A crux of GirlsWho:’s programming is mentorship. We take seriously the research-backed concept of “seeing is believing” -- young girls are more motivated, confident, and goal-driven when they can see real women living out their ambitions, on their own terms. As a result, we want to connect young girls with female role models both professionally and socially, reaching women from universities, companies, and diverse backgrounds nationwide.
That being said, we hope to take a more circular approach to mentorship, wherein both “mentors” and “mentees” have an equally fulfilling experience learning from and developing a relationship with one another, as well as from other women in the same network. Traditional mentorship networks/programming function rather linearly -- an individual is given a mentor and that mentor given a mentee. We have learned that these models actually limit the benefits one can receive from mentorship, as mentors are expected to have “all the answers,” and the learning occurs in one direction, from one person.
Here is just a glimpse of the wide array of networks we are creating:
Girls in stem
Girls in politics
Girls in music
Girls in reporting
Girls in medicine
Girls in tech
Girls in consulting
Girls in banking
Girls in fashion
Girls in marketing
Girls in government/foreign relations
If you don’t see a mentorship network specific to your interests, let us know! We are constantly working to improve and make our resources as helpful and relevant to our users as possible.