Without You, THIS Would Not Be Possible

After our successful Global Girls Run the World campaign recently, we were able to raise the money required to run our Blended Learning Leadership Initiative (BLLI) in May.

We are proud to share what our girls have accomplished through the BLLI. They have shared with us that through this program they realize how strong they are as girls, that they can create change, and that they found their voice, confidence, and self-esteem by participating in our training. 

In Cambodia, our girls hosted their first ever event, and it was online! Most of our girls there don’t even have access to technology so this was absolutely life changing for them.

We have now started our next cohort of 10 girls in Afghanistan, our fifth cohort of girls in Haiti, and we will be starting in India and Cambodia next month.  

Our girls are really changing who they are and seeing an even stronger future for themselves, and this is because of the work we are doing in partnership with amazing organizations around the world. Your donations have helped make this happen.  

We cannot thank you enough for your support and look forward to your encouragement as we continue teaching our BLLI in other countries. Stay tuned for more updates from our girls and their events.

Much gratitude,

Julia Lynch, Founding Director.

Everything you need to know about our Global Graduates Connect platform

While we were running our Global Girls Run the World fundraising campaign recently, we also launched a new offering, and it’s a big deal for us, so read on... 

One of the overwhelming things we hear from our girls when we meet and talk with them is that they want more–they have a thirst to learn more from GGP about leadership, running their own initiatives, teaching other girls, and staying connected to each other. We hear that they want to keep having conversations with each other and learning more from each other about each other’s countries as well. 

In response to that, we worked with an amazing volunteer named Richard Wall who helped us create a new online platform called Global Graduates Connect. This platform is now accessible to every girl who has graduated through our programming and as we move forward, each girl that graduates from any of our programming will be added to this platform. It will house different modules for networking, leadership, education, career, healthy sexuality, health, relationships, and learning about life for girls in other parts of the world. 

This is something that exists now but the intention with this platform is that it’s a living organism and that it’s going to grow with our girls. The intention is that we have girls who will become interns for us and will help us create some of the content because what we found is we want content that is by girls and women, for girls and women, from the countries we work in, but those resources are extremely limited and, in some cases, don’t even exist. So, in true Global Girl style, we needed to create some of these resources, and who better to create them than our girls who are living those experiences! We are going to work with some of them as interns in the future to be able to create those resources and teach other girls. 

There are a lot of opportunities here for us to run live webinars, conferences, and from the beginning, this is also a movement for us to get our girls online. In a recent meeting with Google, we heard that there is a lot being done about getting women in developing countries online but there is very little being done about getting girls from developing countries online and so that is one of our missions when we are focusing on mobilization. In 2021, that means the use of the internet and it’s not just about our girls not having access to technology or data or an internet connection, but it’s also about our girls having to deal with some of the societal stigmas around girls using the internet or cultural norms where there doesn’t appear to be a need for girls to get online. Most of our girls don’t even have their own email addresses so we are hoping to shift a lot of those paradigms through our partners and with our girls because if they are going to be members of our global community in 2021 and beyond, they are going to need to be able to know how to use the internet, write an email, log into a platform, and communicate in this digital way. And that’s part of the work that we are doing through Global Graduates Connect.

We are super excited to be able to launch this platform and will have more updates for you over the next few months!

With much gratitude,

Julia Lynch.

Move, Mobilize and Make a Difference with Us this March

2021 hasn’t started like many of us had hoped so we’re offering a way to get moving and support GGP together - Wherever you are, whether you like to run marathons or prefer a more leisurely walk, run with us in an epic collective virtual race of 17,623 miles around the world!  

Our Global Girls Run the World race’ will begin on March 1st and end March 31st, followed by an online live celebration on April 1st. You can join as an individual or a team at any time during the month of March. All you need to do is pledge your miles, set your fundraising target, which we can help you share with others, and get moving.

These virtual miles represent the journeys between our partner countries, starting in Cambodia and moving all around the world to finish in South Africa. Virtual connection is not the only goal though. We also want to raise $1 per mile, $17,623, which will enable us to mobilize our next group of 60 girls toward community change. 

Please join us by moving in whatever way you want, whether it’s walking, running, cycling and fundraise on our virtual journey through Haiti, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Jordan, Rwanda and South Africa. Make a difference, together, and be part of something that will take us around the world!

Simply sign up as a fundraiser and create your own page by clicking the link here. Only takes a few minutes, and then you will be listed on our Chuffed.org page as one of our amazing supporters. Share how many miles you’ll move and how much money you pledge, then get your friends, colleagues, neighbors and family to join in on that fun as well. Don’t worry, you won’t be alone as, like in any run, we will support and encourage you as you go.

