Inaugural Girls In Action summit coming to West Chester

WEST CHESTER >> The Chester County Fund for Women and Girls (CCFWG) invites all high school girls in grades 9 a.m. to noon to attend the inaugural Girls in Action summit on Saturday, March 2, 2019, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Business and Public Management Center at West Chester University in West Chester. The event is presented by the Chester County Women’s Commission.

This free inaugural Summit brings together high school girls throughout Chester County for an empowering day of action. Attendees will learn about the deep and varied needs in their communities through conversations with local non-profit leaders and peers who have already taken action in their own communities, all while engaging in strategic grantmaking.

As a summit participant, each girl will have the chance to connect with her peers throughout Chester County. neet leaders of local non-profits that serve women and girls, hear from a panel of peers about ways to foster change, help award two $500 grants to local non-profits, and give back to the community.

Young women should register by the Feb. 15 deadline. Free transportation will be provided for girls who need assistance.

The Girls in Action Summit is inspired by the success and increasing interest in CCFWG’s award-winning Girls Advisory Board (GAB) girls’ grantmaking and leadership program. Earlier this month, members of the Girls Advisory Board (GAB)’s 15th Class awarded $19,000 in funding to five Chester County non-profit organizations serving women and girls.

Through the Girls Advisory Board, CCFWG equips the next generation of young women

in Chester County with the knowledge and tools needed for impactful grantmaking, empowering them to give back to their communities. Throughout the program, high school girls across the county come together to learn about economic, social and health needs of women and girls in their communities, and ultimately make funding recommendations that are approved by the CCFWG Board of Directors.

Through consensusdriven decision making, GAB members awarded funding to the following local non-profit organizations:

Community Volunteers in Medicine - $2,000 to purchase oral contraceptives for low-income and uninsured women.

• La Comunidad Hispana - $3,000 to purchase long acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) for lowincome and uninsured women.

• Domestic Violence Center of Chester County - $5,000 to train staff on the emerging issues of human trafficking in Chester County.

• Alianzas de Phoenixville - $4,000 for its Mariposas Women’s Program that includes clinical trauma counseling, a women’s support and sewing group, and English tutoring program for immigrant women and girls living in Phoenixville.

• Maternal and Child Health Consortium $5,000 for its Health Start program providing preand post-natal home visiting, depression screenings, early child and parenting development and education, and health education to low-income women and their families.

To date, more than 145 young women in GAB have awarded more than $260,000 to programs that improve the lives of girls and women in Chester County.