Monthly Archives: November 2010

Deck the Halls with She's the First!

Here are five super easy ways to make She’s the First fundraising part of your holiday season!

1.     Give the gift of a girl’s education. If you’ve graduated from college and have a little extra cash in your pocket this year, pick your 10 best friends or close co-workers and tell them you’d like to sponsor a young girl’s education on their behalf. (Visit our directory for more info!) They’ll be reminded of how special your friendship is and end 2010 on a good note by helping a very worthy cause.

2.     Fundraise (right) after finals. It’s one of the best feelings in the world—walking out of the lecture hall after a final, forgetting the piles of notecards you spent the last 24 hours cramming with, and grandma’s Christmas cookies fresh on your mind. Ask your professor to place a can on the table where exams are turned in, where your classmates can drop in a dollar before they leave. They’ll be in a great mood after their exam is over—and full of that generous holiday spirit!

3.     Inspire your family to donate! This season, bring She’s the First home for the holidays! Invite your family to visit shesthefirst.org, and show them a few videos from the website. While you’re home from school, telling your family about your great adventures in college, keep a jar in the kitchen for cousins, aunts and grandparents who become inspired to help girls’ education around the world!

4.     Include STF in your holiday cards. Moms love to do it—write to everyone from here to California with what each member in the family has been up to in the past year. When she gets to you (the most accomplished of them all!) ask her to include your work for She’s the First, and ask them to visit shesthefirst.org.

5.     Party with a Purpose! If you’re having a holiday get-together, ask friends to pay $1 (or more) at the door—in order to sponsor girls’ education for She’s the First. Our friends at She’s the First*{Syracuse} created a great video for Vivanista’s Party with a Purpose contest to get you inspired.

Happy Holidays from STF!


Posted in Fundraising Ideas | Tagged | 3 Comments

Guest Blog Post: Family vs. School Life in India

[Editor's Note: Our series of guest blog posts from Natasha Khanna, a New Yorker who is now a volunteer teacher at the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project in India, continues with the heartfelt exchange she shared with a young female student. The She's the First Soiree recently sponsored a girl at Shanti Bhavan.]

Photo by Natasha Khanna

I walked across the beautiful, green landscape with her hand in mine.

She was just in second grade, but there was a maturity to her. Her sadness was palpable; it was the type of sadness that one who is only seven years old seemed incapable of feeling. We walked silently for some time until I asked, “So, how are you?”

“I’m feeling quite sad. Actually, I’ve been feeling very sad lately,” she responded.

“Why is that?” I questioned.

“Well,” she began slowly, “My father died. And my mother will probably have to get re-married so we can have a house. What if she makes me leave Shanti Bhavan when that happens?”

Being around the children of Shanti Bhavan, who are completely confident, consistently smiling, and incredibly intelligent, I often forget that their home lives differ from their school lives. Despite being Indian myself, the nuances and expectations of Indian culture – particularly for girls and children from socially and economically deprived backgrounds – are unfamiliar territory to me.

This young girl’s worry of leaving this appropriately named “haven of peace,” is understandable. Shanti Bhavan provides children not only an education, but happiness. Here, they laugh and play, learn and grow. They eat an abundance of nutritious food and receive the incessant love of their teachers, the school administration, their housemothers and volunteers. These girls’ sisters at home, on the other hand, graze cows, pick from trash, and stop attending school after a certain age, if at all. They are often malnourished and live
in single-parent homes. Their fathers are usually alcoholics. They work long hours beginning at young ages. Barefoot.

I spent the afternoon walking around the playground field with her, trying to cheer her up. She seemed convinced that she would have no say in the matter once her mother would inevitably remarry. She said that several of the girls from her grade, her friends, were currently in the same situation.

Thinking of these younger girls not growing up to become versions of the girls I teach in 11th and 12th grade was heartbreaking in the harshest and realest sense of the word. The older girls at Shanti Bhavan are beautiful and optimistic, their futures buttressed by opportunity and support. They have dreams of becoming human rights lawyers, cardiologists, and journalists. I can’t imagine how different these dreams and their lives would be had they not received a quality education, as well as the love and support that Shanti Bhavan has provided them.

I knew it wasn’t anything I could guarantee, but I explained to the young girl that a change in her life at home didn’t have to mean a change in her life at school.

“But my mother will have to shift to another house. And I will have to leave Shanti Bhavan.”

