This year commemorates the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl Child. While the last decade has seen greater attention on the positive development needs of girls, we must move beyond documenting the barriers that girls face to investing in and prioritizing girl-centered solutions to the critical development challenges of our world.

Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have a huge influence on how girls view themselves by setting unattainable beauty standards, often making girls feel less than. As a teenager myself, the pressure created by these unreachable images increases as we grow, develop and try to understand the changes in ourselves, while figuring out if we fit into a specific mold that makes us feel included and accepted. This pressure has only become more intense because of COVID-19.

Avocado trees have shallow, fibrous roots that are good at holding topsoil in place. They’re also fast-growing, and can yield fruit in a few years. When members of GLOBAL G.L.O.W., working with the Rift Valley Reading Association in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, were thinking of ways to support students, the soil-anchoring and fruit-bearing qualities of avocado trees seemed promising because the region has been affected by landslides, dust storms, and desertification as a result of widespread environmental degradation and the worsening climate crisis.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to advocate for themselves and their communities, celebrated its annual participation in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively committed to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

The risks impacting girls don’t receive enough attention from society, such as policy makers and researchers, according to a study by the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) and the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies.

While the United States continues to be a leader in the global economy, we’re also one of the only developed countries that doesn’t have paid family leave, and the gender pay gap is not only alive and well — it’s seemingly getting worse.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world to shift work and school online, social media has only become harder to avoid. While staying online has helped everyone stay connected during the public health crisis, reducing physical interactions isn’t without its mental health risks, especially for young girls.

Crystal is a fierce advocate for girls and women around the world who routinely lack access and opportunities. As the executive director of Global G.L.O.W. she is responsible for leading the strategic direction of the organization to realize its vision of one day achieving “a world where girls thrive.”

Where do we start?

This is the question that usually comes up when addressing the climate crisis. We discuss reducing emissions, increasing the use of renewable resources and improving energy efficiency but many fail to recognize that climate change and gender inequity are intersectional issues.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to advocate for themselves and their communities, has launched their annual month-long initiative titled OctobHER. Inspired by the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl, OctobHER is dedicated to bringing together girls, thought leaders, partner organizations and allies to celebrate girlhood and address the critical issues that continue to hinder progress towards gender equality.

In Cerrito, Peru, Ruth Agurto constantly witnessed girls having to make the difficult choice between getting clean water and living a fulfilling life. Ruth, at age 12, became a participant of Global G.L.O.W., a nonprofit operating in 23 countries, working with on-the-ground partners to create a more representative society through mentoring girls to advocate for themselves and build stronger communities.

Global G.L.O.W. is an international non-profit organization that works with its partners in 23 countries on achieving gender equity. Mentoring young girls plays a large role in their activism. They feature three key initiatives in these mentorship programs.

May 28 is Menstrual Hygiene Day and around the world, stigma around menstruating still exists in very real and dangerous ways. One organization that has been working to end the stigma and empower young girls not to feel ashamed of a normal bodily function, is non-profit Global G.L.O.W. (Global Girls Leading Our World). Founded in 2012 and operating in 23 countries including the United States, Global G.L.O.W. creates and operates innovative programs to mentor girls to advocate for themselves and make their communities stronger.

By 6th grade, most girls I knew were starting to get their periods. They’d walk from class to the bathroom hiding their tampons and pads up their shirt sleeves, inside their boots, in their waistbands — really anywhere they could be wedged. Not hiding your menstrual supplies was an invitation for vicious bullying.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to strengthen themselves and their communities, completed their month-long February program, Empathy Across Cultures: Tools for Global Solidarity. The programming allowed girls across the world to discuss how racism and imperialism have impacted their communities, focusing on their unique experiences while acknowledging the shared impact of white supremacy.

Covid-19 has had a disproportionate impact on the job prospects for women across the world, with women everywhere suffering immeasurable losses – this, of course, is amplified for women of color.

Over the past decade, we have made great strides in advancing gender equity for girls globally: 131 countries have added gender-related reforms to laws and regulations; the #MeToo movement became a global phenomenon, allowing women and girls a mechanism through which they can speak out about sexual harassment and abuse; girls’ secondary school enrollment rates increased from 69% to 75%, and movements to decrease the stigma and improve access to menstrual health supplies have taken the world by storm.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, millions of girls around the world were out of school for reasons ranging from poverty to child marriage and even gender-based violence. The outbreak of COVID-19 sent millions more home, putting an end to out-of-school programs that helped keep many girls safe.

