Hofstra University

Free Ice Cream Parties! (These Chapters Earned It!)

2012 has been a groundbreaking year for She’s the First*{Campus}, thanks to all of our amazing chapters across the country. We know you all work hard to support STF’s mission, and we’re so grateful!

We’re please to announce the second-ever She’s the First*{Campus} Awards winners. These chapters are chosen based on the information they submit on their campus surveys, judged on Most Social (Media), Most Creative, and Most Financially Successful.

Our all-stars from the Spring 2012 semester were (drumroll please!) … She’s the First*{UNC Asheville}, She’s the First*{Bryn Mawr} and She’s the First*{Hofstra}! All of you will get a FREE BEN & JERRY’S ICE CREAM PARTY for your hard work. Congrats!

Most Social: She’s the First*{UNC Ashville}, led by Becca Wetheim, maximized social media to support Lindsay Brown with an original and inspiring #ManicureMonday push. They painted their nails in STF colors, took photos and tweeted them at Seventeen to show their support. Unique, social and effective!

 

Most Creative: She’s the First*{Bryn Mawr}, led by Amanda Kennedy, held a Poetry Night in conjunction with the #VoiceYourVerse campaign. Students read poems from the Voice Your Verse anthology, and even poems they wrote themselves! Both Tammy Tibbetts and Azure Antoinette were in attendance, and the audience was lucky enough to hear Azure share some of her own poetry. Chapter members sold cupcakes, as well as donated cupcake pins and necklaces, and raised $585 in total!

Most Financially Successful: She’s the First*{Hofstra} raised the most money out of any chapter this semester — $1200!!! And how’d they do it? With a dance-a-thon! Led by Chelsea Tirrell, the group decided to try something new and get their groove on with fellow classmates on behalf of STF. Fantastic, fun and profitable!

Thanks to all of our second-ever Campus Award winners. All three of these chapters will receive honorary logos to decorate their social media pages, as well as an ice cream party thanks to Ben & Jerry’s! Be sure to look out for the next round of winners in the winter!

Interested in creating a chapter of She’s the First at your school? Fill out our application here.

Questions? Contact campus@shesthefirst.org.

Posted in Bryn Mawr, Hofstra University, She's the First*{Campus}, UNC Asheville | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Announcing the First Ever Campus Award Winners!

This year was bigger and better than ever for She’s the First*{Campus} as we ushered in many new chapters, increasing our total number of campus chapters to 21 and getting our name out to colleges and high schools across the country. We were blown away by the creativity, dedication, and enthusiasm that our campus chapters demonstrated during the Fall 2011 semester, particularly during the National Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off. To honor their accomplishments, the new Campus Leadership team for She’s the First voted on the recipients of the first ever Campus Awards. And the winners are….

Northwood High made cards for sponsored girls!

Most Creative: Northwood High, from Irvine, CA, led by Chapter President Maryam Khan. She’s the First*{Northwood High} held an event where club members signed Holiday cards to send to the sponsored girls at She’s the First partner schools with a matching bracelet connecting them to their “sister” in the U.S. that has one too! The chapter also sold “cake pops” as a spin off the signature STF tie-dye cupcake bake sales.

Most Social: Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, led by Chapter President Chelsea Tirrell. She’s the First*{Hofstra} used social media in creative ways to increase awareness in the student body about She’s the First and the activities Hofstra hosted. Nowhere was this more evident than during the Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off when She’s the First*{Hofstra} Tweeted a countdown of the number of cupcakes that still needed to be sold to sponsor a girl at Kopila Valley School in Nepal.  They reached their goal…and then doubled it, sending TWO girls to school!

Most Financially Successful: University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, led by Casey Kraft, Monica Townsend and Lindsay Brown. She’s the First*{Notre Dame} raised $1092 this year to renew their sponsorship of three girls at Kopila Valley School in Nepal. The remaining funds were donated to Shanti Bhavan in India in collaboration with other groups from the Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off. The money was raised through many tie-dye cupcake bake sales, cupcake “grams” that students could have delivered to a friend’s dorm room, and even a cupcake eating contest!

Events like this cupcake eating contest helped She's the First*{Notre Dame} raise over $1000 and win Most Financially Successful!

So there you have it, from New York to Indiana to California, our campus chapters are spreading STF all over the country, one cupcake at a time. The winners will receive honorary logos stating their award to decorate their social media pages as well as a pizza party for the members of their chapter. We can’t wait to see what the Spring 2012 semester will bring—look for the next round of Campus Award Winners in June!

