Girls for A Change
By An Nguyen
Girls for a change is a non- profit organization to help thousands of girls to help and lead a social change. On October 30th, they put together an event, the Summit, to kick off the year of Girls for a Change. Every other Friday, two volunteers from Girls for a Change will come to LPS and let us choose our projects of what we really care about. It could be about gangs, gay rights, the community, etc.
More than 1,500 girls and 500 women attended the Girls for a Change Summit. Fifty-five of the girls were LPS students. It was an inspiring event with role models, painters, and workshops. The most inspiring part was when all the girls were together, like the opening ceremony, lunch, and the closing ceremony.
During the opening ceremony, the first speaker was Maggie Quigley. She is an actor who starred in Mission Impossible 3 and was in Rush Hour 2. She has around the world to help kids and support animal rights
The second speaker was Jessica Mendoza, who is an Olympic softball gold medalist. She talked about her love of sports and how she still managed to get a degree at Stanford and succeeded at the Olympic Games. She said that getting a degree at Stanford was her greatest achievement. Her motto: Live it. Dream it. Love it.
The third speaker was Carissa Phelps, who was the keynote speaker. She shared about her past and how hard it was. She was abandoned as child, with no where to go she turn to prostitution at the age of twelve. She turned her life around when a juvenile hall counselor reached out to her. He inspired her to believe that she could reach her full potential. She finished high school, went to community college, transferred to CSU Fresno, and then graduated from UCLA with a degree in law and an MBA. Now she spreads awareness about homeless teens and works with the Los Angeles Dodger’s Dream Foundation to inspire mentors for at-risk youth in the greater LA area.
Our last speaker and performer at the opening ceremony was David Garibaldi. He is a painter that inspires young people through his presentation called Rhythm and Hue. At the Summit, he painted the musician Pink while listening to her song, “Stupid Girl”. He finished the painting before the song ended. He also painted Alicia Keys while playing her song, “No One”. He uses the energy of the music and audience and transfers it to his paintings.
After the opening ceremony, we went to our workshops. Each and every girl was assigned a different workshop. The categories were BEING INNER BEAUTY WISE, GET YOUR GROOVE ON, YOU GO GIRL, ART IN ACTION, EQUAL PEOPLE, CONNECTING CULTURES, and ADULT WORKSHOPS. Each category had numerous workshops that were related to the category. For example, EQUAL PEOPLE had workshops like Let’s Talk About It: LGBT Experiences, Confidence, Motivation and Assertiveness, Creating Great Dating Relationships, The Power of Lyrics in Hip Hop and Stray Bullets: Preventing Gang Violence.
After our first workshop, we went to lunch, and talked to friends. After we ate, we went to our next two workshops.
When we finished our last workshop, we went back together in the same room and had the closing ceremony. The first performer was a soul, blues and gospel singer named Sista Monica Parker. She sang “Beautiful” beautifully. Sista Monica Parker worked hard in her life to get where she is right now, one of the most sought after soul performers in world.
The second performer was Sisterz of the Underground (SOTU). They are a group of women that uses Hip-Hop as a tool for education and social change. They help women respect and express themselves through Hip-Hop.
All of these performers and educators are helping to make a change in how women see themselves. Their main message: Change something in your world, be a social agent for change.
If you think you are or can be a social agent for change, check out www.girlsforachange.org.
admin @ November 24, 2007