with opportunities to expand their potential.  You may not be a young [...]

Today, we launched our Women’s History in the Making video series. Each week during Women’s History Month, we will share a video of a girl in our programs. This week, we introduce you to Domitira, who grew up in a refugee camp in Tanzania and is now on her way to high school graduation. Watch [...]

We’ve had several group activities since we rang in 2012, but our Mentorship Program is still dedicated to providing one-on-one support to the girls in our programs. This month, we introduce Meredith, who meets with Depika, 16, each week to practice writing and prepare for the ACT. Meredith’s a pretty great resource for writing – [...]

Last weekend, our girls and mentors gathered at Loyola University for GirlForward’s version of a Valentine’s Day celebration. The topic of the day was “healthy relationships.” Relationships are complicated, and figuring out what’s good and what’s not can be difficult. We talked about values and took time to figure out the things each of us [...]

Hello, everyone! I would love to take this opportunity to introduce myself and tell you about the recent exciting happenings at GirlForward.  My name is Hannah and I am working as the Community and Program Development Intern this spring.  I have had a wonderful time getting to know everyone and welcoming new girls and mentors [...]

This month, we are thrilled to introduce you to a superstar mentor named Amanda Torcivia! There are so many awesome things to say about Amanda, so we don’t really know where to begin. Luckily, Amanda has provided us with her own report on her first few months as a mentor to Domi, age 19. Domi [...]

GirlForward girls come from all different countries and backgrounds, and have a lot of different goals and aspirations. But there’s one goal everyone has in common: college! That’s why we were so excited when our friends at Loyola University Chicago welcomed us to their Lake Shore Campus last month for our first ever College Night. [...]

Our Mentorship Program has been going strong for about two months now, and we have loved every minute! Most of all, we are so excited about the brilliant and dedicated women who have joined us as volunteers, making a commitment to mentor for at least one year. One of our mentors is Vindya Dayananda. Originally [...]

This past weekend, mentors and girls spent an evening cooking dinner at the Ronald McDonald House near Children’s Memorial Hospital. RMH provides a “home-away-from-home” for families with children in the hospital, so that they can stay near their children for little or no cost. This was our first group service project, and it was definitely [...]

This month’s Mentor Spotlight is on Mamie Adams, who is a fantastic mentor to Arati, 15, from Bhutan. Mamie recently returned to Chicago after spending a year in Berlin studying German. Mamie started volunteering in September and we are so happy to have her around! She is known around GirlForward for the delicious cookies she [...]

Girls and mentors got together last weekend to celebrate Halloween the right way – with costumes, delicious food, games, and pumpkins! Between turning each other into mummies, decorating pumpkins in leopard-print and beads, and cheering our teams as we relay raced with pumpkins and brooms, it was a great way to kick off the season [...]

If you haven’t heard of the Girl Effect, then it’s time to listen up. The Girl Effect is about the power of girls to end poverty for themselves and the entire world. So yes, it’s a pretty big deal. And even though the Girl Effect is mostly about the developing world, we like to make [...]

Each month, we will be highlighting one of our GirlForward mentors here on our web site! Our first Mentor Spotlight is on Kathleen Neelsen, who started volunteering this month as a mentor to Rebecca, who is 16 and from Sudan. Kathleen is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, and works at an immigration and [...]

We had our first mentor meeting tonight, and are so excited about the awesome women who are volunteering with us this year. We had a great time getting to know each other, doing our mentor orientation, and sharing memories from our own teenage years. In the coming weeks, we will be matching girls and mentors. [...]

We have a lot of opportunities for anyone who wants to get involved with our first year! Right now on Idealist we have postings for interpreters, mentors, and interns. Check out that page for more information. If you think you could help us out in a way not listed online, let us know! Visit our [...]

We are now accepting applications for two very different opportunities! If you consider yourself a “web designer,” then please check out our listing here. If you consider yourself an “adult female age 21-35″ and would like to join GirlForward’s pilot mentorship program, then please visit our Get Involved page for details!