Interested in creating a chapter of She’s the First at your school? Fill out our application here.

Questions? Contact campus@shesthefirst.org

 

Posted in Hofstra University, Northwood High, Notre Dame | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Skype Call I’ll Never Forget

Chelsea Tirrell is president of She’s the First*{Hofstra}, which recently raised $600 to sponsor girls in the Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off.

On Thursday, December 1st, She’s the First*{Hofstra} had our very first experience Skyping with some of our sponsored girls in India and, simply put, it was amazing.

Chelsea Tirrell leads her campus chapter in a Skype call with Shanti Bhavan girls in India!

As president of our chapter, I wanted to do something special for my members after a semester filled with hard work. When I needed someone to fill in an atrium table slot, someone was there. When I needed meeting attendance to be prompt and plentiful, everyone was there. When I needed to bake over 600 cupcakes, everyone was there. Their passion and dedication hadn’t gone unnoticed and it’s their loyalty to this cause that lead our chapter to such success this year. For that, I knew they needed a reward. They needed a meeting that wasn’t a meeting but rather, an opportunity for them to see what all of their hard work had gone toward. And with that, I reached out to Christen Brandt who connected me with Brianne Riviello. Together, we put together STF*{Hofstra}’s notably awesome Skype chat with India.

We connected with four girls from the Shanti Bhavan school in India with the help of their coordinator, Rahil. Once we got the camera and audio to finally work, we were welcomed by Vijayalakshmi (Viji) in 9th grade, Sujatha in 10th grade, Pratibha in 11th grade and Maheshwari (Mahesh) in 12th grade. I couldn’t tell who was more excited to speak with who, but it was an all around session of smiles and laughs.

We learned that they loved Harry Potter and Twilight, that they played basketball and loved to dance, and that they had dreams – some bigger than our own – that were backed by relentless eyes.

These girls were the first females in their families to get an education and we learned why. Some of their mothers couldn’t afford it while others married young and didn’t have the opportunity. But luckily for these girls, they finally had the chance thanks to She’s the First.

These girls are as real as they’re going to get. They’re curious, smart, passionate, and excited to take on the world that’s ahead of them. To have a part in an organization that helps send such amazing girls to school is a bigger honor than most can say they’ve gained.

Raising money is one thing. But when you get up close and personal, it changes the name of the game. The connection we made is one that I will carry with me for the rest of my involvement with She’s the First. And as for my members? It’s a Skype call that changed their prospective on things. It’s given them a desire to be more involved and a greater appreciation for what we have here and what we can give.

Posted in Hofstra University, Shanti Bhavan | Tagged | 1 Comment

STF*{Hofstra} Tie-Dying Cupcakes, Shirts AND Pancakes!

She’s the First*{Hofstra} found creative ways to get the word out about their sale ahead of time! Chapter President Chelsea Tirrell tells us how her team partnered with another student organization to get many students across campus involved in their sale.

Our founding members!

It has just been announced that She’s the First*{Hofstra} is now officially the client of Hoftstra University’s student-run public relations agency, PRestige. It’s come at just the right time. Do you know what this new partnership means? A few extra sets of hands and brains to make the first ever National Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off an immense success.

Though our chapter is looking forward to the donations from Naturally Nora, PRestige is already hard at work looking for donations from local bakeries and shops for goods or even tie-dye pastries of their own.

But their donation-searching doesn’t end there. As an organization, STF*{Hofstra} decided to have a tie-dye event the last week of October in order to launch the bake-off. “FREE” always draws thecrowd so PRestige set out to find t-shirts and tie-dying kits from different franchises.

In the midst of all this, we’ve been getting our club together and splitting them up into four groups – crafting, baking, publicity, and atrium tables. By splitting up the tasks, we’re able to work moreintimately and ultimately reach a successful end point without chaos.
It’s not just our club that’s looking to help the cause, though. After attending a mixer with other community service groups on campus, we were able to get another club, Young Republicans, to help bake. With as many hands as we have, we’re hoping to have copious amounts of cupcakes – and more cupcakes means more donations!

Some of our delicious cupcakes - yum!

We’ve even got a plan to make rainbow pancakes, charging $3 for a short stack and $5 for a tallstack. Tie-dye continues to come full circle and we’re willing to use any measure to help She’s the Firstreach its goal of $20,000.