“Yes,” I replied, slightly defeated. “But, if that happens, you can go home to help your mother move, and then you can come back to Shanti Bhavan. You will come back to Shanti Bhavan.”

She responded with something I never could have anticipated, which perfectly articulated her true happiness at the school.

“But I don’t know how to use the Indian bus system.”

“I’ll pick you up,” I promised with a smile.

Posted in Shanti Bhavan | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving from She's the First

Add your answer to our list in the comments!

It’s hard to believe that a year ago today, I was in Liberia, West Africa, where my only indication that it was Thanksgiving came from all the tweets I saw, like 140-character crumbs left behind from some very delicious dinners. (At that time, shesthefirst.org was only three weeks old, perhaps with less than 100 Facebook supporters…and now we’re at 2,000+! That’s also very hard to believe.)

In Liberia, it was a blazing hot day and there was no turkey or pumpkin pie in sight. When you step outside the US on Thanksgiving Day, you at first miss being part of the single day where everyone, regardless of race, religion, or creed, pauses to celebrate the love of family and friends, feasts on favorite foods, and counts their blessings. But then, you realize that where you are, if it happens to be a very poor country, people feel this kind of intense gratitude every day, because the next meal, safety, and opportunity are never a guarantee. Needless to say, I’m having a blast at home with my family in New Jersey, but I’m thinking about Liberia a lot today.

Collectively, all of us behind She’s the First are grateful for our education. We are grateful for the friendship and partnerships with have with the hardworking NGOs you see listed in our Directory, many run or staffed by Americans who will also be spending a Thanksgiving away from home this year. We are grateful for our Board of Directors and mentors. We are grateful for you, our blog readers and fellow activists.

I asked members of She’s the First’s Leadership Team to start a gratitude list…we invite you to add onto it in the comments. Happy Thanksgiving!

My college education! I graduate this year, and I couldn’t have fulfilled my role in STF without it. – Christen Brandt, Executive Director

I’d say I’m most grateful that my husband and I took an incredibly gutsy, scary leap of faith to quit our NYC jobs and move back to the Midwest to be closer to family. I’m especially grateful that in a few short months we’ve been able to secure jobs, buy two cars, and be on the cusp of purchasing our first home…all with our family and friends right there to cheer us on. – Bridget Monroe, Ambassador

I am thankful that I had the opportunity to move across the country, start a new job in a new industry with people I admire, attend my very first NASCAR race, meet phenomenal women who became fast friends at the Women: Inspiration & Enterprise Symposium, grow the IWantHerJob.com community, become an “official” member of She’s the First, and to be snuggled up in my blanket by the fireplace surrounded by family right now. — Brianne Burrowes, Founding Member of She’s the First in Los Angeles

In 2010, I was most thankful for the time I was able to spend with my family, meeting my amazing She’s the First sisters, my dad getting back in his race boat again, my trip to Uganda, and all of the possibilities from 2010 for 2011 and beyond. – Maisy Page, Researcher

I’m thankful for perspective: for having the opportunity to view the world from another culture while in France and for the inspiration I’ve received from the story of every “first” associated with STF in the past year! – Monica Townsend, Campus Activities Coordinator

I’m most grateful for connecting with STF and using my writing skills to help advance the mission…and also having a job! – Rebecca Brown, Newsletter Editor

I am most grateful for the health of my family and friends this year. – Chelsea Orcutt, Campus Outreach Coordinator

My girlfriend and my family. I’m thankful for them always being there for me. – Casey Kraft, Campus Activities Coordinator

Posted in Founder's Updates | Tagged | 2 Comments

Directory Update: Village Schools International Holds First Graduation!

here's the school!

Here at She’s the First, the Research Team is assigned to certain schools in the directory, and we check in quarterly with the directors to find out what’s new with the girls. I am assigned to one of our partner programs in Tanzania, Village Schools International, which has received a few sponsorships through She’s the First — one came from students at the University of Notre Dame, another from raffle proceeds of an Urban Girl Squad event in NYC. In this update, I’m proud to present very exciting news: VSI recently held their first graduation ceremony!

VSI brings missionary teachers and community members together to build schools in small villages in Tanzania and raise funds for scholarships to give students the education they can’t otherwise afford. Starting with just three schools in 2005, VSI now has 19 schools. The Lukima Secondary School, located in the small village of Maguu, graduated 38 students on  September 17 — and 20 of them were girls! Everyone from government officials, parents, and the community members attended the graduation, which consisted of day-long festivities with dancing, food and music.

