Girls Empowerment Network’s vision is a world where all girls believe in their power.
Girls Empowerment Network is a statewide organization with a prominent presence in Central Texas and Houston. In 2017, Girls Empowerment Network hosted its first conference in Dallas at E.D. Walker Middle School. Since 2019, the organization has expanded its presence into the North Texas region and for this upcoming school year, there are Radiant G Circle programs planned in the Dallas Independent School District, Cedar Hill School District, KIPP Texas-Dallas, and more!
We use our self-efficacy building curriculum that incorporates our Seven Cs (Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Communication, Coping Skills, Creativity, Confidence, & Changemaking) to teach girls that they are powerful people. Self-efficacy is a girl’s belief in her ability to succeed. Whether she is shooting for an A on an exam, working to be the first in her family to go to college, overcoming a bully, breaking up with an abusive partner, or trying to take care of herself because she feels like no one else will - when she experiences our self-efficacy curriculum at a school, camp or conference, she realizes she can do it and she becomes powerful. One of the most critical skills to youth engagement that brings all of the other Cs to life in our programs is creativity. We know that for our girls to know they are powerful, they must first have the opportunity to explore, innovate, and imagine what that power can be for them and their greater community. Girls Empowerment Network is participating in North Texas Giving Day 2024 to raise $2,000 to support the implementation and growth of creativity for Radiant G Circle programs in North Texas for the 2024-2025 school year.
Our History
Originally called The Ophelia Project, Girls Empowerment Network a 501(c)(3) was created in 1996 by twelve concerned mothers raising adolescent girls in Austin, Texas. Inspired by the book Reviving Ophelia by Dr. Mary Pipher, these mothers met to address an increasing trend among middle school aged girls – a systematic decline and sometimes permanent loss of self-esteem, the outcome of which can be devastating: epidemic levels of anorexia/bulimia, self-mutilation, depression, low academic achievement, teen pregnancy, and drug abuse.
Twenty-eight years later, we help girls* 3rd-12th grades discover they are powerful across Central Texas, Houston, and Dallas. We do this by teaching self-efficacy, which is a girl’s belief in her ability to succeed. In Dallas, we bring our mission to life through our Radiant G Circle groups. We partner with local school districts like the Dallas Independent School District, Cedar Hill Independent School District, KIPP Texas-Dallas and more. Although not limited to, we have primarily served the areas of South Dallas, Pleasant Grove, Oak Cliff, and Cedar Hill. Over 677 girls have participated in Radiant G Circle groups since 2019, and those numbers will continue to grow in the 2024-2025 school year.
We ignite the power in girls by teaching them the skills to thrive and believe in their ability to be unstoppable. This mission comes to life in our programs through a curriculum designed to increase each girl's self-efficacy (her belief in her ability to succeed.)
At Girls Empowerment Network, we know that girls are powerful people, and our mission is to help them know it too. However, girls are at risk of not reaching their potential, especially if adolescence affects them too adversely. When girls learn and practice our Seven Cs (Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Communication, Coping Skills, Creativity, Confidence, & Changemaking), their self-efficacy increases. When they increase their self-efficacy, they strengthen their internal belief in their power and become unstoppable.
This Fall and Spring, Girls Empowerment Network is seeking Power Chats and Radiant G Circle Volunteers. Power Chats are a structured discussion activity which allows youth and speakers to connect in smaller groups, ask questions, talk about their interests, and share career insight. We have various Power Chats needs throughout the year for our Radiant G Circle Groups.
Radiant G Circle is Girls Empowerment Network’s weekly recurring school-based program. Each semester, Girls Empowerment Network staff, interns, and volunteers work with girls to increase their self-efficacy, resiliency, and positive connection to peers and role models. As a Radiant G Circle volunteer you will attend weekly sessions at a local school and help facilitate ice breakers and discussions, group activities, and provide assistance to the Girls Empowerment Network program lead on-site.
Visit our volunteer page and complete an interest form on our website to get involved.
Our DEI Mission and Committee History
Using education, policy, and ongoing evaluation, Girls Empowerment Network is creating a network that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive to empower and celebrate all girls. Girls Empowerment Network’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee was founded in 2011. The DEI Committee is made up of volunteer staff and board members committed to furthering the mission of the group. Committee members meet regularly, join specific task forces that create or update organizational policies, and participate in continuing education.
*Girls Empowerment Network welcomes youth across the gender spectrum. We center the experiences of girls in grades 3-12, including those who are cis, trans, non-binary, and gender expansive.
Organization name
Girls Empowerment Network
Causes
Women & Girls, Youth & Children
Operating Budget
$1,000,000 - $2,999,999
Counties Served
Dallas, Ellis
BIPOC Serving
Black or African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latinx
BIPOC Leadership
Neither/None
Address
PO Box 670281