Dear Friends,

This is what fall is supposed to feel like— exciting changes, electricity in the air and new vision of the year to come. We had a taste of all of this last night as we finished up our first fall workshop with second and third grade girls. The girls told stories of hearing apologies from their friends for the first time, sharing their true feelings with siblings (!), and showed us what it looks like to stand up for yourself. Moms described feeling a sense of relief from using GLI tools to communicate. As I watched the room of brave parents and girls take risks, share stories and role-play new possibilities, I felt the same way as I do on a cloudless, crisp fall day: change is possible.

Change isn’t just happening in the classroom, there are signs all over GLI. Read below to hear about what is happening online, in girls’ lives and across the country in new workshop locations. Click here to check out the new look of our homepage.

I hope that we will see you at one of our upcoming events, or hear from you online. We love hearing from you on Facebook and Twitter. Happy Fall.

All my best,

Simone Marean

Real Parents, Real Daughters Brooklyn!
Yes, we heard you. You asked for east coast Real Parents, Real Daughters workshops and you’ve got them. One of our favorite counselors, craziest dancers, and dearest friends Shannon Keane will be teaching Real Parents, Real Daughters for girls in grades 4-6 next month. We are thrilled that Julia Loonin’s alma mater, the Berkeley Carroll School has offered to host the series. There are spots for only 15 girls in this workshop series. Click here to learn more.
When: Wednesdays in November
What: Real Parents, Real Daughters allows parents and daughters to laugh and learn about themselves in a safe environment. This is where you start practicing emotional intelligence, healthy communication and productive conflict resolution skills.
Where: Berkeley Carroll School, 181 Lincoln Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Who: Girls in grades 4 – 6 and a parent
How Much: $160 per parent/child for the four weeks

WOOSH! Keeping it real.
WOOSH! Is our new GLI blog! WOOSH! is a place where girls and women talk about keeping it real and living their lives with authenticity and courage. At WOOSH! we look at the pressures that limit us to quiet our voices, to take care of everyone else first and to keep the peace. WOOSH!, like its namesake, also celebrates those moments when we can be our real selves, make noise and stand on both feet. Click here to check us out.

Do you have a story about trying to stay real in your life? Email it to us.  We’d love to hear from you.

Real Parents, Real Daughters Weekend in Boulder, January 2010
Do you want to model healthy communication and conflict habits for your children?
Do you wish they could express themselves without bottling feelings up or exploding?
Could you and your daughter use a weekend away to laugh, have fun and bond?

Join us in Boulder, CO for a transformational weekend with Rachel Simmons. Space is limited to first fifteen families. Click here to learn more.

Location Boulder Marriot, Boulder, CO
Age Daughters must be in grades six – eight.
When Friday, January 29 - Sunday, January 31, 2010
Price $1100 per parent/daughter; included are three days of workshops with Rachel Simmons, meals (does not include Saturday dinner), and a double room

Leadership Spotlight: Maddie Alpert
When we started recruiting GLI alumnae for the Sophomore Summer program, we reassured them that we would help them turn their interests into a project to make change in their world. Some girls arrived with a general issue area of concern while others came to their final project as we covered the walls with ideas during brainstorming sessions at the start of each class.

Maddie Alpert, a DC native who also served as a CIT to the middle school campers during the first summer session, arrived with a crystal clear vision of helping give the gift of sight to people in developing nations. She’d been inspired by an article about the lack of optometric services, and therefore glasses, in nations such as Ghana, where there is one optometrist for every eight million people.

Before leaving for her summer at GLI, Maddie contacted Kevin White, the director of Global Vision 2020, a small non-profit mentioned in the article as the main distributor of a new innovation in glasses that allow the wearer to self-adjust the spectacles to the right prescription. By both eliminating the need for an optometrist and lowering the cost of the glasses themselves (they cost just $19 a pair), White and his partners hope to end what’d been termed a “global vision crisis” by 2020 by setting up distribution sites in countries around the globe.

At camp, Maddie set to planning a set of fundraisers for the organization, including a large-scale evening event at a winery offered for the purpose by a family friend. Her to-do list ranged from getting permission to hold bake sales at her school and learning the how-to’s of social media for small non-profits to figuring out the logistics of a big, fancy party.

Since leaving camp, Maddie has put her plans into action. She’s set to have her very own blog on the Global Vision 2020 website that will spotlight her activities and those of other youth activists she’s recruited. She’s also been put in charge of merchandising for the organization and is currently developing a t-shirt design contest to launch the first product in a line of items of which proceeds will go toward buying glasses and training distributors in developing nations.

The fundraiser at the winery, held at the end of September, was according to Maddie, both “SO COOL” and “inspiring and lovely.” It drew over sixty supporters, including journalists from TIME, Smithsonian Magazines and the Washington Post who promised to try to publish stories about the organization. It also raised over $1500 and brought Maddie and Global Vision 2020 founder Kevin White into contact with new supporters who’ve committed time and resources to the project.

As this story was being put to bed, Maddie emailed with yet another success. She previously contacted the Lions Club about pairing their existing domestic glasses distribution program with Global Vision 2020 project. She received an email expressing both strong interest and a request for her to speak to the Lions Club membership about the project and her role in it. Go Maddie!!

To support Maddie and Global Vision 2020 with a donation or for more information, click here for their website. Also, keep on the look out for a guest blog by Maddie on the GLI blog ‘Keepin it Real’ about her continued work to spread the gift of sight.

We couldn’t be more proud of Maddie and all of the girls who are hard at work on their projects. Keep watching this space for more updates on how GLI girls are making their mark on the world!

September Girl Find
Looking for an alternative to the Clique series? B*tween Productions, Inc. is the developer of the Beacon Street Girls® (BSG), a consumer/entertainment brand committed to the health and well being of girls ages 9-13. The mission of the company is to provide the kind of positive role models and empowering messages that help girls believe in themselves, whatever their challenges. The BSG brand crosses socio-economic barriers and provides problem-solving tools within an entertaining format that girls can apply to their own lives.

Click here to learn more.