Steve Vinton, one of the school’s founders, shared his thoughts on the momentous day with us:

“It was tremendously exciting for people and it was pure joy. What I know is that all of those who have graduated have the world before them and their futures are infinitely brighter than if they had not been able to go to school. All of our students are know in Tanzania as “wasiochaguliwa” — the “unchosen ones.” We take all of the kids who aren’t chosen for the few places available in the government boarding schools. I love seeing them get a chance at life. Graduation at Lukima was a great day, a great victory for those on the bottom who struggle for a better life for their kids. They did something wonderful.”

To learn more about Village Schools International or to sponsor a student via She’s the First, contact info@shesthefirst.org, or visit http://www.villageschools.org/donate.html.

Posted in Village Schools International | Tagged , | 1 Comment

How Facebook Unites Sponsored Students in Kenya

the Kenya Education Fund uses Facebook to stay in touch with alumni and students spread across 200 schools in Kenya

Yesterday in New York City, we met up with Bradley Broder, Executive Director of  the Kenya Education Fund (KEF), a partner of She’s the First (see all our partners here). Brad will visit Kenya again in December. On this trip, he will be working on a film, showing the impact of education on his students, and he will also meet with the Kenyan staff who serve as KEF’s liaisons. Since the sponsored students are spread out across 200 high schools in 18 regions of Kenya, the liaisons do periodic site visits to local schools, making sure the students’ needs are met.

Another way KEF stays in touch with students sprawled across Kenya, Brad told us, is through Facebook! Rachel Silver, who works with Brad on Donor Relations for KEF, filled us in on how this works.

When did you create the KEF group on Facebook?
We created the KEF Student and Alum page in the Summer of 2010. The Kenya Education Fund has had a general presence on Facebook for several years now, but we decided that we wanted to designate a unique forum where our students and alumni from across Kenya could communicate with each other and with us.

How many members are there?
Currently we have 22 members. However, 150 KEF students will graduate at the end of this calendar year. We will formally invite all of them to join in the materials they receive from us upon completion of our scholarship. We are also in the process of reaching out to past alumni and current students who have internet access. I anticipate that our group will grow rapidly. We receive requests to join fairly frequently.

What kind of discussions do you see going on?
Because our page is relatively new, most discussions are simple conversations welcoming new members to the group, as well as commentary around the usefulness of this forum. Once we have a more established base, we at the KEF offices will frequently share news and updates with our students and alumni through this group, as well as opportunities that we hear about. Mostly, we also hope that it becomes a venue in which students can keep in touch with, or, if they are from different regions, get to know one another. Finally, we are working to keep in better touch with graduates as their educational and professional careers grow and change. We believe that this group will help us better facilitate this.

What comments have you heard from students about Facebook or social media, if any? Is it a big part of their life when they have Internet access to use it?
 Kenyan students who have Internet access seem to be enthusiastically embracing social media, including Facebook and yahoo messenger. There is a significant community of Kenyan youth on Facebook, especially centered around urban areas, and it is ever expanding as access to internet expands. In addition to its regular features, Facebook has become a particularly unique venue to share opinions on and ideas about new stories and current events in the US and Kenya.

shesthefirst.org/gifts

Follow KEF on Facebook! Click here to ‘Like’ them.

Also, remember that KEF receives a part of the proceeds from our She’s the First bracelets made by Asha Patel Designs!

Posted in Kenya Education Fund | Tagged | Leave a comment

What's Cooking at She's the First*{Hofstra}

We met Gennifer Delman, founding president of the She’s the First*{Hofstra} campus chapter, this morning for breakfast, and she gave us a sneak preview of the supremely creative fundraising to come in Spring semester! It was more caffeinating than the coffee!  :-) What do you think? Follow She’s the First*{Hofstra} on Twitter & Facebook. Email questions/comments to hofstra@shesthefirst.org.

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Our Evening with Story Scarves

A week ago today, She’s the First supporters in New York City met Stacey Rozen, the founder of the crafty goodwill movement called Story Scarves. In a conference room after-hours, we stitched messages of encouragement and aspiration into beautiful scarves, made from recycled scrap fabric, which Stacey will deliver to the teen girls she works with in Soweto, South Africa. These girls come from unfortunate circumstances and mostly live in foster care. To give them direct and global mentorship, Stacey works with them on constructing their own scarves, which will eventually make their way back to us.

