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Last month, Girls Thinking Global (GTG) announced its official non-profit launch. The non-profit aims to Educate, Empower, Engage and Energize people across the globe to take action for girls worldwide. Girls Thinking Global is embarking on a visionary journey to create a global network serving women and girls, to leverage resources – monetary, in-kind, and communicative – to ensure that every possible dollar and resource is used to improve the quality of life for adolescent girls worldwide.
Girls Thinking Global was founded by Kathy Hurley, a Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow, Deb deVries, a former Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Executive, Cassandra Walker and Elizabeth Texeira, recent Harvard Graduate School of Education alumnae in the International Education Policy program. GTG has been working out of Harvard Business School Innovation Laboratory since June 2014, and became incorporated in August of 2014.
To celebrate the success of the Kickstarter Campaign where Girls Thinking Global raised over $20,000 to fund what will become their first documentary, EdTechWomen's Margaret Roth caught up with Kathy and Deb via email.
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Margaret: This is all so exciting! Tell us a little bit about the story of how this all got started.
Deb: A year ago Kathy and I knew we were both going to be retiring from our respective companies, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. We also knew we wanted to do something else, a non-profit, ideally together, that leveraged our experiences, expertise and have an impact on girls and women worldwide. In our initial due diligence we could not find one spot to go to determine what was going on to support adolescent girls worldwide. This single database of organizations supporting adolescent girls with the ability to match organizations for specific help, mentoring, and volunteer opportunities became the primary function of Girls Thinking Global(GTG). In addition we have added open resources, documentaries, case studies, awards/recognition programs, and plans for an annual summit.
Margaret: You two have an impressive track record and a wealth of experience. What was the greatest challenge you faced over the last two years as an entrepreneur and what did you do to over come this challenge?
Kathy and Deb: Since we are only a year in this from idea conception and 2 months from incorporation I would safely say we are still in the “challenge” mode! And the big challenge is how to adequately fund this organization while we are in building it. One of our strategies is to identify and go after multiple, different types of funding.
Margaret: Funding is a huge challenge that many of us face, especially as women. What is the number one piece of advice would give to others to aid their journey to success in our field?
Kathy and Deb: Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. Make your boss look good. Network when you don’t need the network.
Margaret: That last piece literally may be the best piece of advice I have ever received. You never know when you are going to need that network, especially as this industry is always changing. Speaking of our industry, In your opinion what is the greatest challenge facing the edtech industry right now and what must we do as a community to overcome it?
Deb: Good question…this is usually where I hope someone else will answer the question and I can get the “world peace” question next….but that said I think the greatest challenge is the same one we have dogged since the beginning -“does technology make a difference?” And I continue to wish that the question was broader and applied to all instructional strategies, be it text, teacher led presentation, etc. We are now at the point that we have the tools to determine which instructional strategies make the difference to an individual learner and we should be insisting that is available to all students.
Margaret: I'll have to admit that your last question was better than mine - "Does technology make a difference?" While I think that this question is what we should be asking ourselves every day as we work in this field, I think that we might go further and ask ourselves "Does the technology I am creating or the technology that I am using make a difference?" It is up to us as edtech innovators to make guaranteed that our answer to that question is a resounding "Yes." I'm honored to know women like you that are making it happen!
Margaret: So to wrap this up and spread the word, what can we do to get involved with Girls Thinking Global.
Deb and Kathy: So glad you asked! For starters, check out our website at www.girlsthinkingglobal.org. In addition to donating….(you expected that, didn’t you?)…we need help to:
- Identify organizations in the US and internationally who provide services to adolescent girls to support their education, health, life skills, and general well being.
- Identify open/free resources for both organizations and adolescent girls that support leadership, organization growth, education, health, life skills, and general well being.
- Volunteer to host a "Conversations for a Cause" as venue to raise money for GTG as well increase awareness of GTG efforts.
- Facilitate/encourage a "Conversations for a Cause" at a school as a venue to talk about global situation for girls specific to education, health, life skills, and general well being and the implications for action.
- Host a viewing of one of our documentaries in a home, school.
- Encourage adolescent and young adult women to look at GTG internship opportunities.
- Encourage adolescent girls to comment on GTG efforts and offer ideas for connecting with other adolescent girls to support our efforts.
Margaret: Great to see that there are many ways to get involved on all different levels, from the classroom to the community. We're excited to do what we can to share your work throughout the EdTechWomen Community!
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More from the Press Release about Girls Thinking Global:
“The well-being of adolescent girls is a crucial element to creating better, happier, and healthier societies across the globe,” states Kathy Hurley, Girls Thinking Global Founder and Co-Chair of the Board of Directors. “We founded Girls Thinking Global to ensure that women and girls across the globe have access to the resources they need to implement sustainable, community-driven programs that positively impact and create change for adolescent girls globally.”
The team recently closed a Kickstarter campaign and raised an amazing $20,223, all of which will be used to cover the cost of GTG’s first international documentary, one of the non-profit’s primary programmatic components. This first documentary highlights the work of the Jungle Mamas, an exemplary group that trains indigenous Achuar women and adolescents in the Ecuadorian Amazon to become birthing attendants, reducing maternal and neonatal mortality across the region. You can view more about Jungle Mamas here: http://www.pachamama.org/advocacy/jungle-mamas
“We are proud that Girls Thinking Global will orchestrate advocacy campaigns to build awareness around the opportunities for education and access to health care on a global scale,” Deb deVries, Girls Thinking Global Founder and Co-Chair of the Board of Directors states.
“We will also host an annual summit to highlight the work that these women, girls, and organizations have undertaken across the globe, as they are true exemplars and leaders in the field that can share what is possible when culturally sensitive, sustainable practices are put into place.” As part of the annual summit GTG will host an awards program recognizing individuals and organizations that have brought advancement and opportunities to girls and women worldwide.
In addition to the documentaries and annual summit, GTG has created an interactive, online database of organizations working with adolescent girls that non-profits can use to be matched with mentors and mentees and to find strategic resources. They will also be distributing a bi-monthly newsletter showcasing organizations working to improve the lives of girls and women and are striving to be an advocate for issues facing adolescent girls, sharing relevant stories, events, and advocacy campaigns from around the world, increasing the global discourse around the issues facing girls and women every day.
To learn more about Girls Thinking Global, please visit www.girlsthinkingglobal.org. Press Release via PR with Panache.