Covering songs by artists like Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix, Off the Record took the stage at San Francisco’s dimly lit Rockit Room on September 12 to raise money for Girls for a Change (GFC), a national organization that focuses on encouraging young girls to become leaders in the world.

“GFC has the vision, passion and plan to reinvent society’s traditional stereotypes of urban girls,” said Katie Watson of Voce Communications, a pro bono PR agency for GFC.

Girls for a Change was founded in Silicon Valley in 2002 and began serving communities—especially low-income--all over the Bay Area, with an objective to empower young girls to become social change makers and innovators in their own neighborhoods.

“It is the catalyst for [young girls] to discover their strengths, leadership voice and self-confidence,” said Watson. “[GFC’s goal is that] before these girls can vote they’ve snagged the ear of a governor, landed an internship at a Fortune 500 company or enrolled in a top university.”

The Development Director of GFC, Eleanor Rouse, had spent her entire career in non-profit. But in the aftermath of September 11 she looked for an organization that could help what she said felt like a unequal, broken society.

“I thought to myself that what’s missing most in the world is a balance between men and women,” said Rouse. “I was really looking for a company who was preparing young women to become leaders.”

After some searching she found that GFC was exactly what she was looking for.
Faye Sink, the membership coordinator of SF State’s University Women’s Association (UWA), said that an organization like GFC could only help in creating positive role models.

“UWA started out basically to welcome new staff and faculty,” said Sink. “But it has ended up increasing the leadership ability for adult women. I can only think that starting to teach these girls when they are young is a positive step.”

Each program year, the organization kicks off with a Girl Summit, where over 1,000 young girls participate in an all day event where a combination of guest speakers, performers and workshops are available to help to empower the females.

Next, the girls sign up for “Girl Action Teams,” where 10 girls and two coaches get together and discuss issues in the community.

In addition, a Girl Steering Committee is generated, where four girls are selected to sit on the National Board of Directors and participate in advisory meetings to explore the causes and solutions to the social problems.

“The girls plan a lot of our events,” said Rouse. “And we really encourage them to inform themselves on issues and address those issues to the organization at our events.”

The event on September 12 raised close to 800 dollars for GFC and will help purchase materials for upcoming workshops and events for the girls. GFC’s 5th Annual Girl’s Summit will take place on October 30 at the San Jose Convention Center.

For more information visit www.girlsforachange.org.