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Let’s Empower Girls
See our program in action
HOW TO RUN LEAN IN GIRLS
Our free curriculum is flexible and easily modified to be incorporated into your school or organization’s existing programming and meet participants’ needs. You can pick and choose from a set of 15 sessions, and how you deliver them is up to you. To date, more than 100 schools and organizations around the world have run the program, in a variety of ways:
During the school day: Girls Athletic Leadership School (Los Angeles, CA) runs Lean In Girls as part of their foundational GALS Series class, a course dedicated to the social-emotional learning of their students and facilitated by their faculty.
After school: Girls Inc. of Washington County (Hagerstown, MD) offers Lean In Girls as an after-school enrichment program facilitated by Girls Inc. staff members.
Summer camp: Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Texas (Killeen, TX) runs Lean In Girls once a week during their seven-week summer camp, facilitated by camp counselors.
Supplemental programming: Girl Scouts of Orange County (Irvine, CA) incorporates Lean In Girls into leadership development training for Cadettes (grades 6–8), offered numerous times throughout the year.
What makes lean in girls different
Rigorously Developed and Tested
The curriculum is rooted in ethnographic and social science research and developed in collaboration with a braintrust of experts in gender studies, leadership, childhood development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition, we spent the last 12+ months testing and iterating the lessons to ensure they are inclusive, culturally responsive, and resonate with facilitators and participants.
Designed to Engage Girls
The curriculum is designed specifically to support girls by addressing the challenges they face. We worked with a panel of girls and nonbinary teens who identify with the girlhood experience to develop the core lessons, and we made sure they’re fun and create authentic opportunities for participants to share and connect.
Adaptable and Customizable
The curriculum is organized into four parts that can be used separately or mixed and matched, so you can choose which material makes the most sense for your community and available time and resources. And because the experience of every girl is distinct, sessions include a range of optional scenarios and discussion prompts to allow facilitators to tailor the content.
Free and Easy to Use
We provide facilitator guides, online trainings, and regular support to set your team up for success. And because we want to collaborate with you to reach as many girls as possible, these materials will always be available at no cost.
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what girls and facilitators are saying
Thousands of teens across 100+ organizations around the world have participated in Lean In Girls at their school or through a community organization. The results speak to the strength of our curriculum combined with the power of girls coming together to learn and grow.
94%
of girls would recommend Lean In Girls to a friend1
94%
of girls would recommend Lean In Girls to a friend1
100%
of facilitators felt prepared to run the program and would recommend it to others1
100%
of facilitators felt prepared to run the program and would recommend it to others1
91%
of girls learned something new about how they can lead1
91%
of girls learned something new about how they can lead1
100%
of facilitators said participants had fun1
100%
of facilitators said participants had fun1
I love how [Lean In Girls] made me feel more confident in who I am and I love how we always support each other.
I’ve learned that just because someone says you are something doesn’t mean that you are it.
Special thanks to our partners
BRING LEAN IN GIRLS TO YOUR ORGANIZATION
If you are an organization that regularly serves over 100 girls, we’d love to connect. Please email us at partners@leaningirls.org.
Footnotes
1
Natasha Duell and Laurence Steinberg, “Adolescents take positive risks, too,” Developmental Review 62 (2021); Natasha Duell and Laurence Steinberg, “Positive Risk Taking in Adolescence,” Child Development Perspectives 13, no. 1 (2019): 48–52; Christia Spears Brown, Sharla D. Biefeld, et al., Gender in Childhood, Elements in Child Development (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2020); Judit Alcalde et al., “Building Strong Girls Evaluation Report: Final Results,” Canadian Women’s Foundation (2017); Richard F. Catalano et al., “Positive Youth Development in the United States: Research Findings on Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 591, no. 1 (2004): 98–124; Richard F. Catalano et al., "Positive Youth Development Programs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Conceptual Framework and Systematic Review of Efficacy,” Journal of Adolescent Health 65, no. 1 (2019): 15–31.
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These efficacy findings are based on the results of a pilot study conducted in partnership with KIPP Public Schools across four states (New York, Georgia, Texas, and California) from April through June 2023.