Love to make a difference but without the need to move? You can do this too! Help support us by donating, sharing the news online and cheering on our global change-makers!

In recognition of your support, you receive a personalised certificate of completion, and top 10 fundraisers win a copy our new book More Than One Voice: Changing our World Starts with a Girl.

But most importantly, know that you've helped create the next generation of women leaders and mobilizers around the world by doing your part wherever in the world you are! #GlobalGirlsRunTheWorld

Much gratitude,

Julia.

Volunteers Make our World go Around!

It’s the beginning of 2021 and we already have so many different exciting offerings in the works, and they are all coming into fruition because of the hard work, commitment and dedication of our fabulous volunteers. We currently have a team of volunteers planning our first ever large-scale fundraising event, Global Girls Run the World and we have one amazing volunteer who is creating our new online leadership graduate platform! We even had a volunteer meet with our exchange students this past Saturday, and run a truly impactful workshop with them on leaders around the world.

So we thought it was high time to share a bit more about two more of our change-making volunteers with you all. enjoy!

Stella McKenna - GGP Board of Trustees Chair

Stella is Chair of the Board of Trustees, a role she took in July 2020. I joined the board in April 2019. In my role as Chair I am responsible for leading our amazing board account for GGP’s mission and vision, ensure we fulfilled our governance duties as well as help Julia make GGP a success.

What is your greatest achievement outside of GGP?

My greatest achievement has to be running a marathon in 2017! I am by no means a runner, in fact I used to actively hide during school PE lessons but for some reason I felt compelled to take on the challenge. It took me nearly 2 years of training, and a lot of sweat, tears and a broken rib (!) but I made it and I genuinely enjoyed it. Whenever I think I can’t do something, or that sneaky imposter syndrome worms its way in I can remind myself that if I can run a marathon, I really can do anything.  

What attracted you to volunteer with GGP?

I met Julia a few years ago at a conference, back then GGP was a passion project of Julias and whilst I found her determination deeply inspiring I wanted to see how things mapped out before diving in. Sadly many small passion projects fail. I kept a keen eye on the work of GGP through social media, and then when the time felt right I jumped at the chance to become a board member at a pivotal time for the organisation - since then we’ve transitioned to Julia working full time and developed, designed and launched a whole new programme - it’s been a big 618 months!

What has been the most exciting thing you have  been involved in whilst volunteering for GGP?

Last year we were lucky enough to have a full board strategy meeting in London - it was the first time most of our international board had met in person. The room was buzzing with energy and ideas, and I felt really confident we could build GGP into an amazing, impactful, global organisation. GGP had moved far away from a passion project, although its still Julia’s passion that steers the ship.

What are your hopes for the future of GGP?

I am excited to see the Blended Learning Leadership Initiative grow. By some sixth sense this new way of delivering the life change GGP curriculum was already in the works before Covid hit, otherwise we know we would have been in trouble. We were able to pivot quickly and found some incredible partners to expand the programme in three new countries. The BLLI is simple, but hugely effective, and with this local facilitator led model we have the ability to not only reach a greater number of girls, but also access communities who have much less access to anything like GGP.

Ruksana Hussain - Book Volunteer and Blog Writer

I started late last year as a volunteer working on grant-writing opportunities and helped Julia create a master document for internal use. Then COVID hit and along came the book project on which I helped with edits/proofing and now some PR/marketing toward the launch in October. Along the way somewhere I realized the website wasn't getting updated as frequently as it should so I've been helping Julia with blog posts every two weeks. I did offer to help with the virtual summit in November but have had to move away from that now with work slowly gearing back up again.

What is your greatest achievement outside of GGP? 

I am an award-winning journalist, writer and editor. 

What attracted you to volunteer with GGP? 

That this was a nonprofit working with young girls in developing countries where leadership skills for them is not even an option. In most cases it's a pretty grand scene if they even receive a decent education. Coming from India I've seen that all around me. I wish I had someone tell me at a young age that I could be a leader in my community. I love that GGP has taken on that challenge and successfully implemented programs every year in new countries.

What has been the most exciting thing you have been involved in whilst volunteering for GGP? 

Definitely the book project, reading the stories of some of the girls was brilliant. The excitement of seeing the book from nothing to now a printed copy is indescribable. And I do get the inside scoop sometimes writing blog posts and it makes me so happy to hear the work the young girls in each of these cities are able to accomplish with a little bit of guidance. 

What are your hopes for the future of GGP? 

I hope programming is available for girls and women all around the world!

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Thank you for reading about our world-changing volunteers and if you are interested in becoming a part of the Global Girl family then please do reach out through our Contact form.

Much gratitude,

Julia.

