Through the various programs Girls Inc West Contra Costa
offers, girls and young women, between the ages of five and
18, are empowered to find their voices and uplift each other.
Girls Inc.
Empowering girls by showing them a larger world
By Jeannie Howard
The role of women in our society has undoubtedly
undergone major transformations over the past four
decades, and continues to do so. The same is true for Girls
Inc. and what the organization focuses on for girls and
young women.
Originally founded in 1975 as the Girls Club of
America, the organization, at the time, was focused on
fostering good domestic values by teaching girl skills such
as sewing and cooking, but Girls Inc. has morphed its
focus over the years to match that of the growing role of
women. Today the organization has 83 affiliates nationwide,
with three in the Bay Area, and is committed to
empowering girls and teaching them how to be successful
in today’s world and how to face the ever changing
challenges it brings.
“Now we teach girls how to be strong, smart, and bold,
and about overcoming glass-ceiling obstacles,” said Tiffany
Harris, executive director of Girls Inc. of West Contra
Costa. “We are letting them know they can do whatever
they set their minds to.”
16 MARKETPLACECONTRACOSTA.COM APRIL 2019
Serving nearly 500 girls, ages five to 18 years old,
throughout West Contra Costa, Girls Inc. offers a wide
variety of year-round programing at their location and
through partnerships at twelve schools. Because the
organization relies heavily on grants and donations, some
of the programs do have a nominal fee to assist with offsetting
operating costs. From the Girls Who Code classes
to Friendly PEERsuasion, Harris said that “all of the
programs line up under our mission of strong, smart, and
bold.”
Of all of the programs Girls Inc. offers, Harris said that
the Media Literacy program is one of her favorites. “I
am totally intrigued by the media,” she admitted. “In the
Media Literacy program we take a close look at how girls
and women are seen in the media, and we analyze it by
questioning if it is acceptable, do we like it, are the images
truthful, and how should we be seen.”
Another one of her favorite programs offered through
Girls Inc. is the Collage Bound Girls program. “This is
like our final level program before the girls graduate high