This activity happened purely from a tweet that @StoryScarves sent to @shesthefirst — another social media miracle! :) We are overjoyed to begin this new friendship with teens in South Africa, and we invite you to browse some photos from our night of crafting and creatively connecting with girls thousands of miles away..or watch the video below!

Special thanks to Stacey Rozen, as well as Kaitlin Davis and her company, Music Theatre International, for donating use of their conference room.

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AfricAid, our Tanzania Partner, Publishes a Children's Book!

cross-cultural children's book by our friends at AfricAid & the Kisa Project

It’s been a while since most of us have read a children’s book — but you never outgrow them, right? And we all know a young reader we could then gift the book to…so check out Somebody Like Me, the new book published by the 26-year-old Founder & Executive Director of AfricAid, Ashley Shuyler! She co-wrote it with Prisca Lesakire, a young Tanzanian woman who aspires to be a teacher, and teamed up with illustrator Lori Discoe.

She’s the First met Ashley this June, when she flew out to NYC (thanks to JetBlue’s generous donation) for our first-ever GIRLS WHO ROCK benefit concert. GIRLS WHO ROCK sponsored three girls — Elizabeth, Happiness, and Grace — in AfricAid’s tech-savvy Kisa Project sponsorship program in Tanzania. The girls receive leadership and computer training in addition to their academic studies, so we correspond regularly with them on email (and then post their messages to the blog so you can comment back!).

Somebody Like Me is based on the true story of Ashley and Priscila, two young women who grew up on different continents, in different cultures. When chance brought them together, they changed each other’s lives. (It was due to a trip to Tanzania at age 11 that Ashley founded AfricAid, a nonprofit organization with the mission of supporting girls’ education in Tanzania. Prisca was one of the organization’s first scholarship recipients, and the two girls became acquainted with each other through the letters they wrote back and forth for years. They soon realized through their long-distance interactions how much they shared on a human level, despite their cultural differences.)

The book is only $12.50, plus $2 for shipping, and a portion of the proceeds will be used to support AfricAid’s efforts to provide education to Tanzanian girls. Co-author Prisca Lesakire’s portion will help to support her efforts to become the first female teacher in her village. Add it to your holiday shopping list!

Visit the other partners in our global directory here. We are so proud to work with AfricAid to reach Tanzanian girls!

Posted in AfricAid's Kisa Project, Arts & Books | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

J-14.com

“Shontelle and JoJo Celebrate She’s the First’s Birthday”

Tons of celebs have donated their time and efforts to be part of the mission. In fact, when I went to the She’s The First Soiree celebrating the organization’s first birthday on Nov. 1, I ran into singers Shontelle and Cara Salimando. And JoJo also had taped a message just for the big bash!

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Meet Our Newest Ambassador, Ale Foresto

Ale Foresto, our newest Ambassador

At She’s the First, we have a special ask of anyone who applies to join our leadership team. Instead of sending a boring cover letter, we ask you to write a letter to your 10-year-old self. Why? Because it’s important to tap into what it means to be a girl and realize how, thanks to your education, you’re way happier and fulfilled now than you ever dreamed possible at age 10.

We are so proud to introduce our newest Ambassador for She’s the First, Ale Foresto. You may remember we met Ale’s mom when we visited Peru this summer, because she was born and educated in Lima! Ale then graduated from Hofstra University and landed a dream job as an editor at O, the Oprah Magazine. As an Ambassador, she will network to grow the She’s the First brand and support system in NYC and beyond. Please join us in the blog comments in welcoming Ale to the team!

Dear 10-year-old Ale,

When was the last time you did something for the first time? Well, if I remember correctly, you just choreographed your first Spice Girls routine for your first ever dance competition at school. You recently went to your first boy-girl party. And last year you read your first real “grown up” book (meaning no character was named Mary-Kate or Ashley).

Great, we are up to a good start. But, let me tell you what firsts you’ve taken on in the past 13 years:

Even though you cried when you found out your dad is being transferred to Chile at the end of this year, when you turn 17 you’ll willingly decide to move over 3,000 miles away from Lima to live in New York. Yes, you’ll actually do that! You’ll be the first in your family to get a full-tuition Fulbright Scholarship; you’ll pack your entire room and move to Hofstra University all by yourself. Pretty impressive, huh?