Happy New Year to our GGP Family and Supporters!

Here’s to a fantastic year ahead. We hope you got to rest a bit during the holidays and here we are back into the swing of things once more. 

Agreed 2020 was a very challenging year for all of us and at Global Girl Project, everyone has worked really hard to make use of the opportunities that the year has provided for us. 

We are very proud of the growth that we’ve had thus far, and especially given the past year, but if you know us, you know we now have even bigger plans for 2021.

We’ve already started this year with a bang, with our next cohort of girls for the Blended Learning Leadership Initiative - we are back with a fourth cohort in Haiti, a second cohort in Jordan, Afghanistan and South Africa, and now, a first cohort in Cambodia. We are also currently in talks with an organization in India to expand into for May and we will have updates for you here as those plans firm up. 

We are also working on a brand-new online leadership portal for our graduates to be able to access, with all the tools they need to continue to be leaders in their own communities.

We have a very exciting fundraising event planned for the month of March for Women’s History Month - this is going to be our biggest event yet and we would love support from all of our friends and family around the world. 

As always, if you are looking for opportunities to volunteer this year or have friends looking for ways to help a good cause, we hope you will think of us here at GGP. 

Much gratitude,

Julia Lynch, Founding Director

2020...What a ride it has been!!

This year has changed so much for each and every one of us in this world. No one in our global family has been left untouched. Global Girl Project believes that every challenge is simply an opportunity in disguise and so we have use this challenging year to help us grow in ways we could have never imagined.

Take a watch of the video below and come along on the journey with us.

Gratitude,

Julia.

Support Global Girl Project for Giving Tuesday

As the year comes to a close, we want to celebrate all the big and small achievements of 2020. This has been a difficult time for everybody, including small charities, and we want to celebrate the successes we’ve had.

One of those is 50 girls graduating from our Blended Learning Leadership Initiative (BLLI) in Afghanistan, Jordan, South Africa, Haiti and Nigeria. They've worked tirelessly over the last three months, learning about leadership, using their voice and impacting their communities. They have run five events in five different countries impacting over 500 people globally, working on issues such as the plight of children who live and work on the streets in Afghanistan, human trafficking in South Africa, and the right to education for girls in Nigeria. 

We couldn't be prouder of our girls, especially during this time of COVID-19 where they had to be creative. Our girls in Jordan couldn't get together for an event so they did it online.  In Jordan, our girls talked about people who live with disabilities. Our partners in Afghanistan are dealing not only with the pandemic but also a number of bombings that have happened in the country. In Nigeria, they are dealing with a lot of political unrest on top of COVID-19. 

Our girls have been able to reach their goals in spite of all of these challenges. Each of our girls graduating receive an educational grant that will go toward school fees or other educational needs. For instance, with our partners in Jordan, the girls will be receiving tablets as their learning is now online, and they don't have access to computers. We want to thank our partners Madrasati, Skateistan, The Best Spring Foundation and Foundation Toya for working with us and trusting us to mobilize their girls. We're also super excited to share that we will be expanding our program in January with Skateistan Cambodia – now we will be working with all three of their partner countries, we cannot wait to get started! 

And that brings us to our Monthly Donor Campaign

With the year-end rolling in, along come tax breaks and gift giving. We would love for you to consider GGP. We need to raise money to ensure that the BLLI program continues. We do not receive any government or foundation grants at this point. We need your support, and one way to do that is through monthly donations. For us to know what money is coming in every month makes the difference in us being able to survive and thrive. We’re running our monthly donor campaign throughout the whole month of December so you can give the gift of leadership, of education, of a passport, all for as little as $2 or €2 a week. 

We are also on Amazon Smile in the US and UK so if you are shopping at Amazon this Christmas, then please consider GGP as your charity of choice so some of your money will be channeled toward GGP programs. Thank you ever so much!

Much gratitude,

Julia Lynch, Founding Director

Hear about our fabulous volunteers…and our upcoming quiz

Over the last six months, Global Girl Project has managed to bring to fruition our “More than One Voice” book and the Connected Voices digital leadership event all through the power of volunteers who believe in what we do. Our organization is driven by the enthusiasm our global team of volunteers brings to every effort. We are immensely grateful for their time and skills toward our recent campaigns and thought you should learn more about the great folks we have the pleasure of working with. Here goes!

Nicolette Teo is part of the GGP team that organized the recent online Connected Voices global summit. She has spent her entire career organizing events in the wine and spirits industry. When she saw a call for volunteers on social media, she offered her event management skills at our event, and her assistance couldn’t have come at a better time. She helped bring our team of volunteers together and keep us on track with our project deliverables. Here’s a little more on Nicole:

What is your greatest achievement outside of GGP? 

