GGE Annual Report 2022

GIRLS FOR GENDER EQUITY

OUR MISSION

Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) works intergenerationally, through a Black feminist lens, to achieve gender and racial justice by centering the leadership of Black girls and gender-expansive young people of color to reshape culture and policy through advocacy, youth-centered programming, and shifting dominant narratives.

OURVISION

We are co-creating a world where Black girls and gender-expansive young people of color have opportunities to lead in the design of policies in their schools and in government to withstand and dismantle structural barriers that prevent them from succeeding and thriving on their own terms. We bring to life our values by affirming and investing in the leadership of communities who have long been sidelined by public policy in order to maintain oppressive structures. We do this work because we know young people will lead us to a radically different world where we all experience freedom, safety, and joy in our lives.

LETTER FROM THE CEO GGE TURNS 20 OUR COMMUNITY

THEORY OF CHANGE YOUTH PROGRAMS CAMPAIGNS & POLICY

NATIONAL AGENDA FOR BLACK GIRLS CULTURE SHIFT FINANCIALS

LETTERFROM THECEO

2022 reflected a critical inflection point for both GGE and the broader movement against gender and racial injustice. Amidst our 20th anniversary celebrations, schools became a battleground for the safety and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ youth. Attacks were waged on Black women, girls, and gender-expansive young people of color’s bodily autonomy. And the country insisted on returning to a pre COVID-19 “normal” despite communities of color still being disproportionately affected by the social, economic, and health consequences of the pandemic.

In response to these emergent challenges, GGE staff and community rooted ourselves more deeply in the legacy of our Black feminist foremothers. We drew on our 20-year herstory of facilitating critical dialogues, hosting political education workshops, and delivering youth programs that promote healing, joy, holistic wellbeing, and safety.

We met the moment with a re-energized commitment to centering Black girls and gender-expansive young people of color in our policy and advocacy, youth-led programming, and culture-change work— releasing our first Reproductive Justice Memo, and hosting the Becoming a Menace Reproductive Training Series and Police-Free Schools Bootcamp.

On the national level, youth organizers joined me at the White House to advocate for policies that would make mental health services more accessible,

and provide more abundant wellness resources. We also co-sponsored the second annual Defend Black Women March in Washington, D.C., and journeyed to Houston to present at The Women’s Convention.

With the help of our community, we celebrated our wins and kept our eyes fixed on the next decade of our work. In 2023, we will continue to focus on ensuring young people are centered in reproductive justice conversations, campaigning to end school pushout, advocating for police-free schools, and getting Black girls and gender expansive youth the investment they deserve by conducting critical research and codifying our programs.

As we begin to move boldly ahead, we carry the knowledge that none of what we’ve accomplished would be possible without you. I am so grateful to be in community with you, and look forward to continuing to advance our mission together.

Onward,

Joanne N. Smith Founder, President & CEO Girls For Gender Equity

GGE TURNS

In June, GGE celebrated our 20th anniversary, marking two decades of meeting the moment in gender and racial justice. Our community gathered at the beautiful Brooklyn Botanic Gardens to dine, dance, and rejoice in the wins we’ve collectively forged for Black girls and gender-expansive youth.

We heard a moving poetry reading by “Black Girl, Call Home” author, Jasmine Mans, and honored dynamic leaders for the waves of change they are making. Take a look at some of the magic we captured.

THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING SPONSORS AND DONORS FOR MAKING THIS EVENT A SUCCESS, AND HELPING US RAISE OVER $200,000 TO SUPPORT THE NEXT CHAPTER OF OUR WORK.

OUR COMMUNITY

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

HOWWE APPROACH CHANGE

BOARD MEMBERS

THEN

IFIF we center and uplift cis and trans Black girls and gender expansive youth through programs, campaigns, and initiatives grounded in 1) Black feminism, 2) a strengths-based and intergenerational ecosystemic social work approach, 3) positive youth development model, and 4) popular education

BECAUSE

THEN an emerging critical mass of folks dedicated to gender and racial justice will lead an intergenerational movement to end structural, raced-gender based violence, exclusion, and discrimination,

BECAUSE we believe supporting the positive, holistic, and critically conscious leadership development of young folks with a gender lens will help young folks use their expertise to spur transformative change for individuals, schools, communities, cities, and states, with national and global impact.

Mary Ferry

Sandra Park Esq. Naomi Abraham

Cynthia Steele

Monica Dennis

Afua Addo

Rovika Rajkishun Dr. Pei Derosiers

Joanne N. Smith Founder, President & CEO

Michelle Grier Chief Program Officer

Doreen Odom Chief Operating Officer

YOUTH PROGRAMS

For 20 years GGE has provided free programming for self-identified girls, femmes, gender-non conforming and nonbinary youth of color ages 12-24, grounded in four underpinning theories: Black feminist and intersectional feminisms, positive youth development, strengths-based intergenerational ecosystemic social work approach, and popular education theory. Each year, GGE works alongside New York City’s youth leaders to support young people through pandemic, mass uprisings and everything in between. In addition to gaining vital knowledge for social action, participants build relationship and advocacy skills, engage in GGE curriculum addressing gender and racial issues, and receive monthly stipends, metrocards, care packages, and healing-informed supports.

