We spoke with two of our Girl Activist Fellows about sex education, the spread of misinformation in their communities, and what changes they want to see. Sydney, 17, who lives in a conservative rural town in Massachusetts, U.S., pointed out that abstinence-only programs cause harm. Faith Boke, 21, from Kuria, Kenya, shared how her community faces shame and misinformation about menstruation and reproductive health. They talked about the need for thorough and inclusive sex education to clear up myths and reduce the stigma around reproductive health.
Our Co-Founder and CEO, Tammy Tibbetts, reflects on the past 12 years since the first International Day of the Girl.
On September 21, 2024, in New York City, more than 50 young women from around the world—including the youngest Nobel Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai and representatives from four She’s the First programs!—gathered to take United Nations member states to task for failing to prioritize girls and young women in the planning and content of the Summit of the Future.
The latest edition of The Girl Gazette is here! This edition highlights an incredible poem about girls’ leadership, a critical essay about a patriarchal community, and body-positive artwork encouraging girls to end period stigma.
After months of meticulous preparation, the 8th iteration of the Girls First Summit in Nairobi and the first-ever Summit in Uganda finally arrived! Girls First Summit, hosted by She’s the First, brings together courageous women who work with underserved girls to strengthen their programs, learn practical ways to build girls' power in their communities, and network.
Safiya Speaks Up!, the impactful children's book developed by five She’s the First Girl Activist Fellows, is making significant strides in Southeast Asia through the efforts of two of its passionate authors and advocates, Anya Legarda and Allison Choong. It was created to educate young girls about combatting sexual violence and using their voices. Since its digital publication last fall, mentors and parents have shared Safiya’s story with more than 3,000 girls across the globe.
Girl Activist Fellows from Kenya and the U.S. produced pop-up gallery shows with the theme “My Body, My Choice” for International Day of the Girl. Reproduce This! was a bi-continental art gallery experience produced by a team of girls, for girls. The fellows spent the last year in our program learning how to imagine, plan, and execute an activism campaign and these gallery shows were the result.
In Safiya Speaks Up, Safiya learns the difference between safe and unsafe touch and identifies three trustworthy adults in her life. The accompanying Mentor’s Guide provides additional information, context, and resources so that trusted adults can help girls understand Safiya’s story and how they can use the tools that Safiya used. This project was created, written, and illustrated by fellows between the ages of 15 and 21 across Malaysia, Kenya, the Philippines, and the United States.
A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation.
Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for National Poetry Month and the Global Week of Action for Education. Girls aged 11 to 22 from Afghanistan, India, Guatemala, Kenya, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, South Sudan, the U.K., and the U.S. submitted their work.
The Ashesi chapter understands the power of being the first and what it means to advocate for girls globally: We aren’t just young leaders who continue to challenge the status quo on issues like gender, education, business, leadership and many more… Trailblazers seems more apt in describing ourselves.”
