The Girl/Friends Leadership Institute

The Girl/Friends Leadership Institute is a year-long program that empowers black girls from Chicago to find their voices and advocate for justice in their schools, communities, and the larger city of Chicago. Created as a safety net for adolescent girls who are most vulnerable to racial and gender-based violence, Girl/Friends have been at the forefront of Chicago's most recent campaigns to end violence against girls and young women, which includes sexual and domestic violence, crimes against queer and gender non-conforming girls, gun violence and police brutality. 

 

The Girl/Friends Leadership Institute is made up of: The Summer Initiative at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a 5-week art and activism training for which the girls earn college credit; and the Girl/Power afterschool Program in which they girls launch campaigns and lead public programs in their schools, community, and throughout the country. Girl/Friends has graduated over 17 cohorts and 450 youth leaders. 

 

 

 

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