Girls Inc.

Mission

Inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold.

Highlights

• Vision – Powerful girls in an equitable society.

• What we do – Girls Inc. is building a new generation of strong, smart, and bold leaders.

• How we do it – The Girls Inc. Experience provides comprehensive and interactive leadership development to equip girls with the knowledge and skills to reach their full potential and the support to actively realize it.

Girls Inc. of Central Alabama (GICA), an affiliate of National Girls Inc. and proud United Way partner agency since 1954, was established in Birmingham in 1938. Annually, GICA serves more than 4,000 girls and young women between the ages of 6 and 24 in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, and Walker counties. GICA has traditionally provided after-school, school-based, and summer programs for girls ages 6–18. In 2022, they launched a new program, Project Accelerate, designed to support young women through their next critical transitions—from high school through college and from college to career. By addressing all aspects of a girl’s life, GICA’s programming has proven effective in developing girls to be healthy physically and mentally, educated through academic enrichment and support, and independent through life skills. A recent study by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) found that Girls Inc. girls have an advantage over their peers in more than 20 key areas.

• Project Accelerate is designed to support young women, particularly young women of color, through their next critical transitions —from high school through college or other training to their first career. This innovative program will help build the diverse workforce of tomorrow and expand the pipeline of women leaders in our community. Central Alabama launched this program in 2022 as one of seven pilot sites, the only site in the Southeast

At both their Crestwood Center and Empowerment Center at Marks Village, they offer after-school and summer programming for girls and teens. They have operated a summer camp in Walker County since the 1980s. Girls Inc. also works in many area schools through their Community Impact Department. All community impact programs are offered in both English and Spanish and focus on preventing adolescent pregnancy, life skills development, and health and wellness.

For young women, they offer a Eureka! STEM Program serving girls in grades 8-12 with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The Teen Leadership Program focuses on leadership and professionalism for young women in high school, and Project Accelerate focuses on college and career readiness. The goal of these programs is to ensure young women in the greater Birmingham community graduate from high school prepared to pursue additional training and education in preparation for their careers.