Our emerging leaders all successfully completed the 2012 U.S. Department of State and espnW Global Sports Mentoring Program!
All of our ladies, with the help of their mentors, finished their action plans. Some totaled over 70 pages listing vision, mission, timelines for implementation, networks and financial resources. They shared their plans with each other with 10-minute power-point presentations, then celebrated a couple days later with a formal luncheon at the State Department!
Now they have bid farewell to the U.S. and returned home, but the story doesn’t end here. This past month has been full of great memories of the women bonding together as sisters and encouraging each other in this challenging step forward. The work starts now, and we trust the rewards will come with a future of girls who feel strong, confident and empowered to reach their goals without letting cultural norms bring them down.
17 strong women. 17 countries about to be turned around for the better.
Isn’t that incredible?
Just begin to imagine when their visions start to take root and gain momentum, the impact that these women’s action plans will have not only in their communities, but around the rest of the world.
This is their mission.
Rwanda
To create opportunities for young girls to develop their skills and talents through weekly Basketball Training sessions.
Australia
To address a lack of respect for women and girls and subsequent inequalities facing female footballers by providing adolescent girls with equal opportunities to participate in high performance football development and competition programs.
Egypt
To create a values-based swimming academy for ages 11 to 16 to empower girls and women to reach their potential and strengthen their communities within a nurturing environment.
Russia
To create a Commission in the Russian Olympic Committee dedicated to strengthening positions of female athletes and female ROC employees by developing their professional, educational and networking opportunities.
India
To provide disadvantaged young girls with exceptional opportunities to develop their confidence, improve academic performance, maximize their personal potential and strengthen the community using sports as a tool.
Brazil
To face gender inequality by introducing legislation that will give all Brazilian girls the right to learn and practice sport in schools and colleges, similar to U.S. TITLE IX.
Colombia
To develop sports opportunities for girls at the borders of Colombia by introducing the GoGirlGo! curriculum and Ultimate Frisbee.
Philippines
To develop a social enterprise that will provide various sport services and to embark on projects that will uplift the economic plight of the National Athletes and promote sports and fitness nationwide
Zambia
To empower women and girls with life skills through sport workshops, tournaments, leagues and focus group forums.
China
To set up a program dedicated to giving girls ages 9-11 more opportunities to play basketball and advance their lives. The program will provide a healthy and positive environment for girls to get more active, confident, and become more involved in the community.
Indonesia
To create a CSR program dedicated to empowering women through sports in my local community and educating them to have a balanced life.
Zimbabwe
To address gender imbalance in the media and empower more women in the male-dominated field.
Macedonia
To empower women with leadership skills through sports initiatives in a creative and healthy environment.
Nigeria
To partner with the SOS children’s village in Lagos to provide a sports curriculum for the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary School through the introduction of basketball.
Tajikistan
To create and implement educational and promotional programs for development and popularization of DanceSport in Republic of Tajikistan and using it as means of physical education.
Jamaica
To empower girls in my local community ages 8-12 to be “Strong, Smart and Bold” through the use of sports and life skills development.
Kenya
To empower the young girls in the rural areas to develop their personal attributes, develop their potential and strengthen their communities.