Successfully establishing my own small business (L.A. Spirits Awards) in the midst of a global pandemic and building a diverse and inclusive team around it that showcases the talent of the spirits industry. It's between that and my past life as a three-time Olympian for my native country Singapore. 

What attracted you to volunteer with GGP? 

I've always admired the work that Julia and GGP are doing with young women around the world. Young women are our future and GGP does a superb job of mobilizing them to be changemakers within their own communities. When I saw Julia's call for volunteers on Instagram, the words "If not now, then when" popped into my head! Selfishly, I also felt I had so much to learn from the big and warm heart that Julia has.

What has been the most exciting thing you have been involved in volunteering for GGP? 

Meeting and collaborating with the other wonderful volunteers. It's great to be able to connect with other women across the globe during these unprecedented times and know that we're in this together. I've also been thoroughly enjoying the lovely British accents during our zoom calls!  

What are your hopes for the future of GGP? 

That we get more eyeballs on the great work that GGP is doing! 

Uduak Duke is another of our amazing volunteers that has been helping us with creating our impact report and also a few modules of the leadership training programme that will directly benefit our girls everywhere. She has been simply incredible to work with bringing all her know-how to GGP and getting us going on some very integral aspects of our non-profit work. 

What is your greatest achievement outside of GGP?

Being a mom to a beautiful 15-month-old girl. 

What attracted you to volunteer with GGP?

I am passionate about empowering young women and girls and believe that women are catalysts for change in communities. GGP's values and activities align with my passion. I also found the Exchange Programme to be really interesting as it teaches girls about cultures, religions and ways of life which are different to theirs and helps them develop tolerance and empathy toward others. 

What has been the most exciting thing you have been involved in volunteering for GGP?

So far, I have supported production of the first GGP impact report. It was really good to see on paper how much impact GGP has had on the girls directly and on their communities to date. I am also working on some modules for GGP's exchange programme and I am excited to be directly involved in equipping the girls with leadership skills. 

What are your hopes for the future of GGP?

Growth, expansion, sustainability. I want to see a long lasting impact, and more girls and communities reached by GGP.  

Stay tuned for more updates on our really cool group of talented volunteers as we share more about them over the next few weeks. Meanwhile…you knew this was coming…we have another announcement to make!

This December, Women@Disney and Disney Diversity will be holding THE BIG FAT CHARITY CHRISTMAS QUIZ to raise money for the Global Girl Project, and you are all invited to participate. The brilliant Gary Jordan, who plays Zazu in the Lion King Stage Show, is joining us to host the quiz, bringing some unmissable Disney magic to the night. Get your team together or go it alone and get ready to compete against the rest of the company, to win some spectacular prizes and be crowned the ultimate quizmaster ‘King’ or ‘Queen’. Head here for the deets.

And a quick note to also let you know we are going to be starting a monthly donor campaign very soon so you can give the gift of leadership, education or even a passport to a young girl, as a monthly donation, or dedicated to any of your friends and family. Campaign starts December 1!

 With much gratitude,

Julia Lynch, Founding Director.

50 Global Girls are Waiting

Network, connect and conspire at our digital leadership summit, taking place this Saturday.

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Tickets still available

Tickets are still available for our digital leadership summit, which is taking place this Saturday. There are several ticketing options, buy a ticket for the whole day, or for the session you want to attend. There is also the option to donate, buy a ticket for a girl and grab a copy of our book at checkout. Head to our event page for more information, and make sure you invite your friends.

We will send out recordings of the entire day to those that purchase a whole day event ticket.

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Where does my ticket money go? Help support girls in economically developing countries by attending our summit.

GGP's digital leadership summit is grassroots and volunteer-led, meaning all proceeds from the event go back into GGP programmes to support girls in economically developing countries. Our panellists, speakers and organisers have kindly leant their time and skills for free, to help raise funds for our girls. The funds raised from the event will contribute to our Blended Learning Leadership Initiative, a multi-year programme which has successfully empowered girls in 5 different countries. The money you pay for a ticket will facilitate our next round of programmes, taking place in Haiti, South Africa, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Jordan in January 2021, with 50 girls aged 13 to 18 years.

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Our digital summit covers three important topics; leadership styles, mobilisation and the future of community development and all sessions include exclusive readings from our recently published book, More Than One Voice. The event includes panel discussions, keynote speakers, seminars and networking opportunities. Deepti Gupta, narrator and actress is our MC for the day, and we have 14 inspiring guests joining us throughout the day. Head to our event page for more details:

With less than two weeks to go, the countdown is on...