Global pandemics have been known to compound existing inequalities and disproportionately affect women and girls. The devastating crisis of COVID-19 follows suit—impacting adolescent girls through unprecedented school dropouts and learning losses, compromised health care and a lack of vital resources such as menstrual supplies.

Patience and Kashish, two high school girls from Kampala, Uganda, are intent on more than just their studies: the duo created a program to combat the stigma surrounding periods that often causes young girls to drop out of school because of shame, pain, or lack of easy-to-use period products.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to strengthen themselves and their communities, has partnered with Launch gURLs, a nonprofit focused on enabling adolescent girls to build critical life skills through entrepreneurship, to launch Girl Boss: a 10-week, self-directed program, which coaches girls ages 14-21 in entrepreneurship through the lens of 21st century business strategy. As part of Global G.L.O.W.’s economic opportunity arm, GirlSolve, the Girl Boss pilot program will serve as a critical professional launching pad for girls across the world. Additionally, as Launch gURLs’ first initiative is targeting key skills for young women on an entirely digital platform, this program will impact many girls’ lives. The pilot will run from Sept. 28, 2020 – Dec. 18, 2020 with approximately 200 girls participating.

In 2007, while volunteering for the education-based NGO World Assistance Cambodia, I traveled to Phnom Penh to mark the opening of a new school. The folks who attended were patiently waiting for the city leaders to cut the ribbon to celebrate the opening of this school—the first school they would have since the Khmer Rouge destroyed them all nearly 40 years earlier. It was on this day while overlooking a throng of Cambodians in attendance, I spied a little girl.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization operating in 23 countries, including across the U.S., dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to strengthen themselves and their communities, will this month begin the initial global roll out of its new Healthy GLOW program. Healthy GLOW is a 13-week comprehensive health and reproductive health program providing girls with a safe space to explore, discuss and learn about their physical, mental and social wellbeing needs through knowledgeable and trusted mentors. Healthy GLOW aims to give young girls this critical health information so they are best armed to advocate for themselves, remain in school and make positive and informed choices throughout their lives.

While the evolving circumstances and news around COVID-19 are novel, we know that the global effects of a pandemic are not—they further exacerbate the inherent vulnerabilities of at-risk populations, especially for girls.

The good news? This pandemic also offers a huge opportunity, for it shines a spotlight on the structural inequalities faced by girls. If we seize this opportunity and address these inequities, we will come out of this crisis stronger, with a new appreciation of girls’ resilience and strength. We will be laying the groundwork for girl-led transformational change in our communities.

Global G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World), an international nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls to self-advocate and strengthen their communities, held its inaugural GirlSolve event on November 15th. Over 40 girls ages 14 to 18 from countries including Afghanistan, Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal, Haiti and the United States convened to collaboratively discuss how to overcome barriers to economic opportunity in their communities through the lens of entrepreneurship and advocacy.

In the last several years, we’ve seen a tremendous rise in conversations and activism around period inequality, which typically refers to the lack of access to menstrual care products and facilities in low- and middle-income communities, in addition to among the incarcerated and those suffering from homelessness. Many studies have shown that in some countries, being unable to afford or get access to period supplies can directly affect girls’ and women’s educational and economic opportunities, with girls in certain cultures opting to skip class on their menstruation days or even drop out of school because there’s no affordable or accessible way to manage their bleeding.

On a typical weekday morning, you would expect to find a pre-teen girl sitting in a middle school classroom. You would not expect to find her working on a factory floor. But in Cambodia, the latter is the reality for many girls who, at as young as 10 and 11, are pulled out of school to begin working factory jobs. With limited education and employment prospects, they are likely to remain there for the rest of their lives, never earning more than $112 USD each month. But for one young Cambodian girl named Sway Lynn, the story was different.

In the nonprofit sector, creating meaningful solutions is essential for success. Partnering with others – particularly academics and industry experts – can be extremely valuable in helping to advise, provide context, measure and validate the results of a nonprofit’s work. And while it’s certainly beneficial to surround yourself with such expertise, a critical component of continued success is to first and foremost listen to the real experts: the people whom your organization serves.

GLOW GALA – Dozens of candles, golden curtains and vases filled with white orchids came together to create an elegant and warm, glowing ambience in the ballroom at The Resort at Pelican Hill for the first gala of Global GLOW (Girls Leading Our World), a nonprofit founded by Laguna Beach resident Kylie Schuyler; about 250 supporters attended the event.

