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2007 Social Innovator

Strong Women

Strong Girls

Social Issue Track: Making Boston a Better Place

Sponsored by: United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley

Strong Women, Strong Girls fosters high aspirations among low income,
minority elementary school girls and helps them develop skills for life-longsuccess.

College women, who are trained and engaged as mentors, lead girls in an innovative after-school program model that includes the study of ontemporary and historical female role models, research-based learning activities, community service projects and horizon-broadening field trips to colleges and other sites.

By building communities of women who are committed to supporting the success and achievement of the next generation, Strong Women, Strong Girls is expanding opportunities for low income girls in Greater Boston and beyond.

Social Problem:

• The percentage of girls who report being "happy just as I am" drops from 60% in elementary school to 29% in high school.
  

• Girls in Boston's public high schools are more likely than boys to report experiencing stress from homework and grades (48% versus 33%).

• 40% of girls in Boston report feeling sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks in a row compared with 25% of boys.
  

• Only 17 after school programs in Massachusetts are designed specifically for girls, of which 11 are in the Greater Boston area. Of these, only three serveelementary school girls; the rest serve older girls.
  

Key Accomplishments & Social Impact:

• Currently serving 250 girls annually at 23 elementary schools and community center partner sites in Boston and Cambridge. Engaging 75 trained women volunteer mentors from four college chapters: Harvard University, SimmonsCollege, Northeastern University, and Boston College.
  

• 94% of parents report that their daughters learn new skills through SWSG,and 88% report an increase in their daughters’ self-esteem.
  

• 93% of the mentors believe that their participation in SWSG will help them intheir future goals as leaders and as lifelong advocates for women/girls.
  

• Featured in Seventeen Magazine, Glamour Magazine, and Harvard Magazine Founder Lindsay Hyde was named recipient of 2007 National Jefferson Award for the Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Younger. In January 2008, Lindsay was honored as an "Upstander" by Facing History and Ourselves.

• In 2007, expansion to Pittsburgh that is currently serving 150 girls at 12 partner sites, engaging 40 college women from three college chapters.

Eighteen Months Goals:

• Serve 300 girls annually in 20 after school sites.

• Train 80 volunteer women mentors from four college chapters.

• Implement training for all school/community site facilitators

• Implement a parent and teacher outreach program.

• Develop customized partnership plans for each school/community site.

Lindsay Hyde
Founder and Executive Director