NORFOLK, VA — March is Women’s History Month. A time set aside to recognize the achievements of women.
We celebrate and highlight females who have MADE history. It’s also a time to focus on nurturing girls who will MAKE history.
The Girl Up Club is one group working to do just that.
According to Dr. David Kidd who is a Girl Up Club Faculty Sponsor and English Teacher at Norfolk Academy, “It’s a club about empowering young women and giving them a place to get together and talk about some of the issues that face young women in our world today and have frank discussions about them.”
The Girl Up Club is a global organization that works to expand girls’ rights, skills, and opportunities to lead, hoping to change the face of leadership for generations to come. Their motto is 'when girls rise, we all rise'.
Dr. Kidd goes on to say, “I think the most important thing about the Girl Up Club is that these girls get together in a room and get to talk about what really worries them about the future and the world that they’re inheriting and how they’re going to go after these problems and do something about them.”
The Girl Up Club at Norfolk Academy was established in 2015 by two rising seniors.
The group of 20 meets regularly to discuss topics like intersectionality, feminism, and the importance of female role models.
During one recent meeting, club member Nyla commented, “The more women we have, especially a diverse group of women in power, whether it be in your school or wherever you go to work, seeing these kinds of things, seeing women in those roles is beneficial to the mental health of young women everywhere.”
According to the Rockefeller Foundation, one in four Americans think it is more likely that humans will colonize on Mars before women will run most fortune 500 companies, much less become President of the United States. Glass ceilings, however, are made to be shattered.
Jane, who is President of the Girl Up Club, remembers when Kamala Harris was elected: “My dad said to me, that’s proof you can do whatever you want.”
The Girl Up Club’s mission is to equip young women with the knowledge and tools they need to become agents of social change in their communities and worldwide.
Cooper, another member of the club at NA, offered his perspective at the meeting: “I think something that really benefits America especially is that our ability to change is really something special and albeit slow methods, we can slowly shift perspective to be more inclusive, towards everyone, especially women.”
News 3’s Jen Lewis got to attend that recent Girl Up Club meeting and asked the group who they most admire or look up to. Answers ranged from AOC and RBG to Hedy Lamar and Taylor Swift. Along with one role model a little closer to the heart. Most of the club members’ first response was “mom”.
The Girl Up Club was initially inspired by the Malala Yousafzai movement. Malala survived a Taliban attack because she advocates for girls education. They’re passionate about gender justice and equality, encouraging every girl to become a changemaker, to uncover and be proud of HER-story.
To learn more about the Girl Up Club as well as how to sponsor one, visit girlupclub.org
