By Kate Lord, Director of Advocacy & Communications
"I can see myself mirrored in the girls with whom I’ve worked. I’m no different from them—what’s different was my education. My grandmother was married when she was 13 years old and eventually had five children, including my dad. She never had the opportunity to complete her education. Going from her generation, then to my mom and dad, and now to me and my girls—education made all the difference for my life, and it will make all the difference for my daughters.”
Tara Abrahams is an advocate for girls and women globally, a mom, a storyteller, and a life-long learner. She's also the chair of She's the First's board of directors and has been a powerhouse in the gender equity space for more than 15 years, working with organizations including Co-Impact, The Girl Project at Glamour, Girl Rising, the International Center for Research on Women, and The Meteor, where is currently the Head of Impact.
“My grandmother was married when she was 13 years old and eventually had five children, including my dad. She never had the opportunity to complete her education. Going from her generation, then to my mom and dad, and now to me and my girls—education made all the difference for my life, and it will make all the difference for my daughters.”
A child of immigrant parents, Tara's interest in creating social change started when she was in high school in Illinois and volunteered as a member of the community service club. However, the catalyst for her dedication to gender equality happened when she was pregnant with her first daughter.
"Thinking about what was ahead of me, I had to ask myself: What kind of mother do I want to be? What kind of world do I want to help build for the next generation?
The idea that my child wouldn't have access to the same opportunities—depending on gender identity—just stuck in my gut and wouldn't let go. I've spent the past 15 years creating and supporting movements that advance girls' education, women's empowerment, and gender equality around the world."
Tara and Serena at Reproduce This!, STF's art show about girls' reproductive rights last fall (photo by Julia Xanthos Liddy)
“What kind of mother do I want to be? What kind of world do I want to help build for the next generation?
The idea that my child wouldn’t have access to the same opportunities—depending on gender identity—just stuck in my gut and wouldn’t let go.”
Becoming Serena's mom—and later mom to India, too—made Tara reflect on her own girlhood and what she wanted for her daughters. Despite having a very different teenage experience than her grandmother, she still recalled implicit pressures in school to behave a certain way: be quieter, be more agreeable, don't raise your hand too much, but do take on responsibility for managing the bad behavior of the boys seated around you. When she recently returned to her alma mater this spring to be inducted into the New Trier High School Hall of Honor, she spoke to teens in the Girls Club and found that they were harassed by teenage "men's rights activists."
She wants a world that is different for her daughters and all girls around the world.
Tara's senior high school yearbook photo; she received the school's Alumni Achievement Award for exemplifying the school’s motto: “To commit minds to inquiry, hearts to compassion, and lives to the service of humanity.”
After establishing her impact in the girls' rights space, Tara was attracted to She's the First because of our deep connections to local communities:
"How can you scale this idea of listening to girls and asking them what they want and what they feel they deserve?… I think that's our superpower. That's She's the First's real strength as an organization amongst many others in the girls' space: closeness and the proximity that we have to girls themselves. The fact that She's the First staff is able to cultivate relationships with individual girls and scale that through partnerships with grassroots organizations around the world is a testament to the values that She's the First holds girls closest to the organization's heart. Our heartbeat is being closest to girls."
Tara saw how our staff's efforts complement the incredible work of our grassroots partners in the Global South when she visited Arlington Academy of Hope in Uganda. "Four years ago, I sat in a circle of girls in Uganda and just had a talk, a great conversation about sexual and reproductive health and rights. To hear their questions, some of the things that they were curious about, scared of, and wondering for themselves and on behalf of their friends, sisters, and mothers. That was just a perfect example to me of the importance and the power of listening to girls." Those conversations between girls, our partners, and She's the First staff influence the trainings and curricula She's the First develops to support programs for girls in the Global South.
Tara with girls at Arlington Academy of Hope and former She's the First staff member Henah Parikh in January 2020. (This and header photo by Esther Mbabazi)
"She's the First provides capacity and resources for grassroots leaders so that they can do their work at even higher levels of scale, efficiency, impact, and outcomes. And that, to me, is a pretty powerful idea of how you create impact in the world. And I think that is unique to She's the First right now," Tara reflected.
Women supporting women and intergenerational mentorship: critical components to creating the world we dream for all of our daughters.
Tara's grandmother, mother, and the women in their generations created change in their families, social circles, and communities, nurturing an environment where Tara could thrive and become the girls' rights advocate she is today.
"If I think about anything I have achieved on this journey, it's because other women saw something in me and helped me. That's what all of this is about, right? Paving the road a little bit smoother so that my daughters and others just like them around the world have just a little bit of an easier time at it."
“I think that’s our superpower. That’s She’s the First’s real strength as an organization amongst many others in the girls’ space: closeness and the proximity that we have to girls themselves... Our heartbeat is being closest to girls.”
We know motherhood doesn’t take the day off, and honestly, neither does the patriarchy. Like Tara, we ask ourselves: what kind of advocate do we want to be? How will we build a better pathway for our own daughters, and girls around the world? It starts with getting involved. Will you make a commitment to give $1 a day to build a better pathway for girls?
Monthly donations are the most sustainable way to give. These dollars allow our programs team to make big plans with big impact for girls all over the world. Our current plan? To reach 170,000 girls this year, and we need your help.
From ensuring a year’s worth of menstrual products so no girl has to sit out of school due to her period, to supporting dormitories for girls who live in remote villages to access city schools, your dollar can be the difference between another empty seat in class and a girl in the front row.