GGP's first digital summit - Connected Voices is taking place on Saturday 14th November. Our summit includes three inspiring sessions on mobilisation, leadership and the future of community development. GGP has been busy recruiting girls and women across the globe to participate in panels and deliver speeches, addressing some of the most pressing global issues. We are so excited for you to join us, and engage with people who have been successfully mobilising their local communities working towards positive social change.

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All proceeds from our event go back into our programmes, directly benefitting our girls.

What makes our summit extra special, is that all proceeds go back into GGP programmes. The funds raised will ensure our innovative, Blended Leadership Learning Initiative continues to run, with another 50 girls set to start in January 2021. The more tickets we sell, the more we can support, empower and mobilise girls from across the globe to become change-makers within their local communities. The funds raised from this summit will directly support girls in Haiti, Nigeria, South Africa, Afghanistan and Jordan.

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Gift options, donate options and tickets to support those who may otherwise struggle to attend. 

To ensure our event is as accessible as possible, and to encourage a great crowd GGP has added several ticketing options dependent on your availability. Buy a day ticket and have access to all three engaging sessions, or buy a ticket for the session you want to attend. Gift ticket options are available if you know someone who would love to attend or want to give the opportunity for one of our partners to invite a girl. You can donate any amount you wish, and purchase a copy of our newly released book. Whatever you do, don't forget to invite your friends.

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Speaker announcements:

This week we are delighted to announce our summit will include (left to right), Asha Kirkpatrick, Wahiba Lachebb, Mason Maxam and Saru Khadka. They will be joining us throughout the day, bringing their contributions on specialist topics. See our event page for more information on their sessions.

More announcements to follow.

We Need Your Help...

There is now less than three weeks to go until GGP first digital leadership summit and we need your help. All tickets sales go towards our projects and will be essential to the launch of our next Blended Learning Leadership Initiative, which is currently set for Jan 2021. GGP is a grassroots initiative and our programmes facilitate the empowerment of girls in economically developing countries. The delivery of our programmes means girls can continue developing leadership skills, engaging with community development projects and experience valuable cultural exchange. You can directly support our programmes by buying a ticket for you and your friends to our digital leadership summit. Tickets are as low as £20 for adults and £10 youth.

Help GGP reach our ticket sale target.

To tempt you, here's a few highlights that we have planned so far...

The day will include contributions from keynote speakers, discussion panels, youth-led panels, Q&A's and seminars discussing global challenges on all things leadership, mobilisation and community development. 

Our panellists are global and will be joining from Nepal, Detroit, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, LA and the UK. 

We have famous actress and narrator Deepti Gupta joining as our MC.

The summit will include both youth and adult seminars - and you get to pick which one you attend!

Sarah Culberson, author and founder of Sierra Leona Rising will be joining as a keynote speaker.

The event will include an exclusive book reading of our recently published book, More Than One Girl.

Panelist Announcement

Format for the day - attend one, two or all three sessions!

Welcome at 10am. 

SESSION ONE: Leadership, 10.15am - 11.30am.

We talk to a Global Girl Project girl about the experiences as a leader and the challenges faced by global communities. Includes breakout sessions with one youth seminar and one adult seminar. The session will close with an exclusive reading from our book More Than One Voice. 
 

SESSION TWO: Mobilisation, 1pm - 2.15pm.

Join the panel to discuss the role of young women and youth ambassadors in promoting the mobilisation of young people. Includes breakout talks by leading youth and adult speakers in the field, with Q&A.
 

SESSION THREE: The Future of Community Development, 4pm - 5:30pm. 

Hear our panel discuss the future of community development, answering the question, how should we do things differently? This session includes breakout seminars with a Q&A. 

Closing celebration, 5:30pm - 6:00pm.

Join us, and contribute to global change by supporting our girls. 

 If you can't attend our event, you can still support us by buying a copy of our book, More Than One Voice. The book includes 8 stories of GGP graduates, who share their journeys of becoming community development leaders. All proceeds from the book go to the 8 excellent authors (pictured with her copy) and our programmes. The proceeds will enable us to continue delivering our initiatives, working to mobilise young women from across the globe. 

Digital Leadership Summit - Announcement #2

Tickets are now on sale for our first digital leadership summit. 100% of the profits go back into our Blended Learning Leadership Initiative and support girls learning. Help support our projects by attending, and get involved with important discussions around leadership, mobilisation and the future of community development.

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Speaker announcement:

Last week we proudly announced Deepti Gupta - actress and narrator, will be joining us to MC our event. This week we are excited to broadcast that Sarah Culberson, author and co-founder of Sierra Leone Rising will be a keynote speaker.

A bit about Sarah...

