Progressionista is a non-profit organization that introduces Detroit girls ages 8-12 to leisure reading through monthly book club meetings featuring women professionals. The speakers-- or progressionistas-- engage participants by sharing intimate stories about their careers and relating it to the group’s next book. Every meeting includes interactive activities that further entice participants to read over the next month.

Progressionista aims to:

Increase leisure reading for participants by 100%

Introduce participants to local women professionals

Build a sisterhood centered on books and women empowerment

Progessionista will use this grant to provide scholarships to support the growing demand for the program. Currently, the program has a waiting list of interested girls. With the support of the Awesome Libraries Chapter, the goal is to scale the program by creating another meeting group in a library in another underserved neighborhood in the city of Detroit.

What our grantee has to say:

"Progressionista brings girls ages 8-12 to the library once a month to expose them to the self-discovering power of books. By bringing exciting career women speakers and fun activities to our neighborhood library branch, we attract a new generation of patrons to the dynamic possibilities available at libraries."

What our trustees have to say:

"This project not only promotes literacy and learning, but it also exposes young girls to various different career tracks which they otherwise may not be exposed to. It's a wonderful project that seeks to empower through building community and a love for literacy."

"By expanding this program into another neighborhood of Detroit, a whole new group of girls will be able to experience the book club and speakers. The project organizer clearly has a model that works, and knows that expanding it is the next necessary step. I think this program would work well scaling to additional communities beyond Detroit."