April 11, 2014
Newsletter #3

Register for an Event Today!

Wednesday May 28
Alliance for Girls' Annual Conference

Thursday, Apr. 17
Talking to Girls about Media Messages

In This Issue...

Advocacy Updates
Alliance for Girls
Organizational Spotlight

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Advocacy Updates

San Francisco DCYF: A focus group for girls' services

Alliance for Girls is partnering with the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and their Families (DCYF) to hold a focus group exclusively for girls' services. The goal of this focus group is to inform DCYF's Community Needs Assessment, which defines its funding priorities, and ensure that San Francisco girls' services are heard and girls' needs are met.

In 2013, DCYF disproportionately cut girls' services. Together with its membership, Alliance for Girls successfully advocated for $340,000 of those cuts to be restored. To prevent such cuts in the future, we also advocated for focus groups exclusively for girls' services. Thanks to the leadership of Maria Su, Director of DCYF, these focus groups will take place, followed by focus groups exclusively for girls.

DCYF and Alliance for Girls are partnering to conduct a girls' services focus group in early May (tentatively scheduled for May 6th). All Alliance for Girls' members are invited to attend, and logistical information will be sent out later this month.

If you would like to help plan the focus group please email Emma Mayerson at emma@evafoundation.org

Malia Cohen: A champion for Bay Area girls and girls’ services

Last month Alliance for Girls' members wrote a letter to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors recommending the inclusion of gender-specific and girl-specific needs in the San Francisco Children's amendment. This week, Supervisor Malia Cohen agreed to champion Alliance for Girls' recommendations!

The San Francisco Children's amendment mandates a set aside for the San Francisco Children's Fund, which currently allocates $50 million a year to youth services. Originally passed as a ballot measure in 1991 and re-authorized in 2000, this amendment will appear again in the November 2014 ballot.

The re-authorization of this fund presents an exciting opportunity to revisit and revise the fund's structure and goals. Several district supervisors, and a community stakeholder group of youth-serving nonprofits, have released recommendations for changes to the Children's Fund. These recommendations have been drafted by the San Francisco city attorney and titled the Children's Fund Community Coalition Recommendations.

Because of Alliance for Girls' advocacy and Supervisor Cohen's leadership, gender-responsive and culturally competent services have been included in the community coalition's recommendations as a goal of the fund. This is the first mention of gender ever articulated in the Children Fund's language!

Working closely with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and DCYF, Alliance for Girls will continue to ensure girls are recognized and included every step of the way in re-authorizing the children's amendment.

If you are a member and want to get involved in this campaign please email Emma Mayerson at emma@evafoundation.org or call 510-207-4542.

Upcoming Events

Stronger Together

Alliance for Girls 2nd Annual Conference

Click Here to Register

Join Bay Area girls’ champions from the nonprofit, public and private sector to share innovations and best practices in

Addressing the Wealth Gap
Advocating for Girls’ Health and Safety
Leveraging Art and New Media to Reach Girls

Speakers include

Click here to view all of the speakers and their bios.

When: 12 - 6 PM, May 28^th 2014
Where: Schwab Center, 211 Main St, San Francisco 94105

Lunch and Learn

Talking to Girls About Media Messages

Join Jennifer Berger, Executive Director of About-Face, and Alliance for Girls for an informative lunch about teaching young women how to decipher mainstream media.

In this Lunch and Learn we will:

Learn about an engaging and interactive model of media-literacy for teen girls.

Learn key tools for helping young women develop important skills while maintaining a non-judgmental tone and stance.

Productively critique positive or problematic media messages that young women are using/watching/listening to.

Date: Thursday, Apr 17, 2014
Time: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: 510 16th St., Suite 100, Oakland CA 94612
Click here to register for this event.

If you are interested in having your organization featured in our Organizational Spotlight please contact Ana Aguilar.

Organizational Spotlight

One Circle Foundation

In March, Alliance members –the YWCA SF-Marin, SF Mental Health Education Funds, Inc., and One Circle Foundation – helped bring Girls Circle Facilitator Training back to San Francisco. There, an adult participant who was a former Girls Circle participant became a trained Girls Circle Facilitator. She shared in the training about the positive impact that Girls Circle had on her life as a girl in the juvenile justice system and how she is now excited to be giving back to her community by becoming certified as a Girls Circle facilitator.

One Circle Foundation transforms lives through circles by promoting resiliency and healthy relationships with research-based gender responsive circle models and best practices. We provide training, curricula, and consultation to all sectors of youth serving organizations. We recognize that healthy relationships are central to healthy individuals, families, societies and the world.

Girls Circle is a model of structured support groups for girls from 9-18 years. Developed locally, it was designed to foster self-esteem, help girls maintain authentic connection with peers and adult women in their community, counter gender trends toward self-doubt, and allow for genuine self-expression through verbal sharing and creative activity. Girls Circle has been utilized internationally with diverse populations of girls in the areas of education, mental health, child welfare, juvenile justice, and community based settings.

One Circle Foundation is passionate about ensuring that every girl in the Bay Area and beyond has access to the transformative effects of circle.

Upcoming Girls Circle Facilitator Trainings include San Jose in April and San Pablo in June, through collaborations with city departments. We hope to collaborate with organizations interested to bring gender-specific, culturally responsive, trauma informed circle models to their organizations to enrich their work with youth. We seek to support and connect with organizations supporting girls and their healthy development to expand our community and truly live the belief that “we are all connected.”

www.onecirclefoundation.org

Funder Spotlight

We would like to thank the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) for choosing Alliance for Girls as their fundraising beneficiary for the year.