As an infant, Culberson was placed in foster care and was then adopted by a loving white family in West Virginia. She grew up contemplating and dealing with questions about her identity and her biracial roots. She learned that her biological mother died when she was just 11, and her birth father lived in a village in Sierra Leone, West Africa. She learned about her royal family, and discovered is a Mahaloi, the granddaughter of a Paramount Chief, with the status of a princess. She also learned of the difficulties and privations of Sierra Leone’s people following a brutal 11-year civil war that ended in 2002. Princess Sarah’s story has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, LA Times, BBC in London and more.  Her book, “A Princess Found” co-authored with Tracy Trivas can be found at Barnes and Noble and Amazon. 

Culberson has danced and acted on stage as well as in films and TV, she earned her MFA at The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and joined the Los Angeles acting community. She danced professionally for five years with the Urban Latin Theater Dance Company,  CONTRA-TIEMPO. Culberson and her brother Hindo Kposowa co-founded Sierra Leone Rising a non-profit supporting Public Health, Education and Female Empowerment in Sierra Leone.

We are excited to have her involved in our summit!

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Our book has launched - grab your copy now and support our authors and programmes.

GGP first book, More Than One Voice: Changing our world starts with a girl - was officially released last week and is now available to buy. Our book includes inspirational stories from GGP graduates (proudly pictured above with her copy), who have mobilised for social change through community development projects. Our global summit will include an exclusive book reading by our MC.  Just like our virtual summit, all proceeds go back to our eight authors and into our projects. The funds raised will help support the next Blended Learning Leadership Initiative - set to launch in Jan 2021. 

One of our proud authors - with her copy! Buy your copy now and tag us on social media.

Digital Leadership Event Announcements

GGP's first digital leadership event is set to take place on Saturday 14th November. Tickets are already on sale, grab yours now.

Our event includes three sessions, focusing on the theme of Connectedness. The session topics are driven by Global Girl Projects mission - "mobilising young women around the globe for social change through community development and action". More info on each session below:

Session one: Leadership.

In session one we will be talking about all things leadership. It includes a contribution from a graduate of GGP who will share her experiences of being a young community leader. 

Session two: Mobilisation

Our second session is all about taking action, and the amazing work of girls who are creating change through mobilisation. In this session, girls globally will have the opportunity to share their success stories and discuss tactics on how to mobilise your peers.

Session Three: The Future of Community Development

Our final session focuses on the upcoming challenges within community development, and how we make impactful change for a better future. This session is all about how we can do things differently, and motivate each other towards global change. 

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More Than One Voice - Out now

Our event, Connected Voices - Global Virtual Summit Powered by Global Girl Project, is supporting the launch of GGP's first book, which is now available to buy on Amazon. The book is a collection of stories of GGP graduates, and their journeys in becoming a community leader. 

This Week We Want to Share with You How Strong Our Girls Truly Are!

To celebrate International Day of the Girl Child, GGP interviewed girls who have participated in our programmes to understand what motivates them. Another wonderful contribution from one of our Girls, who provides her perspectives on community leadership, and the power of mothers in motivating and supporting young girls in education.

1.    Where are you from? 

 I am from Pakistan

 2.    What was your community development project about?

 In our community people are in the view that girls are not for education and that studies is just a waste of time and money so they do not allow girls to study. Girls are in the difficulties of poor situations that’s why I started a project for uneducated girls. In this project I inspired their parents for their education.

 3.    What do you think makes a good leader?

 In my view, a good leader should report a girls performance every day, notice a carelessness in their performance and next time give them guidance to improve their performance. 

 4.    What is the hardest thing about being a girl today?

 In my view of knowledge I think the most difficult thing in the modern world of 21st century is getting education for girls because of their poverty and in most houses parents care about boys education and not girls education. 

 5.    What motivates you to do community work?

 My mother encourages my project!

 6.    Who do you think is a good leader? What do you like about them?

 Mothers are the best leaders in our lives especially for girls when a one educated women will birth an educated nation.

 7.    What are your biggest hopes for your future?

 My mother is a brighter sign of my future, she has a great desire for me and I hope one day she will be able to bright my future.

 8.    If you could give 3 tips to a young girl growing up, what would they be?

 If I give 3 advice to her. First of all she should make a proper time table of any thing like time for work and time for study. 2nd, she should get advice from her elders and 3rd, she should follow time table, discipline and guidance from learners. 

In Celebration of International Day of the Girl...we celebrate our girls!

To celebrate International Day of the Girl Child, GGP interviewed girls who have participated in our programmes to understand what motivates them. Here, we chat with a GGP girl from Nepal about her perspectives on all things leadership!

1.    Where are you from? 

 I am from Nepal

 2.    What was your community development project about?

 My community development project was ‘Gender Inequality.’

