Inspiring Girls to Become Strong Women

Our site coordinators are a resourceful bunch. In addition to assessing the needs of individual students and entire schools, they establish connections with members of the community and implement supportive programming for vulnerable children. One such program is the Girls Empowerment Group run by Site Coordinator Heather Sellers at Capital High School. The group inspires girls, ages 14 - 18 years, to recognize their own potential and face the world head-on, while paving a path to future leadership roles within the community. This is accomplished by hosting an impressive cast of rotating weekly female speakers, all of whom model strength, intelligence, and power in a professional capacity. Brittany Linkenheimer, Co-Director of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society's impressive Behavior and Training Department, led the most recent session, while her equally impressive dog Gomez showed off all of his best tricks for the group. Brittany's message to the girls: A happy life and career can be achieved through goal-setting, hard work, and perseverance. By shining light on what is possible, students are encouraged to set goals consistent with their aspirations. So far this year, speakers have included a forensic scientist who fought for pay equality within her profession; a veterinarian; a female activist who spreads awareness about violence against women; and an esthetician who owns and operates her own business.

"I feel so lucky to provide these young women with real world experiences through the eyes of professional women within our community," says CIS site coordinator Heather Sellers. "Watching these girls grow over the past 4 years has been amazing and I can't wait to see what they do in the future!"