THANK YOU FOR MAKING OUR ZOOM EVENT A SUCCESS
Girls Inc. gratitude goes to the 300-plus people who helped honor our Girl Hero Scholars, Fatoumata “Haja” Ba, Syeeda Rahman, and Caloline Namutebi, on June 4, 2020. The event featured Strong, Smart, and Bold Honoree Suzanne Iovanna, president of Pride Motor Group, Lani Sanethong, Girls Inc. of Lynn alumna, and Emmy Award-winning anchor on NBC 10 Boston, Latoyia Edwards. Presented virtually, the celebration provided an update of how Girls Inc. of Lynn has pivoted to creatively bring online education, activities, and programs to local youth.
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“We are grateful to our many supporters who continue to inspire our girls to be stronger, smarter, and bolder and were thrilled to see them at our Zoom celebration,” says Executive Director Deb Ansourlian.
Girls Inc. of Lynn thanks the sponsors of its Annual Celebration Luncheon, including Strong Sponsors Comcast, Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation, Old Neighborhood Foods, Someone Else’s Child Foundation and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley; Smart Sponsors The CE & FCA Foisy Foundation, GE Aviation, HP Hood, and Nick and Chris Meninno; and Bold Sponsors DeIulis Brothers Construction Co., Inc., D&R Contracting, Harmony Healthcare International, Inc., MDR Construction, Pride Motor Group, Salem Five Charitable Foundation, and Solimine Funeral Homes. In-Kind Donors included Northshore Magazine and Lauren Bodwell Photography.
Special thanks to Align Graphic Design and Tessa Magnuson for her creative talents and help designing the virtual event.
WATCH A RECORDING OF THE EVENT HERE
WRAPPING UP THE YEAR
Girls Inc. of Lynn is currently holding the end-of-year celebrations to wrap up a unique year where our team rose to the challenge to bring the girls remote learning, programming, and connections. We are so appreciative of our staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly during this unprecedented time, exhibiting flexibility, grace, and generosity.
And we couldn’t be prouder of our 24 graduates this year who racked up a whopping 170 acceptances to 14 different schools, including Babson, Lehigh, Temple, Providence College, UMass Lowells and Salem State University, to name a few. In addition, these hard workers garnered over $600,000 in offered aid and $31,000 in outside scholarships. Just… WOW!
Watch a video from one of our new alums!
Program Updates
Middle School & Teen Programs Go Virtual
Middle School
Eureka!
Eureka will be running from July 6 to August 14 and is open to any girl entering grades 7-9 who is ready to make a commitment to try their best, learn new things, and make new friends! We will have all of our programs online and will be offering the following: STEM Discovery, Healthy Sexuality, Access Your Potential, Venture (Computer Science and Business), Book Club, Whole Body Health, Beach Sisters, Academic and Career Exploration, and special programming by our Teen Health Ambassadors and Part of the Solution Peer Leaders. And every Friday, we will have a panel of Women of the Week in addition to a virtual field trip! There is something for everyone at Eureka and we can’t wait to explore (virtually) with you this summer!
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Teen Programs
AIMH (Awareness in Mental Health)
Girls learn and practice coping skills like art, cooking, and writing as well as become educated about different mental health disorders and how to be an ally and advocate in the mental health community.
Culture Club #KeepMyCultureAlive
Girls (virtually) travel the world together and celebrate and share cultures through photos, food, art, and music! They will watch movies, create a recipe book, learn about languages and music, share photos, and fill virtual passports.
Informed and In Charge
Girls will talk about relationships, sexuality, STI and pregnancy prevention, and more through fun and interactive virtual activities in a comfortable setting!
Woke Women
Woke Women creates a safe space to inform and mobilize young women to take action against societal injustices. Topics they will explore include: systemic racism, LGBTQ+, Black Lives Matter, mental health in marginalized communities, among many more.
Taking Action
In this program, girls work with other members to build an advocacy campaign on a topic you all choose. They learn how to build a campaign from the ground up and make a real change in the community. This program is lead completely by the girls, whose passions will be center stage as we work together to make a difference!
Women of the Week
Girls enjoy a special time to meet dynamic professionals who will share the inside scoop about their careers and their backgrounds.
Other programs will include Art, Music, and Crafts and a special Pre-College Summer STEM Program.
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NEW BOARD MEMBERS
A warm welcome to the newest members of our board of directors: Athené M. Sirivallop, Director of Hub Operations at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio), and Luisa Coppola, Vice President of Corporate Banking at East Boston Savings Bank.
“This visibility has taken me on a ride of my life and taught me not to be content with staying back but being out front and strong, smart, and bold,” says Sirivallop of her experience accepting a Girls Inc. National Scholar award and speaking before leaders at Texas Southern University’s annual luncheon.
For her part, Coppola notes “the energy in the room” at Celebration Luncheons (and this year on Zoom) as a motivating factor. “I love getting together to celebrate the girls and feel the movement. As the mother of two young children, I want to pay it forward,” says Coppola.
Look for interviews with the two new board members in the next newsletter.
THANK YOU!
A heartfelt thank you to the many volunteers for their assistance in helping our girls grow to be stronger, smarter, and bolder. A special shout-out to Kathy Stafford, Diane Christian, Tatiana Schaefer, and Alexa Hadfield. We also want to thank Dr. Monica Smiddy and her former student Nicole Cusak for teaching a forensic science program, JP Morgan for providing virtual internships, Susanne Cameron and her colleagues from Chase for teaching financial literacy, and Jill Jeffries Dearborn for assisting with internships and the Women of the Week career panels.
Special thanks to Someone Else’s Child, PwC, Life Science Cares, James W. O’Brien Foundation and the many other individuals, corporations and foundations who offered additional funding to help us support our programming and provided for our many families during the past three months.