programs
The Girls Like Me Project hosts transformative programs designed to empower young women to discover their voice, define their identity, and confidently pursue their future. Participants engage in experiences that build self-esteem, leadership, and resilience, while gaining practical tools in areas such as communication, goal setting, and career exploration.
girls like me grow in peace
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digital innovative voices for advocacy
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girls like me afterschool/saturday circles
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global connections
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mothers at a young age nurturing support
girls like me grow in peace · digital innovative voices for advocacy · girls like me afterschool/saturday circles · global connections . mothers at a young age nurturing support
Soul Power Healing Peace Garden
It’s all about HEALing in PEACE! Join our gardening team to help grow healthy foods, healing herbs, and beautiful flowers that fortify a healthy immune system and lifestyle. Open to girls 12-18.
Participants will learn how to:
Build plant box
Plant seeds
Nurture crops
Code and use a farmbot
Harvest crops
Preserve produce
The food grown in our garden is FREE to our families and local community members who we will invite to celebrate our harvest with a fun community event featuring a garden to table menu, entertainment, yoga and fitness classes, and gardening workshops.
Digitally Innovative Voices of Advocacy Sisters (D.I.V.A.S. in the City)
Digitally Innovative Voices of Advocacy Sisters (D.I.V.A.S) program consists of Dear Chicago Girls Podcast and GLMPI Talks: Becoming H.E.R. talk show. Both are Community-focused, girl-led, digital storytelling platforms that provide an outlet where Black girls document stories from their neighborhoods, share their creative perception, and examine how issues like education inequality, beauty standards, and social justice impacts their lived experiences.
GLMPI Talks
GLMPI Talks: Becoming Her is an all-girls talk show curated by Girls Like Me Project, Inc. Striving to serve as a resourceful career-driven program in the Chicagoland area. GLMPI Talks creates a safe space for young women of color between the ages of 12-18 who aspire to pursue careers in the media industry.
Girl Talk Support Circle
This is a safe and confidential space for girls and young women to come together and support each other on their healing journey. In this circle, participants share their experiences, struggles, and triumphs with each other, while receiving empathy, understanding, and guidance from the facilitator. The girl talk support circle offers a variety of therapeutic activities to help participants explore their emotions and gain insight into their inner world. These may include guided meditations, journaling exercises, art therapy, and group discussions.
The focus is on providing a space where girls and young women feel seen, heard, and supported as they work through their challenges. The facilitator of the girl talk support circle is a licensed therapist with experience in working with girls and young women. She creates a safe and supportive environment where participants can feel comfortable sharing their experiences and emotions. She provides guidance, support, and feedback as needed, and helps participants to develop coping strategies and tools to manage their emotions.
global connections
Our Global Connections Program expands horizons and interrupts stereotypes by connecting girls to a broader, global sisterhood. Through sponsored international experiences and the use of technology, participants build meaningful relationships beyond borders, beginning the advocacy for human rights of women.
Girls engage in ongoing pen pal exchanges with partner organizations in Kumasi, Ghana. Sharing stories, culture, and perspectives that deepen understanding, confidence, and foster connections to a global community.
Sankofa Nights
At Sankofa Nights, participants come together to share stories, music, dance, and food that celebrate African and African-American culture. The program features a range of activities, including live performances by local artists, interactive workshops on African history and culture, and community meals where participants can enjoy traditional African dishes and connect with each other.
Sankofa Nights is more than just a cultural event - it is also a space for healing and connection. The program provides a safe and supportive environment where people of all ages, races, and backgrounds can come together to learn, grow, and build community. Participants are encouraged to share their own stories and experiences and to listen with empathy and understanding to the stories of others.
Dear Chicago Girls Podcast
Dear Chicago Girls Podcast is a groundbreaking and empowering initiative designed specifically for the young girls! Our mission is to amplify the voices, stories, and experiences of girls from diverse backgrounds, cultivating a supportive community that fosters self-expression, confidence, and growth. Every episode, we invite the most inspiring and resilient girls to share their unique perspectives on life, challenges, and triumphs.
Through honest conversations and engaging storytelling, our podcast offers a platform for girls to connect with others facing similar issues and celebrate the power of sisterhood. With episodes covering topics like education, career paths, mental health, relationships, and activism, the Dear Chicago Girls Podcast is committed to giving girls the tools they need to navigate the complexities of adolescence and young adulthood with confidence.
Chicago Day of the Girl
Chicago Day of the Girl is the flagship event of GLMPI where we join millions of girls and women around the globe to observe the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl. Since 2012, GLMPI has has hosted this local event to advocate for, as well as educate on girls issues. Girls Like Me Project, Inc. and our partners are committed to empowering our girls and fostering a global sisterhood. This day celebrates them and advocates for their success beyond the myriad of injustices they face including poverty, environmental, education and health inequities; media stereotypes; violence amongst other trauma. In 2022, we partnered with City Council member, Pat Dowell, to secure a proclamation that declared October 11 Chicago Day of the Girl.
Intergenerational Healing Circles
Intergenerational healing circles for young girls and women are a powerful way to promote healing and connection across generations. These circles provide a safe and supportive space for participants to share their experiences, learn from each other, and gain new insights and perspectives. During these healing circles, participants engage in a variety of activities designed to promote connection, healing, and growth. These may include guided meditations, expressive arts exercises, storytelling, and group discussions.
Participants are encouraged to share their experiences and insights with the group, and to listen actively and compassionately to the experiences of others. By coming together in this way, young girls and women are able to build strong connections with each other and with the older women in the group. They learn from the experiences of those who have come before them, and they gain new insights and perspectives that can help them navigate the challenges of their own lives.
H.O.T Girl and Freedom Summer
Healing Opportunities to Thrive and Freedom Summer ensure girls receive information, resources and opportunities that promote healing and wellness and that advance learning during summer months when most children experience learning gaps. Participants are trained to use storytelling as a tool for connectivity and empowerment. Girls ages 11-18 are equipped with digital tools to document and record their experiences as they explore the city beyond the limitations of their marginalized neighborhoods and across structural barriers. Programming consists of weekly workshops with creative professionals, excursions, as well as shadow days to agencies/corporations for exposure to professional creatives and business owners. Core to this program is the mindfulness and wellbeing methodologies such as meditation, affirmation, self discovery, and gardening.
The outcomes of this hybrid program offers an alternative to the dominant devaluing and violent messages that otherwise influence girls’ behavior and ambitions. Final digital projects are showcased in a culminating exhibit and used for cultural exchange with international audiences, community gatherings, and festivals.
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