Our organization has talents all across the board and we’re using them all. Our graphic designers are working on drawing up promotional flyers and design techniques, our publicists aregetting our name out there, and our organizers are working on keeping us above water. We even have drama/dance students who are willing to dress up as a cupcake to draw attention to our table in thestudent center! Together, we’re on the path to great things.

With October already well on it’s way and November just around the corner, it’s time to kick it into full gear. We’ve got our heads on straight and our eyes on the prize – now it’s time to get our feet (and hands!) moving. Ovens, here we come.

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Hofstra Student Wins Prestigious Award for Reporting on STF

Post by Elizabeth Weeden

Gracie Allen was a famous radio and television star in the ‘30s and ‘40s. She and her husband George Burns made one of the most successful comedy teams in history. Before Lucille Ball, Betty White or Oprah Winfrey, Gracie, as she was called, became a role model for women in media and entertainment.

Gracie Allen was such a model for women that eventually an award was named after her. Each year the Alliance for Women in the Media (AWM) present Gracie Awards to celebrate and honor programming “created for women, by women and about women.” This past year I was lucky enough to receive a Gracie Award for a story I aired about She’s the First.

In their first semester on campus, I got a chance to sit in on a meeting for Hofstra University’s chapter of She’s The First. I had planned to just report on the new club for Hofstra’s radio station, WRHU-FM. I interviewed the club president at the time Gennifer Delman and I also got in touch with Tammy Tibbets for more of a general STF back-story. The more I learned about She’s the First the more excited I became about writing my story and joining the great organization.

Gracie Award winner Elizabeth Weeden

I was airing the feature on She’s the First for Radio Hofstra University’s soft news show called “Studio South.” I simply wanted to spread the word about an organization I believed deserved acknowledgement both on Hofstra’s campus and in the immediate area. While I knew She’s the First was a great organization, nowhere in my imagination did I think I would be recognized for the story I wrote about it. The feature was just a piece I could have fun with because I felt passionate about the organization and the people who brought it to Hofstra.

Three months later I received an email from one of the deans of the communication school at Hofstra who works on the “Studio South” show with me. She said that she had submitted my story on STF to the Gracie Awards. The Gracie Awards recognize national, local, and student media; given the broad audience, I considered the nomination itself an honor.

Then, one week before I was to leave for my semester study abroad, an email popped up in my inbox with the subject line reading, “YOU WON!!” in all caps. I told myself it was spam so that I wouldn’t get any false hopes, but as my eyes scanned the screen I saw that the email wasn’t spam, it was from my dean. I had actually won a national Gracie Award for students! The story on She’s the First won a Gracie in the Outstanding Soft News Feature category. Apparently the Alliance for Women in the Media was just as impressed by She’s the First’s mission as I was.

This past week I received my award in the mail—I couldn’t attend the gala because I was in Europe—and it’s just as beautiful as the organization behind the story that led to the award. After learning from She’s the First’s great social media initiatives, the first thing I did was tweet a picture of the award. It reads, “2011 Gracie Awards, Soft News Feature, She’s the First.”

When I think about STF’s mission and everything it has done for girls’ education, I can’t help but think that She’s the First is giving girls all over the world the opportunity to go to school, to follow their passions, and maybe someday end up with an award of their own. Thank you, She’s the First. Give yourselves a round of applause, because you all deserve it.

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How to Launch a STF Chapter with Great Support

Founding members of She's the First*{Hofstra} -- that's Gen (with postcard) & Chelsea (right) in the middle!

As two Rhode Islanders who moved to New York to pursue interests in magazines, our professional aspirations and love for service have always been intertwined. By participating in both Ed2010 (which is the home to the Hofstra branch of Her Campus) and She’s the First*{Hofstra} (which a group of us founded in 2010), we’ve been able to explore our interests and help make a difference.

When we brought She’s the First*{Hofstra} to campus, we had a vision for success. With everything the organization had already accomplished, we saw big things for our campus chapter. But before we could get started with fundraising efforts and raising awareness, we had to tackle a challenge in and of itself–publicity.

There was a small group of girls who felt passionately about STF but we knew we couldn’t do it alone. We would need supporters and established groups to not only join forces with us, but also show us the ropes of how to make a name for ourselves on a campus with over 170 clubs and organizations.

