aga

Ladies, I'm so excited. My home institution's hosting a 3rd Wave Feminism Miniconference, and the guest speakers are Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, authors of Manifesta!

What's even more exciting is that I was offered a chance to speak at the conference, and I want to speak about All Girl Army. Now, sure, I have lots of things I'd like to share with the audience at the conference, but because this community is for you, I'm hoping to enlist your help.

For the Roll Call (and I know it's a busy month!), if you choose to write on this one, would you tell me what you think about AGA?

My very own, real-life feminist utopia is Sadie Nash Leadership Project. Sadie Nash is a two-year program where high school-aged young women can develop their leadership. Each summer, there is a six-week summer institute, where young women take classes and get to reflect on leadership. The program invites in other women leaders for everyone to learn from as well. But the best thing about SNLP is the support and community there. Every young woman in the program is valued for who she is and what she brings to the program. Nowhere else have I seen so much genuine support of each individual person, where people recognize both accomplishments and potential. At SNLP, I learned a lot about activism and leadership from the other young women there, but I also learned a lot about myself. I began to respect myself for who I was, because others showed me how, and began to believe in myself more. The program taught me that if I see something that needs to be changed in the world, I have the power to fix it. My friends in the program say it has been similarly life-changing for them as well. Many of us came in as young women with low self-esteem, worried about our looks and our futures, and we are now strong, powerful women and leaders. When I get older, I would love to start another organization like SNLP, so that more young women can have the experience that I did.