THE YOUNG WOMEN’S ADVISORY COUNCIL

The Young Women’s Advisory Council (YWAC) is a year long program where cis & trans women and girls of color and GNC young people ages 16-24 work to inform policy, program, research, and funding recommendation for New York City. YWAC members engage in youth organizing and civic engagement strategies to push for transformative change.

YWAC participants facilitated a workshop, “Intergenerational Conversations Between Adults & Young People” at the Youth Already Know (YAK) conference - a virtual conference focused on Intimate Partner Violence and Teen Dating Violence, hosted by DayOne.

JUSTUS

JustUs is NYC’s first-ever gender-responsive diversion program for girls and (LGB/TGNC) youth ages 1218 who are at high risk of involvement in the juvenile legal system. This program is facilitated in collaboration with STEPS to End Family Violence and sponsored by the NYC Administration for Children’s Services.

JustUs completed 48 drop-in groups with 20 young people, seven special sessions of supportive and healing space for young people to discuss current events and life experiences, and completed two cohorts of “What’s Your Story?” and one cohort of “Advocacy of a New Narrative.”

“I was looking for community through ALL and I am glad that I was able to obtain that and still connect with people after the year was over. It also made me more interested in local politics and provided avenues for me to get into that work whenever I am ready.”

- GGE Youth Program Participant

SISTERS IN STRENGTH

Sisters in Strength (SIS) engages survivors of child sexual abuse and young people who are allies by developing their advocacy skills, centering their healing, and cultivating radical joy so they can lead change in their communities to end gender based violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and sexual assault.

SIS virtually facilitated “So We Can Thrive” Survivorship Round Tables, where they were able to bring together an intergenerational audience to share in the storytelling, healing and organizing to address young people’s experiences of racial and gender based violence.

THE YOUTH SPEAKERS BUREAU

The Youth Speakers Bureau is a stipended program for 15 GGE Program Alumni to continue to develop a critical analysis around social justice issues, while developing skills to support their future career development. Participants are prepared for various speaking engagements, media interviews, panel participation, policy hearings, and other spaces where the youth perspective and analysis can make a substantive impact.

The Youth Speaker’s Bureau hosted a film screening and talk back for “On These Grounds” targeting police free schools. One member recorded a video response to the NYC Youth Service Budget.

CAMPAIGNS& POLICY ANATIONAL AGENDAFOR BLACKGIRLS

This year alone, the NABG cohort:

2022 HIGHLIGHTS

We released a Reproductive Justice Memo that outlined our approach to reproductive justice, centering the needs of Black girls and gender expansive youth of color.

Drawing inspiration from June Jordan’s iconic poem, we launched a public training series with over 30 registrants that focused on educating our constituents around the history of Reproductive Justice and the ways that they could engage with the movement to impact change.

We hosted a Know Your Rights Training at Spotify headquarters, providing education and accessible materials to community members and youth about their rights so that they know what to expect and how to react when dealing with police/policing in their schools.

In November, we co-wrote The Path to Protecting Abortion Rights and Access in NY to further advocacy for The Reproductive Freedom and Equity Program Act.

GGE organizes alongside young people to eliminate the structural barriers that prevent cis and trans Black girls and gender expansive youth of color from living their most whole lives. We work to change legislative agendas where young people experience gendered and racialized violence, including but not limited to education, police violence and girls’ and youth incarceration, and to end child sexual abuse, sexual assault, and gender-based violence.

Born out of the pivotal 2020 election and launched in November 2019, A National Agenda for Black Girls was a national call to action for elected officials & government to center the needs & policy priorities of Black youth. It was a culture-shifting & movementbuilding collaborative project, bringing the needs of Black girls to the national stage & amplifying their voices in the 2020 elections & beyond by engaging organizations across the United States.

In 2022, we officially paused the current iteration of the NABG program & cohort. We remain committed to & inspired by the work we accomplished alongside Black girls and GNC youth.

• Produced the MELANATION NEWSLETTER & Podcast for their communities to receive the information, affirmation, & support they need

• RECORDED AFFIRMATION VIDEOS that spoke life & love into Black girls & GNC youth to promote their healing and wellness

• Published the MELANATION ZINE , an archival treasure trove of poetry, affirmation, and encouragement that served as a culmination of the NABG cohort initiative

“NABG was a space I felt comfortable, it was a place where met like minded people, it was a place I felt validated, felt seen and it was a space I am glad to have been part of.”