At the Doris Dillon School in Sangker Doch, Cambodia, Jennifer Estrada is having trouble teaching dance. Not a specific dance, just the concept of dance. A silly, short dance is a key component of one of Global G.L.O.W. and HerStory’s warm-up exercises — meant to get the girls in the after-school reading program comfortable enough with one another to discus the story they read for this month’s meeting.

SANTA ANA As Dinah Martinez walked to a girls mentorship program brainstorming ideas for a summer camp project late last year, her NOVA Academy schoolmate Janet Martinez brought up an issue that hit close to home.

“She started talking about her anxiety, and that’s how I told her that I was struggling with the same things that she was going through,” Dinah Martinez, 17, recounted. “So we both decided to do a mental health camp to help other people.”

The unrelated girls, Santa Ana residents who on June 13 graduated from high school, brought their camp idea to Global G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World). The Santa Ana-based nonprofit awarded them a $5,000 grant to put on the camp for other teenage girls.

By 6th grade, most girls I knew were starting to get their periods. They’d walk from class to the bathroom hiding their tampons and pads up their shirt sleeves, inside their boots, in their waistbands — really anywhere they could be wedged. Not hiding your menstrual supplies was an invitation for vicious bullying.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to strengthen themselves and their communities, completed their month-long February program, Empathy Across Cultures: Tools for Global Solidarity. The programming allowed girls across the world to discuss how racism and imperialism have impacted their communities, focusing on their unique experiences while acknowledging the shared impact of white supremacy.

Covid-19 has had a disproportionate impact on the job prospects for women across the world, with women everywhere suffering immeasurable losses – this, of course, is amplified for women of color.

Over the past decade, we have made great strides in advancing gender equity for girls globally: 131 countries have added gender-related reforms to laws and regulations; the #MeToo movement became a global phenomenon, allowing women and girls a mechanism through which they can speak out about sexual harassment and abuse; girls’ secondary school enrollment rates increased from 69% to 75%, and movements to decrease the stigma and improve access to menstrual health supplies have taken the world by storm.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, millions of girls around the world were out of school for reasons ranging from poverty to child marriage and even gender-based violence. The outbreak of COVID-19 sent millions more home, putting an end to out-of-school programs that helped keep many girls safe.

Global pandemics have been known to compound existing inequalities and disproportionately affect women and girls. The devastating crisis of COVID-19 follows suit—impacting adolescent girls through unprecedented school dropouts and learning losses, compromised health care and a lack of vital resources such as menstrual supplies.

Patience and Kashish, two high school girls from Kampala, Uganda, are intent on more than just their studies: the duo created a program to combat the stigma surrounding periods that often causes young girls to drop out of school because of shame, pain, or lack of easy-to-use period products.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to strengthen themselves and their communities, has partnered with Launch gURLs, a nonprofit focused on enabling adolescent girls to build critical life skills through entrepreneurship, to launch Girl Boss: a 10-week, self-directed program, which coaches girls ages 14-21 in entrepreneurship through the lens of 21st century business strategy. As part of Global G.L.O.W.’s economic opportunity arm, GirlSolve, the Girl Boss pilot program will serve as a critical professional launching pad for girls across the world. Additionally, as Launch gURLs’ first initiative is targeting key skills for young women on an entirely digital platform, this program will impact many girls’ lives. The pilot will run from Sept. 28, 2020 – Dec. 18, 2020 with approximately 200 girls participating.

In 2007, while volunteering for the education-based NGO World Assistance Cambodia, I traveled to Phnom Penh to mark the opening of a new school. The folks who attended were patiently waiting for the city leaders to cut the ribbon to celebrate the opening of this school—the first school they would have since the Khmer Rouge destroyed them all nearly 40 years earlier. It was on this day while overlooking a throng of Cambodians in attendance, I spied a little girl.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization operating in 23 countries, including across the U.S., dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to strengthen themselves and their communities, will this month begin the initial global roll out of its new Healthy GLOW program. Healthy GLOW is a 13-week comprehensive health and reproductive health program providing girls with a safe space to explore, discuss and learn about their physical, mental and social wellbeing needs through knowledgeable and trusted mentors. Healthy GLOW aims to give young girls this critical health information so they are best armed to advocate for themselves, remain in school and make positive and informed choices throughout their lives.

While the evolving circumstances and news around COVID-19 are novel, we know that the global effects of a pandemic are not—they further exacerbate the inherent vulnerabilities of at-risk populations, especially for girls.

