When Girl’s Best Friend Foundation asks every applicant and grantee organization to describe the diversity of its board, staff, and youth served, we’re hoping to begin a conversation.

What about?  Why? 

1. We believe that inclusiveness is a critical part of strong, social justice organizations. In whatever dimension/s an organization is diverse -- for instance, composed of and for people of multiple races, ethnicities, and cultures -- and focused -- for instance, gender-specific -- it can and needs to assure that all involved are respected and accepted in all their multiple identities and experiences. 
2. We prioritize youth's having opportunities to work with other youth and adults who are both alike and different from them. This supports individual empowerment and collective exploration of experiences that might otherwise be unfamiliar.
3. We are proactive and explicit about our inclusion of any person (youth or adult) who self-identifies as a woman, and of those who might identify their gender as something other than the "traditional" woman/man categories. We're similarly inclusive of other dimensions of a person’s identity, be it ability, class, race, ethnicity, etc. To truly create feminist social change, we believe that we all must bring our whole selves to that work. 

For good or ill, each of us comes to work with, by, or for young people with unique experiences and beliefs.  We’re interested to know the practices within each organization that assure discrimination and bias are actively challenged and inclusiveness is fostered, so all youth feel safe and welcomed. 

In this spirit, GBF reports annually on our diverse and gender-specific board and staff, using the terms chosen by each woman. We work hard to continue to deepen our collective and individual work against oppression and privilege that divide us, and to be respectful and inclusive of all.

GBF Board of Directors

• 11 women
• 3 African American, 2 Latinas, 1 Asian, and 5 white/Euro American women (one of whom is Jewish)
• 2 in our 20s, 8 in our 30s, and 1 in her 60s
• 3 are immigrants or children of immigrants
• 2 speak Spanish and one speaks French; the others are monolingual (English)
• 2 are lesbian/queer and 9 are straight/heterosexual
• 2 women have a disability

GBF Staff

• 6 women
• 1 multicultural Asian woman and 1 Arab woman (both also identify as women of color), 1 American Jewish woman, and 3 white/Euro American women
• 1 in our 20s, 3 in our 30s, and 2 in our 50s
• 2 are children of immigrants
• 1 is bilingual (Arabic/English)
• 2 queer, 4 straight
• 1 has a disability

Sisters Empowering Sisters

• 11 young women
• 5 African American, 4 multiracial (Latina/white, Latina/African American, African American/white/American Indian, American Indian/white), 2 white/Euro American (one of whom is Jewish)
• 4 fifteen-year-olds, 3 sixteen-year-olds, 3 seventeen-year-olds and 1 eighteen-year-old
• 2 are bilingual (Spanish)
• mixed queer/straight
• 1 young woman has a disability