-GGE YOUTH PROGRAM PARTICIPANT

CULTURESHIFTFINANCIALS

2022 HIGHLIGHTS

GGE shifts the narrative in philanthropy, media, and the public sphere to center Black girls and gender expansive youth of color. We do this work through elevating partner organization, adding our voice and expertise by authoring written works, and organizing public events that shed light on emergent issues and strategies of community building.

GGE Published 3 Op-Eds landing in Grown Mag, NonProfit Quarterly, and Prism Reports as well as Relaunching our GGE Medium account resulting in over 100 reads, views, and claps. GGE has also taken our storytelling on the road for an 8 city live magazine tour across the country to share exactly how transformative our work is within the lives of cis and trans Black girls and gender expansive youth of color and how shifting dominant narratives about Black girls is also intergenerational healing.

WE ALSO ENGAGED WITH OUR COMMUNITY VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

How Do Black Girls Heal w/ Dr. Shanita Brown (Intimate Partner Violence Awareness Month)

In 2022 we offered the opportunity to participate in Pop Up Magazine’s Fall Tour thanks to our funders at Fondation Chanel. Our Director of Culture Change, Toni Wilson, toured the country with 8 stops across 7 states, sharing her personal story and connection to GGE to over 10,000 attendees.

SOME OF OUR WRITING

PAY INEQUITY FOR BLACK WOMEN

STARTS IN SCHOOLS OP ED

FOR BLACK WOMEN & ROE V WADE BLACK GIRLS COME UP IN HIP HOP, TOO

8%

INDIVIDUALS, SPONSORSHIPS AND CORPS

“One of the biggest things I have learned through our time together is learning how to give myself time and acceptance. When someone is in an environment where there is so much pressure or expectations, we can start thinking that we are those expectations and we have to reach them without thinking about our mental health. Spending time here, hearing everybody and learning different ways to take care of my mental health has changedmy perspective.”

-GGE Youth Program Participant

73%19%

JULY 1, 2021 - JUNE 30, 2022 PERCENTAGES GOVERNMENT FOUNDATIONS

* Includes tickets sales from the 20th Anniversary Gala

The 2022 staff, interns & fellows included:

PROGRAMS AND SOCIAL WORK

Nicole Hamilton, former Director of Community Partnerships

Vanne Paige Padgett, Director of Programs

Hollisha Liverpool-Brown, Deputy Director of Programs: YWAC & YWI

Maya Guttman-Slater, Deputy Director of Programs Operations

Shelly Strothers, GGE Program Manager

Kretel Krah, YWAC Program Manager

Erika Chambers, JustUs Program Co-Manager

Nyell Lopez, JustUs Program Co-Manager

Aaliyah Thomas, JustUs Program Liaison

Gerina Davis, former JustUs Program Manager

Baylor Andrews, SIS Program Manager

Chelsea O’Neil, former SIS Program Liasion

Nia Oden, Social Work Manager

Sue Suilla Daley, GGE Youth Fellow

Bo Scarim, Social Work Intern

Melissa Centeno, Social Work Intern, SIS

Morgan Avis, Social Work Intern, YWAC

Julisa Joseph, former Social Work Intern

POLICY AND ORGANIZING

Quadira Coles, Director of Policy

Breya Johnson, Deputy Director of Organizing

Damala Denny, Youth & Alumni

Organizing Manager

Ella Grace Downs, Policy and Government Affairs Manager

Eman Gad, Policy Liaison

Tyahija Martin, JD, Legal Fellow Equal Justice Works

OPERATIONS AND FINANCE

Onika Williams, Director of Operations

Gaelle Win Robin, Director of People Operations

Anisha Jessop, Accountant

Katie Healy, Finance Coordinator

Kris Torres, former Finance and Operations Coordinator

MARKETING AND STORYTELLING

Toni Wilson, Director of Culture & Narrative Shift

Diana Walker, Manager of Graphic Design and Visual Content

Tess Weiner, Manager of Storytelling and Youth Engagement

Saide Singh, Copywriter

Symone Jackson, former Marketing and Media Management Associate

INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

Shakira O’Kane, Esq., Senior Director of Institutional Advancement

Peggy Hupcey, Director of Development

Ayanna DaCosta, Grant Writer

Tiffany Lee, former Development and Operations Liaison

Symone Jackson, former Copy Writer

EXECUTIVE TEAM

Michelle Grier, LMSW, Chief Program Officer

Doreen Odom, Chief Operating Officer

Tiffany Williams, former COO

Joanne N. Smith, President & Chief Executive Officer

GGE’s incredible work is co-led by a brilliant, passionate, and innovative team of advocates, educators, and changemakers who ultimately believe liberation is possible.