At our first meeting, we talked about what we hoped to accomplish that year. We decided on a fundraiser, how we were going to direct students’ attention to the organization, and how to recruit members and club sponsors. Among our small group of founders, we had writers who contributed to hercampus.com. Our writers knew exactly what to do—we were going to utilize the site to shed light on our group.

Her Campus is an online magazine but also so much more–it’s a “collegiette’s guide to life.” The site posts stories for college women with topics ranging from Style to Love and Life, all of which are written by top college journalists around the country. Aside from the content on the main site, Her Campus also has campus branches. They’re responsible for posting campus events, trends, and more. Hofstra’s branch knew this would give us the publicity opportunity we were looking for.

It started with an article Chelsea wrote titled “She’s the First–Changing Girls’ Education One Step at a Time.” Before we had even established our own chapter, it was important that we put out the message of the umbrella not-for-profit we were working under. Within the piece, we mentioned our organization and how we would be working closely with the cause. Once the story went live, we were finally on the map.

When we started talking to different organizations about possible co-sponsorships and awareness opportunities and we mentioned our name, many of the responses we got were, “Oh yeah, I think I read about you guys.” Her Campus had finally put a name to an otherwise undefined organization.

From there on out, we use our Her Campus branch to publicize for She’s the First*{Hofstra}. We post photo-blogs about fundraisers and awareness events, such as our campus-wide residential awareness programs and tie-dye cupcake sales.

The site selects articles from campus branches weekly and ranks them in order of reader worthiness and popularity. The first piece we did made it to number one, drawing other branches to our page and thus bringing their attention to She’s the First. With a taste of how we were running things and an idea of how wonderful a cause it was, other campuses felt the urge to hop on the nonprofit bandwagon and start a She’s the First chapter of their own.

Gennifer’s experiences with STF & HC extend beyond campus. When applying to attend the first-ever Women: Inspiration & Enterprise symposium last year, she wrote about her experiences with STF and how eye-opening its vision is. When she was chosen, she represented both organizations, alongside the women she admires like Tammy, STF campaign developer Devin Tomb, and HC founders Stephanie, Annie, and Windsor.

As an editor, Gennifer has encouraged readers to start their own chapters and featured women like Brittany Laughlin and Adejire Bademosi—two WIE young champions she would have never met if it were not for the tie to She’s the First. Earlier this year she also worked with New York Women in Communications scholarship recipient Katie Corrado to compile a list of collegiette™ amazings, who embody what it means to be a first.

Her Campus is not only our platform for campus attention, but also for other campuses nationwide in order to encourage them to join the cause. It’s no wonder why the link between the two is practically invincible – when you give women the opportunity to thrive, no barriers, no obstacles, no challenge, can stand in their way. We urge all collegiette™ STF supporters and aspiring media professionals to start a branch of HC at their university by July 31st: Just head to hercampus.com/my-campus.

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STF*{Hofstra} Girls Rock at Music Fest with Tie-Dye Cupcakes

She's the First*{Hofstra} super stars Chelsea Tirrell, Gennifer Delman and Kaitlin Cubria.

by Kaitlin Cubria

This semester, STF*{Hofstra} members made several collaborative efforts to create awareness and buzz about She’s the First on the Hofstra campus. Between residential housing programs and social media marketing, giveaways and BIG plans for next semester, STF*{Hofstra} became easily recognizable to other on-campus organizations and was able to recruit new members into the STF family.

To end the year with a bang, STF*{Hofstra} Founding President Gennifer Delman, Vice President Kaitlin Cubria, Publicist Chelsea Tirrell, and new e-board member Shea Molloy (who’s also She’s the First’s Summer Creative Associate!) decided to utilize the ingenuity of She’s the First signature tie-dye cupcakes at two music events at their college.

The cupcakes were a hit among everyone!

Hofstra’s Annual Music Fest features acts from well-known musicians, as well as established on-campus music groups, carnival-style rides and activities, hot dogs and hamburgers – free of charge! Naturally, this event generates a great deal of attendance. For such a fun-filled event, it made perfect sense to premiere the tie-dye cupcakes for fundraising.

Clouds and drizzle threatened the success of the program, but the colorful desserts managed to shine through the semi-darkened event. Students and faculty continued to show their support and generosity throughout the day – the cupcakes  were a hit! In fact, because the two hosts for Music Fest were so impressed by the organization, they encouraged the Hofstra community to go to the STF*{Hofstra} table for more information on She’s the First’s mission.

Cupcakes in demand!