 3.    What do you think makes a good leader?

 Integrity Honesty and clarity makes a good leader!

 4.    What is the hardest thing about being a girl today?

 The hardest thing about being a girl leader today is overcoming the expectations, the world has and doesn’t have for you. They expect a smart, beautiful young lady who can clean and cook. 

 5.    What motivates you to do community work?

 The work we do in our community leads to a positive change. This helps me do community work!

 6.    Who do you think is a good leader? What do you like about them?

 The thing I like about leaders is that they made hard decisions and self sacrifice in order to enhance the lives of other people around them. 

 7.    What are your biggest hopes for your future?

 My biggest hopes for my future is the positive change that leads to a supportive community.

 8.    If you could give 3 tips to a young girl growing up, what would they be?

 The three tips I would like to give a young girl is to stay strong, think twice before you take a step and never hesitate to make a right decision. Never let anyone take you down. 

Short and sweet – Just two things

We are super excited to announce our first ever digital event: CONNECTED VOICES Global Summit powered by Global Girl Project. This is open to people of all ages from all parts of the world. This is a time for us to come together to connect to learn from each other and leave with some next steps and solutions as to how we can start to create the change we want to see. Tickets are currently on sale and you can access them here on Eventbrite so save the date for November 14, join us and tell everyone you know!

Meanwhile don’t forget – our book “More Than One Voice: Changing our world starts with a girl” is still available for pre-order on Amazon so please head on over to order it now and help us raise our discoverability online. Everybody who donated to the fundraising campaign and chose the book as a perk will be receiving their copies in the mail in the next few weeks. When you do get your book, please read it and leave us your review on Amazon to help us get the word out there about our book project. 

And that’s it for this edition. As always, we are immensely grateful for your support and welcome volunteers to assist with any of our events and activities. Just connect with us online via the contact form and let’s chat!

 Much gratitude,
Julia Lynch, Founding Director.

Our book “More Than One Voice: Changing the World Starts with a Girl” is here!

Thanks to you, our book is ready for its grand introduction to the world. We are now taking pre-orders on Amazon for our book which will be released on October 11 – International Day of the Girl Child! Just click that link and head on over to buy your copy of the book and share the link far and wide to share the stories of our girls with the world. 

 If you chose the book as a perk during our recent fundraising campaign, then it will be on its way to you in October as well. Our book is a significant contribution to the diversity of voices in the young adult (YA) book market and 100% of the proceeds from sales of the book go straight back to our nonprofit programming and the girls we support. The eight inspiring stories narrated by our scholars are accompanied by gorgeous full colour illustrations that bring their words to life. 

With your purchase of the book, you get a glimpse into the lives of our young changemakers and learn how leadership training can empower anyone, anywhere, to affect community impact to make a difference. And this is also a great gift for other young adults in your life to start a conversation on important global issues and initiate the change they want to see around them. Click here and per-order the book now.

But if that wasn’t sufficiently exciting, here’s more - We are hosting our first ever digital leadership event! Connected Voices Global Summit: Powered by Global Girl Project will be held virtually on November 14. Stay tuned for more details as we finalize the day’s agenda, but we are inviting speakers and panelists to participate – both young adults and adults.

Send us a note on our contact form, nominating yourself or someone you know, and we will send you more information about speaker requirements for the summit or to be a panelist/workshop host. Watch this space for updates on when you can purchase tickets. And if you’d like to spread the word on our digital leadership event, just let us know on the contact form and we’ll send you some handy graphics to share over social media.

Much gratitude,
Julia Lynch, Founding Director.

Blended Learning Leadership Initiative launches in five countries in September

It’s an exciting month ahead as we welcome partners new and old and a new cohort of scholars to the BLLI! Launching these programs around the world would not be possible without our local partners on the ground, who take these training programs to our scholars there. Immense gratitude to all the organizations that are now part of the GGP family and here’s a little bit more about each to get to know them better: 

Our partners since 2016, first with our Exchange Program and now with our Blended Learning.

Foundation Toya in Port au Prince, Haiti 

A non-profit, non-denominational organization created for the coaching and strengthening of the capacities and leadership of girls and women.

Our partners since the beginning of 2020.

Best Spring Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria

A grassroots-based Non-Governmental Organization that advocates for the rights of vulnerable children and youths by providing steady, qualitative and holistic education and empowerment.

Our new partners for September 2020

Madrasati in Amman, Jordan 

Connects individuals, private companies and organizations, providing support for improving the physical and educational learning environments of Jordan’s most neglected public schools.