Four years later, you’ll be the first to graduate college before turning 21, and to graduate with a double major in Mass Media and Political Science. That journalism class you just took this year actually changed your life! You won’t be a lawyer; you’ll be a journalist.

And guess what? It gets better. You’ll be the first in your family to live in Manhattan and have a job at a national magazine with a circulation of millions. You’ll love, live and breathe beauty. You’ll get to play with makeup and write about it. You’ll get to meet celebrities and you won’t like some of them (hate to break it to you, but Justin Timberlake is not that cool in person). You’ll be the first to meet Oprah Winfrey! Yes, that Oprah Winfrey! And you’ll actually work for her.

And a few years later, you’ll read the first line of this letter in the She’s the First blog and start thinking about how amazingly lucky you’ve been your entire life. Yes, you’ve had hard times, but honestly, what do you have to complain about? You might think moving to Chile for two years and leaving your friends is the end of the world. You might think your dad not letting you get a new dog is so annoying. You might think the fact that you’ve never been to Disney World is so not fair (you’ll go next year and then again with your boyfriend in 2006; the boyfriend that will become your husband 2 years later!) But you’ll learn than none of these things matter at all! You’ll learn you have a great, privileged life and want to do something to help those who don’t. So do me a favor and don’t sweat the small things. You’ll grow up to be a compassionate, loving, smart, talented person and that’s all that really matters. Make mistakes and learn from them!

Love,
Ale

P.S. Could you do me another favor? Don’t cut your hair really short when you turn 13. It’ll look bad…believe me.

Posted in Founder's Updates | Tagged | 2 Comments

She's the First Flip Video Cams Debut!

The most exciting part of my day (other than finishing my ridiculously long midterm paper) was by far ordering my brand new She’s the First Flip Video Cam! I personally chose the She’s the First 360 design, pictured left, as I will be taking it with me on my trip to Guatemala to visit Starfish One by One, a STF partner program, with Christen Brandt and Kate Lord in January. (She’s the First 360 is the travel series piloted this summer in Peru.) My first project with my Flip Video Cam, however, will be filming all of my dad’s friends wishing him a happy birthday for his birthday this week!

There are five other fabulous designs, including one by GIRLS WHO ROCK artists, Lenka and MoZella! These will make great gifts for the upcoming holiday season. For every camera purchased, $10 goes to AfricAid, our Tanzania partner program that was also the beneficiary of 2010′s GIRLS WHO ROCK concert. Ready, set…action!

[Editor's Note: Maisy is a Researcher for She's the First.]

Posted in Gifts That Give Back, GIRLS WHO ROCK, STF360 | Tagged | Leave a comment

She's the First Attends Girl Up Pep Rally in Los Angeles

I had a chance to speak with Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa about She's the First. I told him we just celebrated our first birthday! As someone with a young daughter himself, I feel he really understands the importance of our mission.

Last week, Girl Up held the Girl Up Pep Rally at Marlborough High School in Los Angeles, and I am honored to have represented She’s the First at the event! The Pep Rally featured a keynote by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, as well as appearances by Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa, Olympic gold medalist and swimmer Rebecca Soni, actress Amber Heard, singer David Archuleta, and actress and Special Envoy to the United Nations International Year of the Youth, Monique Coleman.

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan

If you didn’t read about the Girl Up campaign when She’s the First attended its launch in NYC on October 1, here’s a quick refresher: Girl Up was created by the United Nations Foundation to address the needs of adolescent girls in developing countries. It prides itself on being a “for girls, by girls” campaign that mobilizes girls in the U.S. to raise awareness and funds to help other adolescent girls become educated, healthy, safe, counted and positioned to be the next generation of thought leaders.

To walk around and visit the various booths that drew attention to the more than 600 million adolescent girls living in developing countries who still struggle for the opportunity to go to school, see a doctor, or even be included in their communities, was humbling.

Some stats worth pointing out to She’s the First supporters (as our mission closely aligns with Girl Up):

  • Less than half a cent of every development dollar goes to programs for girls, particularly those ages 10 to 14.
  • Girls make up more than half of the 143 million out-of-school children and youth.
  • One in every seven girls in the developing world are pregnant before the age of 15.

Monique Coleman put it best when she concluded the evening’s events by saying (and I’m paraphrasing), “You are not the future. You are the present.” So, join us in making our present count: Sponsor a girl!

