Episode Seven: Stephanie Hull, President and CEO at Girls Inc.

Teaching Girls to Be Strong, Smart, and Bold

 

Stephanie Hull knows that making our society more equitable for women is a long game. (And just like Whitney Houston, she definitely believes “the children are our future.”)

 

So she’s working with young girls, aged 5 to 18, to teach them the skills and confidence they need to grow into powerful leaders. Stephanie discusses her transformative program, Girls Inc., with Women on the Move’s Sam Saperstein, including how her programming covers topics from racial justice to money management.

 

Shifting paradigms through mentors and role models

Girls Inc. is a big organization tackling big issues. Through a combination of direct service and advocacy, the program helps budding leaders grow up healthy, educated, and independent through in-school and after-school workshops. And with 78 local organizations in 1600 different sites—both urban and rural—Girls Inc. has some serious reach!

Participants might tackle anything from building a robot in STEM programming to developing a yoga practice in mind/body classes. Stephanie is especially proud of the mentorship component of Girls Inc. She’s witnessed firsthand the power that role models have on the hearts and minds of young girls.

 

“A mentor can make a huge difference in their ability to be resilient, to stay on track in school, to graduate from college,” she says. “When you have a role model who is a woman, who models healthy choices and also cares about you, that goes a long way. Mentors help to build a sense of possibility.”

 

She points out that this is especially true when it comes to money matters; if your role model is a dedicated saver or an enthusiastic investor, that can have a huge impact on your own habits. This is why Girls Inc. has a strong financial literacy component.

 

Making money less mysterious

Since our schools don’t teach kids how to make budgets or apply for loans, most young adults emerge with no real knowledge of how to manage their finances. Stephanie sees this as a huge roadblock for upcoming generations, one that prevents them from leading financially independent lives. The Girls Inc. financial literacy curriculum is designed to be age-appropriate, teaching the youngest girls about simple concepts like counting money and basic banking; the middle grades about investing, entrepreneurship, and budgeting; and the oldest girls about loans, labor laws, and economic equity for women. Parents even get involved in this aspect of Girls Inc., and everyone graduates with a solid sense of how to manage their money.

 

JPMorgan Chase is thrilled to partner with Girls Inc. on their economic literacy program, and couldn’t be more proud of the progress Stephanie has made with this groundbreaking set of classes. She has such a clear vision for what her girls need to build confidence and grow into strong, capable women.

 

“They are the leaders that our future needs,” she insists. “And what we're trying to do is provide them with the tools and opportunities that they need to succeed, to change their own circumstances and ultimately to change the world.”