New York program leaders learn GoGirlGo! at WSF-hosted Leadership Conference
Today Women’s Sports Foundation’s GoGirlGo! New York City held a Leadership Conference at the West Bronx Recreation Center for area program leaders who currently use or are interested in implementing our award-winning GoGirlGo! curriculum. Led by GoGirlGo! New York City Director Wendy Hilliard, the 60 attendees were introduced to our curriculum, given the opportunity to network and swap stories with fellow program leaders, took in a fundraising presentation and learned best practice recommendations for their programs. In both New York City and Atlanta, we hold these conferences four times a year to give our GoGirlGo! leaders open forums to learn, discuss, share and better serve the girls in our communities.
The morning began – not without a healthy breakfast, of course – with an introduction from Hilliard. Hilliard, a former champion rhythmic gymnast and WSF President, has been working with City girls for decades. Her expertise was evident as she spoke about the challenges and struggles special to New York City girls. She shared an overview of GoGirlGo!; she spoke about other Foundation programs, like the
Keep Her in the Game campaign and our
Travel & Training Fund grant.
Hilliard then encouraged attendees to share perspective on why their girls aren’t interested in physical activity programming. All leaders agreed that boredom, fear of what others – especially boys – might think, external distractions and confusion about their bodies kept girls away. Hilliard stressed that providing girls with a safe, comfortable place and nurturing an open and honest environment is crucial to success for a girl-serving organization, an idea woven throughout the GoGirlGo! curriculum.
Special guest Any Gordon, a Long Island-based fundraising consultant, shared her expertise with the group. Obtaining and sustaining a donor base, no matter how small, is important to the success of any program. She took questions from the group; many program leaders were interested in simply taking the first step to building a donor base through fundraising events.
The conference ended with an in-depth look at the GoGirlGo! curriculum and best practices for implementation and evaluation. With stories and life-lessons told by champion athletes like Julie Foudy, Tamika Catchings and Sanya Richards-Ross, our curriculum is an incredible resource to reach girls in a unique way. Learn more about our GoGirlGo! curriculum
here.
Special thanks to New York City Parks & Rec for hosting us at the West Bronx Recreation Center.