Did you know that medical complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death among girls ages 15 to 19 worldwide?

Girls were asked to send cards of inspiration to girls living in Liberia who have no health care, are often married by age 11, and who don't get the opportunity to go to school.

Girls were encouraged to visit five different booths -- Malawi, Guatemala, Liberia, Ethiopia, and the United States -- to write down one thing they can do to take action right now.


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Glamour Women of the Year Awards: Official Video Recap!

This is what we experienced just 24 hours ago at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards at Carnegie Hall! She’s the First was in the house!! Tammy Tibbetts, President of She’s the First, was honored among 20 young women, and in the audience, we were proud to see some faces familiar to She’s the First: Devin Tomb, our Campaign Developer & an Editorial Assistant at Glamour; plus, She’s the First NYC fans, Sammy Davis (Soiree emcee!), Stephanie Mattera (GIRLS WHO ROCK volunteer), and Jess Strul. We all soaked up the inspiration you see wrapped up in this video — with some memorable quotes pulled out below.

“This honor tonight says to all of you that you can be what you want to be.” — President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

“It was once said of Eleanor Roosevelt, that it’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” — Chelsea Clinton

“Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. No is just some [bleep] word that someone made up.” — Cher

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She's the First Honored at Glamour's Women of the Year Awards!

Tammy, far right, with some of the young honorees at Glamour's Women of the Year, Carnegie Hall, Nov. 8, 2010

Last night was a surreal moment for She’s the First, as we were honored at the 20th Anniversary of the Glamour Women of the Year Awards, among these magnificent honorees (including world icons such as Queen Rania and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; rockstars like Cher and Fergie; and the lesser known but biggest heroines of all, Dr. Hawa Abdi & her daughters from Somalia — more on them later).

To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Glamour‘s epic awards, the magazine chose young women (average age of 20) who are pursuing their dreams to make the world a better place. Our President Tammy Tibbetts represented She’s the First at the Carnegie Hall awards show! Chelsea Clinton (!!) called each of our names and introduced our projects…it was a moment that the She’s the First leaders are incredibly humbled by, and we vow to work our tails off to be worthy of this recognition as we embark on our second year — and the next 20 years! Thank you, Glamour!

There will be a series of blog posts capturing the inspiring women of the evening, and to start off, we’d like to introduce you to the Glamour Women of Your Year, Readers’ Choice Winner, 17-year-old Kendall, a trailblazer who shows us you can’t let anything — health, age, busy schedule — stand in the way of making a difference and thinking globally.

Posted in Events We Attend, Founder's Updates | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

ShapeWhatstoCome.com (Levi’s)

“Non-Profit Founder Has Visions of Female Firsts”

Tammy Tibbetts, President/Founder, is the Social Change Ambassador for Levi’s ShapeWhatstoCome.com community for Millennial women.

Posted in Articles and Blogs | Leave a comment

Sparkling at the She's the First Soiree

Thanks to our brilliant emcee Sammy Davis for creating this sparkling video reel of the She’s the First Soiree! Watch to capture the style & substance of the evening, held one week ago today in New York City…and to find out who won Sammy’s vintage sequined top in the raffle supporting Shanti Bhavan girls in India!

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Men are Part of She's the First, Too!

Lew is the latest sponsor for the Haiti Outreach Program!

[Editor's Note: Not all of our sponsors are young women in their 20s! She's the First is a co-ed movement that spans multiple generations, and we are proud to present Lew as the latest sponsor of a girl in Haiti, through our partner GiveHaitiHope.org/the Haiti Outreach Program.]

My name is Lew Blaustein, 51, President of New York City-based marketing consultancy, Lewis Brand Solutions, Inc.  We develop results-based sales and marketing solutions for companies and non-profits in my three areas of personal passion:  Green/Sustainability, Sports, and Arts.

Another personal passion is education, particularly the urgency and importance of providing girls with access to education in developing countries.  The columns of Pulitzer-Prize winner Nicholas Kristof gave me an awareness and appreciation of this problem.  When I was introduced to She’s The First, I knew I had found just the organization to match my interests with worthwhile projects the world over.

I was drawn to Haiti and the Haiti Outreach Program because of my interest in being of service in some small way to that earthquake-devastated country.  After the initial outpouring of global interest, the world’s attention has moved on and yet massive problems remain, with access to education chief among them.  Girls in Haiti have far less access than boys, so this seemed like a natural.  I am happy to help.