Our new partners for September 2020

Skateistan in Johannesburg, South Africa and Mazar E Sharif in Afghanistan
Empowering children through skateboarding and education, this award-winning international non-profit organization gives children the opportunity to become leaders for a better world. 

On September 5, our program will launch for the first time in Karak, Jordan with Madrasati, on September 12 with Foundation Toya in Haiti, Best Spring Foundation in Nigeria, and with Skateistan in South Africa, and on September 13th in and Afghanistan with Skateistan. 

We are so happy to have you with us and look forward to a great BLLI session ahead.

And if you were wondering…our book “More Than One Voice” is getting readied for publication as we speak (we are counting down the days!) with the release date of October 11th for International Day of the Girl, and we are in planning mode for our virtual summit scheduled for November 14th . Want to lend a helping hand with marketing, outreach or any other way? Contact us here and we can collaborate.

Much gratitude,
Julia Lynch, Founding Director.

Time for another update already? Days fly by here at the GGP HQ!

We are less than a month away from fully launching our Blended Learning Leadership Initiative and we are super excited for everyone we will be welcoming to the program this time around. We met this week with our new program facilitators from Jordan, Afghanistan and South Africa to prepare them to run the program in their regions. We're going to be working with 10 girls in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, 10 girls in Johannesburg, South Africa and 10 girls in Karak, Jordan, as well as 10 girls in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and 10 girls in Lagos, Nigeria. That’s a whopping 50 girls who will be starting with GGP this September. We are simply thrilled to have them all join us and we are grateful to both Skateistan and Madrasati for our new partnerships.

Our new Program Facilitators from Skateistan and Madrasati.

We are working around the clock to try and make adjustments to our program. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, our girls in places like Johannesburg may not be able to meet in person so we're looking at ways to work with our partners to provide the resources necessary to do this 100% online. We're working with our partners in Jordan around a new school schedule that's being set by their government in preparation for a possible second wave of the COVID-19 virus. We're really being put to the test to be as flexible and adaptable as possible, and we’re prepared to rise to that challenge. It’s something that we want to teach our girls here, too.

Meanwhile, here are a couple more amazing illustrations from our upcoming book “More Than One Voice”, which is currently with the typesetter as we speak being readied for publication at the beginning of October. Major gratitude and a huge shout out to our volunteers who we are going to highlight a bit more later - Max, Camila, Kate, Paloma and Ruksana, who have been working day and night to bring this project to fruition. We can't wait for you to meet our inspiring girls and read their stories. Watch out for the announcement so you can get your copy online – we will have physical copies and e-book versions. For our fundraising donors that supported our recent book campaign, if you chose the book as a perk, you are going to love receiving it.

Andddd drum roll for our next major announcement please! We’ve got a global digital leadership summit in the works and we want you to be a part of it. Scheduled for mid-November this year, we are looking for people from all over the world who would be interested in possibly speaking, leading a workshop, or collaborating in any other way. Send us your ideas, thoughts, suggestions, we are all ears for what you’d like to see from this summit. Simply head to our Contact Page right here and let us know.

Much gratitude,
Julia Lynch, Founding Director.

COVID19 Aside, Our Girls are Forging Ahead and Creating Real Change

As part of our Blended Learning Leadership initiative, we're so excited and proud of our girls for what they have managed to accomplish in the last couple of weeks in partnership with Foundation TOYA in Haiti and the BestSpring Foundation in Nigeria - 20 of our girls have been able to run their community action projects tackling issues of waste management, teenage pregnancy, domesticity and gender inequality, especially during this time of COVID-19 when there have been so many restrictions around getting together and working together. 

We are blown away by the determination of our girls and the ability to mobilize their community members. We have received so much feedback from them around the privilege they feel in being able to lead in this way and have other young girls and older community members see them as role models. 

Even though our exchange program this year has been postponed, we are working with our volunteer Uduak to create an extended version of our online programming and will start working with our girls from Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Rwanda and Nepal in September through monthly online leadership sessions.

A big shout out to Emma Lucas in the UK whose is 15 years old and volunteered her time this past week to help transcribe all of our videos from our Blended Learning Leadership initiative so that we can get them translated into Arabic and Farsi for our upcoming partnerships in Jordan and Afghanistan. As you can tell, there is no age limit to volunteering with us! Big love also to Disney who, via women at Disney, have managed to find translators for our Arabic videos. 

New event alert! Global Girl Project in the early planning stages of organizing a digital leadership event in the new year as a fundraising opportunity. We're looking for highly skilled volunteers who want to help us bring this into fruition. If you want to give your time to plan, create, and run this event please reach out. and if you would like to be a speaker, or sponsor, or workshop host? Get in touch!

Much gratitude,
Julia Lynch, Founding Director.