SPEAK for YOURSELF:
What Girls Say about What Girls Need

Girl's Best Friend Foundation (GBF) is happy to announce the publication Speak for Yourself: What Girls Say About What Girls Need. If you would like to receive a copy via snail mail, please contact us at contact@girlsbestfriend.org or 312.266.2842. It is also available in PDF format by clicking on one of the links below:

Speak for Yourself Executive Summary
Speak for Yourself Full Report (107 pages)


About the report:

GBF contracted with independent researchers to conduct a two-year, statewide research initiative to enhance the knowledge base and strategic focus of GBF's grantmaking efforts and to validate or challenge existing assumptions about girls. The information and processes used also created an opportunity for girls ages 12 - 18, to develop and articulate a girls' agenda in their communities. Specifically, the goals of the research were to:

• Develop a greater awareness of the resources available to girls




• Better understand which resources girls saw as viable and girl friendly, as unhelpful or inaccessible, or as missing altogether




• Identify where/how girls come together (formally and/or informally; with peers and/or adults) and where they identify and develop their strengths




• Develop an understanding of how girls support and challenge one another, strategize, and struggle to celebrate their strengths and have their voices heard




• Help girls think over time about how they use (or would like to use) various resources to fortify themselves and support their aspirations.
  
  

Speak For Yourself: What Girls Say About What Girls Need has been disseminated to GBF grantees, the media, other funders, policymakers, service providers, and other community members interested in initiating and/or enhancing girls' programming in their communities. The insights gained (from both the data collected and the methodologies employed) has been used to add to the existing research literature on adolescent girls and to strengthen the strategic focus of GBF's grantmaking priorities and initiatives.