The next day, the Hofstra chapter brought more tie-dye cupcakes to the final show of the semester for one of Hostra’s all-girl a’cappella groups, Makin’ Treble. In an attempt to sell more, the founding members were just about to decrease the asking  price of the tie-dye treats. Surprisingly, not one person in attendance was willing to pay less – actually, some members of the audience donated more without taking additional cupcakes, just to applaud She’s the First’s efforts.

It was incredible to experience such heartfelt contributions from the Hofstra community. If this is what could happen in one weekend, then the possibilities for STF*{Hofstra}’s future seem endless.

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She’s the First*{Hofstra} Wins Over Campus

Chelsea and Gennifer speak

What better time to talk about girls’ education than during Women’s History Month? She’s the First*{Hofstra} Founding President Gennifer Delman, Vice President Kaitlin Cubria, Publicist Chelsea Tirrell, and Social Media Chair Lee Flemming, took on two different residential complexes to reach out to students about their newly established organization.

Both complexes held programs for their residents to raise awareness about the historic time period, and they invited She’s the First*{Hofstra} to speak.

Chelsea and Kaitlin with their cupcakes

We opened both programs up with a little background info on She’s the First, explaining the goals of the organization and what it had already done for girls’ educations in developing countries. We talked about the different campus branches and fundraisers they’d done to raise money and awareness and then told them about our great ideas.

But first, we handed out magenta and teal frosted cupcakes!

The program, appropriately called “We’re the First,” drew in about 30 residents who all wrote what they were the first to do on a poster board.

And then we told them why:

There are girls upon girls in developing countries who are unable to get the education they are so deserving and needing of. With an organization like She’s the First, girls are given the opportunity to be the first in the their families to get an education.

All too often, we take advantage of the provisions we’re given at school. We have great professors, safe buildings, and lessons that will last us a lifetime. And yet, we complain about homework, papers, and tests.

The response was overwhelming. Residents who belonged to different clubs on campus provided their contact information to establish partnerships for future fundraisers. Others provided their information just because they were excited about getting involved!

Show and tell goes a long way.

We told them about our purpose and how easy it is for them to get involved.

We showed them the impact they can have and the girls we’re helping (those adorable She’s the First postcards are quiet handy!).

By the end, we had students saying, “Getting involved without much effort? Awesome. Getting a free cupcake out of the deal? Even better.”

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#LeadSTF, Mid-day Activity: Speed Mentoring for Our Campus Leaders

She's the First*{Hofstra} in the red room

After lunch at the She’s the First Leadership Summit, we broke up into three small groups, where our campus leaders (from Manhattan College, Hofstra, Quinnipiac, and Notre Dame universities) had the chance to ask the post-graduate leaders within She’s the First for direct, personalized advice on their fundraising ideas for Spring 2011. The Mr. Youth office, which generously donated the meeting space, had bright-colored rooms to get our creative juices flowing.

She’s the First*{Hofstra} President Gennifer Delman filled the group in on a clever Valentine’s Day-themed fundraiser, which she first told us about here on Aspire:

When you were in college, did you ever plan a fundraiser that was a smashing success? What for? Tell us about it!

Tweet!

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What Do You Dream for the Daughters of the Future?

Gennifer Delman is the founder/president of She's the First*{Hofstra}

What do you dream of? For many of us, we’ve been encouraged ever since we were youngsters to reach for the stars and dream big. Perhaps you have aspirations for a career in the field you love or a chance to meet a role model who positively impacted your life. For millions of women across the globe, they can only dream of privileges we often take for granted: safe motherhood, an education, health, and the choice to have children.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8, our friends at the White Ribbon Alliance (WRA) for Safe Motherhood invited us to share what we dream for the daughters of the future. WRA hosted the 2010 Women: Inspiration and Enterprise Symposium I chronicled last September here on Aspire. I am still moved by the messages that the strong, passionate women of the WRA so openly shared on the stage that day.

This call-to-action reminds me of my own mother, a Ukrainian immigrant whose biggest dream for my sister and I was to pursue higher education and explore our passions. It is this kind of love, support, and nurturing that we must share with the daughters of the future, regardless of blood relation or geographic location.

“Every mother in the world dreams that her daughter will have a better life than she has. My mother was married at age 9 and had her first child at age 13.  She wants more for me,” says Hadhya Yahya Mohamed Al-Zawm from the National Safe Motherhood Alliance in Yemen. Even if you are yet to become a mother or have no intention of doing so, this campaign reminds us of a powerful message sent out at WIE: All women are sisters and it’s our duty to help fulfill the visions of our loved ones and of those who don’t have the means or right to dream big.

