Get training

Meet, Talk, Train

Chicago Girls Coalition (www.chicagogirlscoalition.org) offers Chicago-area youth workers gender-specific training, peer-to-peer networking meetings, a growing website, and a directory of local girls programs.

Reach out to your colleagues by contacting program staff at any of the programs GBF helps fund. Those with experience are usually happy to share what they've learned, and may be great mentors. (If you are outside metro Chicago, check out grants lists of closer girls and women’s funds.) 

If you need training in young women and girls organizing/advocacy/activism, look for opportunities on the email list of the Chicago Girls Coalition (ChicagoGirlsCoalition@yahoogroups.com, or contact Melissa Spatz at the Women & Girls Leadership Project (melissaspatz@juno.com).  Watch for news about the development of the Chicago Summer Freedom School!

Do you need training in making your program safe for LGBTQ youth?  In the Chicago area, contact the Coalition for Sexual Orientation in Education (http://www.mhai.org/programs/glbt.htm) for training options; Yas Ahmed here at GBF (contact@girlsbestfriend.org). Outside metro Chicago, contact Advocates for Youth (www.advocatesforyouth.org).

Need training in youth development work? Check out the training services provided by Chicago Area Project: (http://www.chicagoareaproject.org/Training.htm)

Read

Here are three great online resources:

• Girls Coalition of Greater Boston (www.girlscoalition.org)
• Powerful Voices (www.powerfulvoices.org)
• See The New Girls Movement (all 3 reports) and Power & Possibilities at http://www.ms.foundation.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=56. Don’t miss the contact info for very impressive girls and youth groups across the U.S.; many have websites.

What ideas are you looking for?  Tell us (contact@girlsbestfriend.org)