Alliance for Girls 2022 Conference Recap
A Note from the Team
At the start of the year, the AFG team set out to design a conference that would create space for inspiration and restoration in a world that increasingly feels bleak and would serve as a reminder to those of us doing the work to foster cultural and systemic change that transformation is indeed possible.
We proudly accomplished this with our World We Imagine conference held on Oct.11 at the Oakland Scottish Rite center. The conference convened more than 475 intergenerational leaders including best-selling authors, community leaders, policymakers, girls’ champions, and over 200 girls and gender-expansive youth.
Our attendees had the opportunity to learn from and engage with a diverse selection of breakout sessions that discussed a range of important topics from the fight for reproductive health and justice, ending the criminalization of girls & gender-expansive youth to funding the movement for gender equity. Other sessions focused on unpacking trauma and re-igniting passion and energy for this work.
At the end of the day, attendees walked away feeling more energized as girl champions, more knowledgeable about the issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and generally felt more connected to the broader movement that is advocating for girls and gender-expansive youth.
As a team, we emerged from the conference feeling reinvigorated to continue our work uplifting girl advocates and laying the foundation to build a world of radical safety where all girls and gender-expansive youth thrive. Thank YOU for making The World We Imagine conference a success.
We can’t wait to see you next year!
Alliance for Girls Team
We’ve had an opportunity to review the feedback we received from our conference attendees, girls* and girl advocates alike. We were pleased to see what excited you the most as well as the aspects of the conference, whether it be speakers or breakout sessions, that had the most impact on you.
Here’s what we learned you loved the most about the conference;
Our community is hungry not just for spaces to network and learn but mostly for the healing power of connection. Here’s how one attendee described the opportunity to be in community “I appreciated this day and the truly inclusive, hopeful, engaging, informative, vulnerable, and honest day. I truly enjoyed the chance to meet so many people who are passionate about this work, and hear from so many youths actively creating a better future.”
Across the board diversity and representation among speakers is an important factor for audiences and directly influences the impact a conference has on them. For the audience at our World We Imagine conference, diversity stretches beyond race to include gender, sexual orientation, lived experience, and age. One attendee commented saying “I loved the inclusion of younger voices.”
Girls* resonated deeply with speakers that reflected their lived experiences. New York Times Writer to Watch and Author of Nightcrawling, Leila Mottley captivated the youth in the audience with a keynote address that emphasized the importance of community in ensuring a safe and supportive environment where girls and gender-expansive can thrive and realize their full potential. One youth commented on the address saying “ I loved learning from the author of Nightcrawling, that was so inspirational!”
Creative spaces that allowed for self-expression and encouraged attendees to unleash their inner artists were in high demand. Our Imagine Lab and Zine stations received the most engagement from youth and adults alike eager to put their creativity to work.
There was excitement about our new and improved logo unveiled during the conference to mark 10 years of work driving the movement for gender and racial equity forward. See our new logo at the top of this email!
See the excitement for yourself! Check out this album for exclusive photos from the World We Imagine conference.
AFG UPDATES
When Young Moms Thrive Update
At our World We Imagine conference, fellows from the When Young Moms Thrive, We All Do (WYMT) initiative in collaboration with steering committee members of IMPACT (Invincible Mamas Pushing Action & Change Together) hosted a session titled “ Young Moms Redefining Parenthood.” The session emphasized the lived experiences of young mothers which are often colored by social judgment and lack of accessible resources as well as the key roles the respective programs have played in facilitating cultural and narrative change around young parenthood.
More importantly, in the session, fellows from the WYMT initiative shared their progress in presenting key recommendations to improve the condition of young moms to Santa Clara County elected officials. These recommendations have been reviewed by the Office of Women's Policy (OWP) in Santa Clara County.
Click here to read the When Young Moms Thrive policy memo and learn more about the recommendations.
Biannual Members Impact Survey
AFG is asking for your help!
We ask that all members please take our biannual survey to help us learn more about you and your organization's experience with AFG. Your responses will be kept confidential and will be used to help AFG improve our programming and services.
Once you complete the survey, you’ll be entered in a drawing for one of five $100 gift cards to Target or one of two free Alliance for Girls annual memberships! If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Miari Stephens at miari@alliance4girls.org.
Thank you for your valuable time and input!
Voices of the Alliance
Our members showed up and showed out for our World We Imagine conference and it was all documented across social media platforms. Check out the amazing energy they brought to the event below;
Girls Leadership
Strength United
EmpowHER LA
Youth Advocates for Change
Dream Youth Clinic
Introducing Our New Staff
De’Anna Miller | Advocacy Manager
De'Anna Miller is the Advocacy Manager at Alliance for Girls. She recently joined the organization, bringing her expertise from her previous role in the California State Senate. She successfully staffed several bills that earned the Governor's signature, including expanding the democracy to diversify county elections. De'Anna hopes to use her knowledge of the legislative process to empower marginalized communities, uplift the underrepresented, and advocate for policy and systems change.
De'Anna is active in her community as a Black Women for Political Action Fellow and a California Legislative Black Staff Association member. Her introduction to community activism came as a student on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus. She developed mentorship opportunities and admissions programming and was instrumental in organizing a peaceful protest that improved conditions for students across the UC system. She received a B.A. in Psychology with a research focus, informed by her time as an undergraduate research assistant at the Blum Center on Poverty, Social Enterprise, and Participatory Governance and in Ghana, where she evaluated the policies and methods of rehabilitation and intervention for abandoned and disabled youth in a rapidly developing nation. Additionally, she spent time in Barbados studying international development, politics, government, and history. After participating in the Capital Fellows program, De'Anna earned a graduate certificate in Applied Policy and Government from Sacramento State.
De'Anna loves to travel, smile, laugh, dance, and live life to the fullest. She comes to her work energized to champion issues on behalf of girls and gender-expansive youth because she understands that her current life was made possible by the advocacy of those before her.
Nia Thompson | Program Associate
Nia joins AFG as a Program Associate, seeking to provide smooth and efficient support of the Deputy Director’s office and activities, as well as coordination of AFG’s program administrative functions.
Since teenhood, Nia has coordinated, facilitated, and supported multiple youth-focused programs and is pleased to continue exploring such work as a young adult. She has worked for organizations such as California Youth Media Network, Causa Justa: Just Cause, and Peers Envisioning and Engaging in Recovery Services to provide elevation, perspective, and voice in areas ranging from communications and media to mental health and social justice.
Nia enjoys leaning into rest and relaxation, beach and neighborhood strolls, TV and film, quality time with loved ones, and reading in her day-to-day life. She is passionate about many things, including slow, sustainable living, liberation for all, all things plant-based and chocolate, and practicing her Christain faith.
Nia is deeply inspired by the words and works of the Combahee River Collective, Fannie Lou Hamer, Octavia Butler, Ella Baker, Berta Cáceres, and of course - her communities. She spends time between Long Beach and the Bay Area, keeping good company with friends, family, her cat Luna, and of course - too many houseplants.