So you want to get involved? Here’s what WRA is asking us to do:

  • Grab your Flip Cam (a She’s the First one, perhaps?) and your closest friends, to film a 2-minute or less video sharing your individual and group dreams.
  • Write a 500-word or less personal statement explaining your hopes for the future of women (post it on your own blog, or guest blog here for She’s the First.
  • Get creative! Write an original song or poem urging policy makers to act and then post it on YouTube.
  • Share the link on WRA’s Facebook page to encourage participation (link @She’s the First so it appears on our Wall, too!).

For the daughters of the future: I dream that one day all women can pursue not only their aspirations and interests but also the rights for safe childbirth and motherhood and education. All of this and more are possible if we work together, a global team of passionate human beings. So to the entire She’s the First family, I invite you to join Tammy, myself, and all of the WIE 50 Young Champions in this movement for all of the daughters of the future to live our mantra: She believed she could, so she did.

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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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WIE Symposium Encourages Women to Change the World

[Editor's note: This is a guest blog post from Gennifer Delman, a junior at Hofstra University, who reports back from an event that She's the First was proud to attend, the first WIE Symposium in NYC last Monday.]

Energy darted around the room as women of all ages gathered at Skylight West in N.Y.C on Monday, September 20 to join forces at the first ever Women: Inspiration and Enterprise Symposium. Hosted by Sarah Brown, Donna Karan, and Arianna Huffington, the day was full of ideas, words of wisdom, and the celebration of girls and women.

At WIE: She's the First campaign developer Devin Tomb, Gennifer Delman, with HerCampus founders & supporters to their right.

As a 20-year-old junior journalism major at Long Island’s Hofstra University, it was an absolute honor and privilege to be selected as one of 50 Young Champions to attend this magnificent conference. During my time at school, I have immersed myself in organizations I care about, including magazine networking group Ed2010 and online women’s magazine hercampus.com. But it wasn’t until I interned for Tammy Tibbetts earlier this year that I learned of She’s the First. Ever since then I knew I had to be a part of it… but how?

When I found out that STF would be reaching a wider audience by establishing branches at colleges and universities across the nation, I knew I had found my place. I had already been a part of two campus chapters of a national organization, and starting something that has a global effect at Hofstra sounded like a dream come true. After applying and being selected to attend WIE, I also knew that I found the perfect source of inspiration before I embark on my STF journey and set up my own chapter.

Some of the 50 Young Champions at WIE: Liz Tarpey of Georgia Tech; Yifan Zhang, creator of Styleta.com; Natalie MacNeil, founder of ShesTakesontheWorld.com; Tammy Tibbetts of STF; Gennifer Delman

Here’s a glimpse of what I observed: The beautiful actress Elizabeth Banks discussing women’s roles in Hollywood. One of my role models, Cathleen Black, revealing her rise to success in the magazine biz. Actress Ashley Judd sharing her experiences traveling the world and speaking to women who have endured terrible pain just to survive. The selfless Melinda Gates opening up her heart and telling her first-hand stories. The hercampus.com founders speaking about the power of youth innovation, something STF is a prime example of. An organization built by young innovators that aims to inspire and provide the means for youth innovators across the globe… that’s a powerful thing.

All of it was so eye-opening and made me feel connected to everyone in the room. The division between CEO, model, and celebrity was suddenly torn down. We were (and are) all women and we have power. If we harness our individual power, we can come together and help those with fewer privileges to do the same. I also realized that our youth is not a limitation — it’s an advantage. Don’t ever feel like you don’t have the ability to make a positive impact. Every woman has the capability if they have the desire.

Nthabieseng is so awesomely ambitious, she once got to meet Shakira!

But of everything I soaked in at WIE, it was the words of a 12-year-old South African schoolgirl named Nthabieseng Tshbalala that resonated with me the most. Tears formed in my eyes when Sarah Brown asked Nthabieseng what she would tell policymakers that girls need most. She eloquently replied, “You’re here because you have education. And you’re here because you have education. We need education.”

We don’t have to do this alone. If we have a dream, an idea to make this world a better place for our children and their children to inherit, let’s not sit around and just think about it. Let’s change the world together. Who’s with me? – Gennifer Delman

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