The good news? This pandemic also offers a huge opportunity, for it shines a spotlight on the structural inequalities faced by girls. If we seize this opportunity and address these inequities, we will come out of this crisis stronger, with a new appreciation of girls’ resilience and strength. We will be laying the groundwork for girl-led transformational change in our communities.

Global G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World), an international nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls to self-advocate and strengthen their communities, held its inaugural GirlSolve event on November 15th. Over 40 girls ages 14 to 18 from countries including Afghanistan, Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal, Haiti and the United States convened to collaboratively discuss how to overcome barriers to economic opportunity in their communities through the lens of entrepreneurship and advocacy.

In the last several years, we’ve seen a tremendous rise in conversations and activism around period inequality, which typically refers to the lack of access to menstrual care products and facilities in low- and middle-income communities, in addition to among the incarcerated and those suffering from homelessness. Many studies have shown that in some countries, being unable to afford or get access to period supplies can directly affect girls’ and women’s educational and economic opportunities, with girls in certain cultures opting to skip class on their menstruation days or even drop out of school because there’s no affordable or accessible way to manage their bleeding.

On a typical weekday morning, you would expect to find a pre-teen girl sitting in a middle school classroom. You would not expect to find her working on a factory floor. But in Cambodia, the latter is the reality for many girls who, at as young as 10 and 11, are pulled out of school to begin working factory jobs. With limited education and employment prospects, they are likely to remain there for the rest of their lives, never earning more than $112 USD each month. But for one young Cambodian girl named Sway Lynn, the story was different.

In the nonprofit sector, creating meaningful solutions is essential for success. Partnering with others – particularly academics and industry experts – can be extremely valuable in helping to advise, provide context, measure and validate the results of a nonprofit’s work. And while it’s certainly beneficial to surround yourself with such expertise, a critical component of continued success is to first and foremost listen to the real experts: the people whom your organization serves.

GLOW GALA – Dozens of candles, golden curtains and vases filled with white orchids came together to create an elegant and warm, glowing ambience in the ballroom at The Resort at Pelican Hill for the first gala of Global GLOW (Girls Leading Our World), a nonprofit founded by Laguna Beach resident Kylie Schuyler; about 250 supporters attended the event.

At the Doris Dillon School in Sangker Doch, Cambodia, Jennifer Estrada is having trouble teaching dance. Not a specific dance, just the concept of dance. A silly, short dance is a key component of one of Global G.L.O.W. and HerStory’s warm-up exercises — meant to get the girls in the after-school reading program comfortable enough with one another to discus the story they read for this month’s meeting.

SANTA ANA As Dinah Martinez walked to a girls mentorship program brainstorming ideas for a summer camp project late last year, her NOVA Academy schoolmate Janet Martinez brought up an issue that hit close to home.

“She started talking about her anxiety, and that’s how I told her that I was struggling with the same things that she was going through,” Dinah Martinez, 17, recounted. “So we both decided to do a mental health camp to help other people.”

The unrelated girls, Santa Ana residents who on June 13 graduated from high school, brought their camp idea to Global G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World). The Santa Ana-based nonprofit awarded them a $5,000 grant to put on the camp for other teenage girls.

Patience and Kashish, two high school girls from Kampala, Uganda, are intent on more than just their studies: the duo created a program to combat the stigma surrounding periods that often causes young girls to drop out of school because of shame, pain, or lack of easy-to-use period products.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to strengthen themselves and their communities, has partnered with Launch gURLs, a nonprofit focused on enabling adolescent girls to build critical life skills through entrepreneurship, to launch Girl Boss: a 10-week, self-directed program, which coaches girls ages 14-21 in entrepreneurship through the lens of 21st century business strategy. As part of Global G.L.O.W.’s economic opportunity arm, GirlSolve, the Girl Boss pilot program will serve as a critical professional launching pad for girls across the world. Additionally, as Launch gURLs’ first initiative is targeting key skills for young women on an entirely digital platform, this program will impact many girls’ lives. The pilot will run from Sept. 28, 2020 – Dec. 18, 2020 with approximately 200 girls participating.

In 2007, while volunteering for the education-based NGO World Assistance Cambodia, I traveled to Phnom Penh to mark the opening of a new school. The folks who attended were patiently waiting for the city leaders to cut the ribbon to celebrate the opening of this school—the first school they would have since the Khmer Rouge destroyed them all nearly 40 years earlier. It was on this day while overlooking a throng of Cambodians in attendance, I spied a little girl.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization operating in 23 countries, including across the U.S., dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to strengthen themselves and their communities, will this month begin the initial global roll out of its new Healthy GLOW program. Healthy GLOW is a 13-week comprehensive health and reproductive health program providing girls with a safe space to explore, discuss and learn about their physical, mental and social wellbeing needs through knowledgeable and trusted mentors. Healthy GLOW aims to give young girls this critical health information so they are best armed to advocate for themselves, remain in school and make positive and informed choices throughout their lives.

