Girl Represent’s goal is to inspire middle school girls of color to become civically involved in their community and connect them with women of color already involved in politics. Women of color only constitute 7.1% of the 115th Congress and 5.4% of state legislatures. This lack of representation reinforces the message that there isn't room at the table for girls of color. Girl Represent aims to change that by helping girls identify ways they can make an impact in their community and pairing them with role models. The current Kickstarter campaign is to fund the development of a workbook full of exercises that will help girls:

• Identify problems opportunities in their communities
• Identify strengths that they bring to the table
• Define what makes a good leader (and how they can be one)
• Define tangible ways they can make a difference
• Articulate what they learned

To refine the workbook I want to take it on tour this summer and hold workshops in cities around the country. The workshops will bring girls and women of color in politics together to walk through the exercises.

During half-day workshops, girls will be paired with women who are involved in local politics or civic leadership. Together they will share their experiences and come up with ideas around driving impact in their communities.

The workshop will follow a structure like this:

20 Min Warm Up

10 Min Introductions

30 Min Partner Sessions (partnering girls and women)

30 Min Q&A w/ the women

20 Min Breakout Activity

30 Min Action Sessions

20 Min Presentations

20 Min Debrief

The first workshop will be in Nashville, TN on June 3rd at the Oasis Center. I have partnered with some amazing local youth organizations to help with recruiting and promotion, but I want to bring workshops to as many cities as I can this summer.