Happy Day of the Girl everyone.

I hope you hug the girls in your life extra hard today. Spare a thought too for the millions around the world who don’t get to go to school, who are married off too young, who are forced into sexual slavery, and who are told their whole lives that they are useless, and worth nothing compared to boys.

While we are not a political organization in any way, and we will never be, I think we would be remiss not to connect the meaning of this day with the current presidential race in the United States. The misogyny of Donald Trump, his ‘sexual predator’ behavior, his reducing of women to ‘pigs’ and numbers on a ratings scale – all of this is staring our daughters in the face. That he still has so much support despite this has propelled to the surface the ugly truth that the sinister, rotten culture of disrespect for women and girls, and complete disregard for their rights, is alive and well even in 2016.

At the same time, we have another candidate who is not just capable, but who has shown through decades of public service that she truly cares about the future of this country, and the ability of future generations, both boys and girls, to thrive. She is measured, articulate, thoughtful, extremely intelligent, and she listens when others speak. None of these attributes have got to do with her gender. They are qualities we would admire in a man or woman.

But her gender does matter too, whether we want to admit it or not. To women who have struggled, and continue to struggle for gender equality in our everyday lives. And especially to our young daughters, and nieces, and granddaughters (and I would argue, to many young women in countries across the globe). If Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes the first female president of one of the most powerful nations on earth, she would have broken the ultimate glass ceiling. What this would represent to our young girls would be invaluable. Generations to come will not shy away from thinking, doing, dreaming, just because they’re told “that’s for boys not girls” or “you’re paid less because you’re a woman”, or “girls do art and boys do science” or “girls are pretty and boys are clever”. They will instinctively challenge attempts to judge them by their gender and not their merits. They will better be able to stand up to systemic gender discrimination for themselves and others.

This is the reality I want for my own daughters and for girls everywhere. Hillary Clinton is Good for Girls, and we’re #WithHer.

If you’re buying stuff regularly on Amazon (and who isn’t?) please consider making the purchase through Amazon’s charitable program – Amazon Smile. They’ll donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to Good for Girls, if you indicate this as the charity of your choice. No extra cost to participate!

Click on the link below to get started:

https://smile.amazon.com/ch/47-4416313

THANK YOU!!

Mothers at a Savings and Entrepreneurship Group meeting, Bekoji, Ethiopia (courtesy GGRF)

The Girls Gotta Run Foundation has set up a Savings and Entrepreneurship Group for the mothers of the GGRF athletic scholars in Bekoji, Ethiopia. And Good for Girls is so proud to have a hand in supporting this awesome initiative!

In 2015, GGRF started an Athletic Scholarship program for 20 girls in Grades 5-8. This program is an expansion of the successful pilot being implemented in Sodo. The program will take place over 3 years, and will eventually involve 60 girls whose scholarships allow them to stay in school, participate on a running team and complete a life skills and leadership curriculum, which includes entrepreneurship and financial literacy.  The median marriage age in Bekoji is 15, so adolescent girls are especially vulnerable to being taken out of school and married off. The scholarships help remove financial pressures on families and encourage more positive attitudes towards girls’ education and delayed marriage. The girls complete the program after 3 years armed with skills and knowledge to better tackle challenges they may face as they grow into adults.

The newly set up Savings and Entrepreneurship Group for the mothers of the athletic scholars is meant to complement the program and also ensure a holistic, inclusive, and community-wide approach to tackling some of the broader cultural barriers and gender discrimination faced by women and girls in Ethiopia.  Since many women cannot discuss or participate in financial decisions in their families, this group offers a safe space for such discussions, and a means of learning how to start and grow small businesses. The hope is that both the girls and their mothers benefit together from new knowledge and skills that foster resilience and give them a greater voice in their families’  financial futures, and that in turn, this will help change cultural attitudes towards early marriage and girls’ education.

Athletic scholars on a morning run in Bekoji, a small town renowned for producing Ethiopia’s most famous runners, and located in Oromia, the country’s largest coffee-producing region. (courtesy GGRF)