While the evolving circumstances and news around COVID-19 are novel, we know that the global effects of a pandemic are not—they further exacerbate the inherent vulnerabilities of at-risk populations, especially for girls.

The good news? This pandemic also offers a huge opportunity, for it shines a spotlight on the structural inequalities faced by girls. If we seize this opportunity and address these inequities, we will come out of this crisis stronger, with a new appreciation of girls’ resilience and strength. We will be laying the groundwork for girl-led transformational change in our communities.

Global G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World), an international nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls to self-advocate and strengthen their communities, held its inaugural GirlSolve event on November 15th. Over 40 girls ages 14 to 18 from countries including Afghanistan, Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal, Haiti and the United States convened to collaboratively discuss how to overcome barriers to economic opportunity in their communities through the lens of entrepreneurship and advocacy.

In the last several years, we’ve seen a tremendous rise in conversations and activism around period inequality, which typically refers to the lack of access to menstrual care products and facilities in low- and middle-income communities, in addition to among the incarcerated and those suffering from homelessness. Many studies have shown that in some countries, being unable to afford or get access to period supplies can directly affect girls’ and women’s educational and economic opportunities, with girls in certain cultures opting to skip class on their menstruation days or even drop out of school because there’s no affordable or accessible way to manage their bleeding.

On a typical weekday morning, you would expect to find a pre-teen girl sitting in a middle school classroom. You would not expect to find her working on a factory floor. But in Cambodia, the latter is the reality for many girls who, at as young as 10 and 11, are pulled out of school to begin working factory jobs. With limited education and employment prospects, they are likely to remain there for the rest of their lives, never earning more than $112 USD each month. But for one young Cambodian girl named Sway Lynn, the story was different.

In the nonprofit sector, creating meaningful solutions is essential for success. Partnering with others – particularly academics and industry experts – can be extremely valuable in helping to advise, provide context, measure and validate the results of a nonprofit’s work. And while it’s certainly beneficial to surround yourself with such expertise, a critical component of continued success is to first and foremost listen to the real experts: the people whom your organization serves.

GLOW GALA – Dozens of candles, golden curtains and vases filled with white orchids came together to create an elegant and warm, glowing ambience in the ballroom at The Resort at Pelican Hill for the first gala of Global GLOW (Girls Leading Our World), a nonprofit founded by Laguna Beach resident Kylie Schuyler; about 250 supporters attended the event.

At the Doris Dillon School in Sangker Doch, Cambodia, Jennifer Estrada is having trouble teaching dance. Not a specific dance, just the concept of dance. A silly, short dance is a key component of one of Global G.L.O.W. and HerStory’s warm-up exercises — meant to get the girls in the after-school reading program comfortable enough with one another to discus the story they read for this month’s meeting.

SANTA ANA As Dinah Martinez walked to a girls mentorship program brainstorming ideas for a summer camp project late last year, her NOVA Academy schoolmate Janet Martinez brought up an issue that hit close to home.

“She started talking about her anxiety, and that’s how I told her that I was struggling with the same things that she was going through,” Dinah Martinez, 17, recounted. “So we both decided to do a mental health camp to help other people.”

The unrelated girls, Santa Ana residents who on June 13 graduated from high school, brought their camp idea to Global G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World). The Santa Ana-based nonprofit awarded them a $5,000 grant to put on the camp for other teenage girls.

Patience and Kashish, two high school girls from Kampala, Uganda, are intent on more than just their studies: the duo created a program to combat the stigma surrounding periods that often causes young girls to drop out of school because of shame, pain, or lack of easy-to-use period products.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to strengthen themselves and their communities, has partnered with Launch gURLs, a nonprofit focused on enabling adolescent girls to build critical life skills through entrepreneurship, to launch Girl Boss: a 10-week, self-directed program, which coaches girls ages 14-21 in entrepreneurship through the lens of 21st century business strategy. As part of Global G.L.O.W.’s economic opportunity arm, GirlSolve, the Girl Boss pilot program will serve as a critical professional launching pad for girls across the world. Additionally, as Launch gURLs’ first initiative is targeting key skills for young women on an entirely digital platform, this program will impact many girls’ lives. The pilot will run from Sept. 28, 2020 – Dec. 18, 2020 with approximately 200 girls participating.