It is my hope that more men become aware of the access-to-education gap facing girls in developing nations and decide to become active in eliminating that gap.  To me, it’s clear:  The overall lifestyle and economic climate are far better in countries in which girls have access to education.  This is something that anyone, man or woman, should want to impact.

It is this angle (educating girls is the key to economic/political success and stability) that I think women should use to educate and energize men about this issue.  One other possible angle is obvious when we consider the mounting evidence that in developed nations, the US in particular, boys are now underachieving, versus their female counterparts in the classroom:  Women can encourage men to join them in support the education of girls in developing nations while women support boys’ education initiatives in developed countries.  The two are obviously not mutually exclusive.

Posted in Haiti Outreach Program, Sponsor Stories | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Complete She's the First Soiree Photo Gallery!

Photographers Kate Lord and Marc Hall (with assistance from Leah Konen and Elyssa Marcus) published their photos from the She’s the First Soiree to Flickr. Do you see yourself? Check ‘em out!

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It's Not a Party Without Hats!

She's the First photographer Kate Lord with volunteer (and guest blogger!) Leah Konen, who ran our photo booth!

[Editor's Note: This is a guest post from She's the First Soiree volunteer Leah Konen, an associate editor at elledecor.com. She was the first in her family to become a journalist. She also ran the first photo booth at a She's the First event -- and it won't be the last!]

The She’s the First Soiree was a huge hit, from the cupcakes to the dance numbers, the raffle prizes to the brand-new She’s the First bracelets, and—of course—the hats.

She’s the First supporters donned everything from the classic birthday hats to super-fun, old-school chapeaus loaned by Sammy Davis Vintage (think a circa 1990 wide-brimmed flower hat a la Blossom) to a ridiculous cowgirl hat complete with yellow pigtails. From behind the camera of our first-ever photo booth, I got the chance to catch everyone’s silly, pretty faces, including spectacular GIRLS WHO ROCK songstresses, Shontelle and Cara Salimando.

It reminded me of one of the many reasons why I love She’s the First. It’s a chance to do the things we love already (i.e. fantabulous photo shoots), and, at the same time, help out girls worldwide.

Proceeds from the photo booth and the raffle helped us sponsor a girl at Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project. If you didn’t get a chance to print your photo on Monday, you can head over to photographer Kate Lord’s web site to download. Each one is $5 (same price as at the event) and all proceeds still go to Shanti Bhavan!

Purchase images here! 100% of the proceeds benefit Shanti Bhavan!

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We Met Nick Kristof!

Kristof signed books

Kristof autographed copies of "Half the Sky" for those who attended his lecture.

If She’s the First created a list of our heroes, the top of the list would probably be filled with the directors and founders of our partner organizations, who have shown their passion through the sweaty days spent on the ground, working to ensure a sound education for girls across the globe. Our role model non-profit, charity : water, would be up there, as would Queen Rania and some of the many nonprofits we’ve met here in the States. Also on that list would be Nick Kristof, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times and advocate for girls’ education — and tonight, the members of STF*{Syracuse} and I met him!

First up was a Q&A with a small group of students, which I attended with Chelsea Orcutt, President of STF*{Syracuse}. Kristof hit on the importance of social media — in his words, he thinks “conventional media will drop the ball;” social media can fill in the lapses in mainstream media that can result from the ratings game. He’s also interested in social media as a new business model for journalists. You know he’s taking advantage of it, if you follow him on Twitter, and you’ve probably also realized how strongly we agree with him on that point!

Nick Kristof at Syracuse University

While lecturing at Syracuse University, Kristof shows a picture of a girl who was first in her family to graduate.

When it came time for his lecture, Kristof hit on the importance of educating girls. “There are no quick fixes in the developing world,” he said, “but maybe the closest we have is education.” The ripple effect of educating girls extends to improving all areas of poverty. He even showed a picture of a girl who was the first in her family to graduate!

At the end of his lecture, Kristof talked about how the audience can get involved and make a difference — and he mentioned She’s the First! We’re only a few days into our second year, and Nick Kristof himself mentioned us to a crowd of over 1,000 people! I was (and am) grinning from ear to ear.

There will be more pictures soon, but in the meantime, check out the hashtag #KristofSays on Twitter to see some of his quotes throughout the day. And of course, don’t forget to check out Kristof’s weekly column!

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