Did you know that seven out of 10 girls aged 10 to 13 believe that they are not good enough or don’t measure up regarding their looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members?
A Phoenix organization called Girls Mentorship aims to change that statistic by empowering tween and teen girls to live their best life by tapping into their potential in everything they undertake.
Established by two Arizona State graduates, Mary Frances and Jill Petersen, the organization was created during the pandemic in response to the isolation and seclusion they faced.
“We found it an opportune time to help girls deal with the struggles they might be facing due to the sudden stopping of their lives as they knew them,” Frances said.
The duo explained that they had endured trials and personal growth when they were growing up, and, as such, understood what elementary and middle school girls were going through.
“We struggled with knowing and understanding our worth, finding our voice, learning how to be confident, making friends, conflict resolution, and so many other things,” Frances said.
When you add on the internet, where four million of your closest friends are accessible at any moment, the issues not only prevail, but intensify, Frances added.
“Because of those factors, we knew that by teaching girls basic social and emotional skills, street smarts versus book smarts, we could help make an impact for girls everywhere,” she said.
Girl Mentorship reaches out through monthly workshops and webinars focusing on being socially and emotionally equipped to succeed in today’s culture. Workshop themes include self-love, ways to deal with stress and anxiety, how to make friends and how to deal with and manage conflict.
“Girls Mentorship has taught me a lot. One thing that we focus on is our ‘tool belt’ and adding new skills to the belt, like having confidence in yourself, knowing the difference between negative and positive self-talk and to be yourself,” 12-year-old attendee Audra Holt said. “I still have some negative self-talk but I’m learning to put my mind into a more positive mindset.”
They also offer private workshops, training and summer camp sessions, currently accepting registration.
“We also attend schools to host team-specific workshops,” Frances said, “where we come in and educate parents, teachers, trainers and coaches based on social-emotional learning, which is what our curriculum is based upon and why it matters.”
Girls Mentorship is only offered in Arizona now, but Frances and Petersen hope to expand their program to reach other girls nationwide someday.
“We’ll be building out some online programming as well as looking to bring our workshops to other cities in the United States,” Frances said.
