Dear Friend,
Imagine what it’s like to be a girl in 2013.
Girls are consuming more than ten hours of media every day and receiving a consistent message: the thinner, prettier, and sexier you are, the more attractive and liked you’ll be. At a time when girls have access to more forms of media than ever before, they have to fight harder to hold on to a sense of self-worth. Girls Leadership Institute (GLI) is awakening thousands of girls, giving them the foundation of personal leadership they need to navigate today’s expectations. We teach girls to know who they are, what they think and feel, and how to express it, empowering them to build rewarding relationships and make change in their world. I hope you will partner with us by including GLI in your end-of-year giving today.
Girls are under more pressure than ever to please others. With the growing demands of social media, this pressure is now two-fold; girls have to develop their actual day-to-day identity, reputation, and relationships while also managing, editing, and curating the more “Photoshopped” online version of themselves. This is why the GLI experience has never been more critical for girls.
Lily, a recent returning camper, said the following about her GLI experience:
“Before 6th grade, I cared about what others thought… and I was afraid to show myself. Then I came to GLI. There’s no status here – we can be our crazy selves and not pretend to be something we’re not. We’re all different. . . We’re free.”
It’s for Lily and many others that I appeal to you today. This year GLI served close to 7,000 girls, parents, and teachers — a 50% increase from the year before. And we are planning even more growth for next year. To make that happen, we need to raise $100,000 for our annual fund. With your support, GLI will:
- Provide scholarships for girls to attend our programs, regardless of their family’s ability to pay
- Conduct cutting-edge primary research to help us better understand the challenges girls face in acquisition of leadership skills
- Disseminate our content online, so that we can reach tens of thousands of people a year
We have big dreams for GLI, but we can’t realize them without your help. I hope that you feel inspired to donate to GLI and that you will give as generously as you can. We appreciate your support.
All my best,
Simone Marean
Executive Director & Co-Founder
P.S. GLI envisions a society where girls and women engage authentically and assertively at every level of decision making in all areas of their lives. Partner with us by making a gift to our annual fund, our most important campaign of the year.
Why Give to GLI? 
Our impact in 2013:
- 6,479 participants served from 26 states and 4 countries
- 118% increase in scholarships awarded
- 50% increase in participants served
- 45% increase in total donations
Our goals for 2014:
- Our total annual fundraising goal is $316,500.
- GLI plans to serve over 10,000 participants in 2014.
- More families will receive full or partial scholarships to attend our program.
- New initiatives to conduct primary research and disseminate content online will allow GLI to reach tens of thousands in the coming years.
Consider a gift today to support our movement to change the face of leadership.
And the first FFF goes to. . . Coni Frezzo!
It didn’t take us long to pick our first Fierce Fabulous Friend award. Because we put relationships at the core of our leadership curriculum, we know what a true friend is: an authentic, fun, and honest person who is there for you through ups and downs, someone who knows your flaws and sticks by you anyway. We met Coni in 2006 when she called to inquire about our summer camp for her oldest daughter. Not only is Coni a camp parent six summers over, but she is also a founding board member and now serves as our board chair. Before we were a nonprofit, Coni taught us what a mission statement was and how to read a balance sheet. Now she makes sure all the ducks are in a row for a national organization serving over 7,000 people a year! Simply put, we couldn’t have gotten here without her. Coni’s hard work and faith throughout our journey makes her our first FFF. We hope you have friends like her too.
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