In 2007, while volunteering for the education-based NGO World Assistance Cambodia, I traveled to Phnom Penh to mark the opening of a new school. The folks who attended were patiently waiting for the city leaders to cut the ribbon to celebrate the opening of this school—the first school they would have since the Khmer Rouge destroyed them all nearly 40 years earlier. It was on this day while overlooking a throng of Cambodians in attendance, I spied a little girl.

Global G.L.O.W., an international nonprofit organization operating in 23 countries, including across the U.S., dedicated to equipping girls with the skills and resources they need to strengthen themselves and their communities, will this month begin the initial global roll out of its new Healthy GLOW program. Healthy GLOW is a 13-week comprehensive health and reproductive health program providing girls with a safe space to explore, discuss and learn about their physical, mental and social wellbeing needs through knowledgeable and trusted mentors. Healthy GLOW aims to give young girls this critical health information so they are best armed to advocate for themselves, remain in school and make positive and informed choices throughout their lives.

While the evolving circumstances and news around COVID-19 are novel, we know that the global effects of a pandemic are not—they further exacerbate the inherent vulnerabilities of at-risk populations, especially for girls.

The good news? This pandemic also offers a huge opportunity, for it shines a spotlight on the structural inequalities faced by girls. If we seize this opportunity and address these inequities, we will come out of this crisis stronger, with a new appreciation of girls’ resilience and strength. We will be laying the groundwork for girl-led transformational change in our communities.

Global G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World), an international nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls to self-advocate and strengthen their communities, held its inaugural GirlSolve event on November 15th. Over 40 girls ages 14 to 18 from countries including Afghanistan, Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal, Haiti and the United States convened to collaboratively discuss how to overcome barriers to economic opportunity in their communities through the lens of entrepreneurship and advocacy.

In the last several years, we’ve seen a tremendous rise in conversations and activism around period inequality, which typically refers to the lack of access to menstrual care products and facilities in low- and middle-income communities, in addition to among the incarcerated and those suffering from homelessness. Many studies have shown that in some countries, being unable to afford or get access to period supplies can directly affect girls’ and women’s educational and economic opportunities, with girls in certain cultures opting to skip class on their menstruation days or even drop out of school because there’s no affordable or accessible way to manage their bleeding.

On a typical weekday morning, you would expect to find a pre-teen girl sitting in a middle school classroom. You would not expect to find her working on a factory floor. But in Cambodia, the latter is the reality for many girls who, at as young as 10 and 11, are pulled out of school to begin working factory jobs. With limited education and employment prospects, they are likely to remain there for the rest of their lives, never earning more than $112 USD each month. But for one young Cambodian girl named Sway Lynn, the story was different.

In the nonprofit sector, creating meaningful solutions is essential for success. Partnering with others – particularly academics and industry experts – can be extremely valuable in helping to advise, provide context, measure and validate the results of a nonprofit’s work. And while it’s certainly beneficial to surround yourself with such expertise, a critical component of continued success is to first and foremost listen to the real experts: the people whom your organization serves.

GLOW GALA – Dozens of candles, golden curtains and vases filled with white orchids came together to create an elegant and warm, glowing ambience in the ballroom at The Resort at Pelican Hill for the first gala of Global GLOW (Girls Leading Our World), a nonprofit founded by Laguna Beach resident Kylie Schuyler; about 250 supporters attended the event.

At the Doris Dillon School in Sangker Doch, Cambodia, Jennifer Estrada is having trouble teaching dance. Not a specific dance, just the concept of dance. A silly, short dance is a key component of one of Global G.L.O.W. and HerStory’s warm-up exercises — meant to get the girls in the after-school reading program comfortable enough with one another to discus the story they read for this month’s meeting.

SANTA ANA As Dinah Martinez walked to a girls mentorship program brainstorming ideas for a summer camp project late last year, her NOVA Academy schoolmate Janet Martinez brought up an issue that hit close to home.

“She started talking about her anxiety, and that’s how I told her that I was struggling with the same things that she was going through,” Dinah Martinez, 17, recounted. “So we both decided to do a mental health camp to help other people.”

The unrelated girls, Santa Ana residents who on June 13 graduated from high school, brought their camp idea to Global G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World). The Santa Ana-based nonprofit awarded them a $5,000 grant to put on the camp for other teenage girls.