Vision, Mission & Values

Our Vision

A world where young people can envision themselves in whichever occupation they will be greatest at and enjoy doing; a society where women’s strengths and contributions are embraced, and women’s voices are heard.

Our Mission

To tell inspiring stories of female role models via free video hero stories for 9 – 14 year old “tweens.”

To awaken youth to their potential, increasing the pipeline of tweens from all income and ethnic backgrounds in rewarding careers, including those where  they are a minority.

To encourage positive choices and reduce risk  factors through programming and curricular materials focused on education, healthy development, and discussion, enabling meaningful  interaction between tweens and adult family members or educators.

Our Values

  • Respect – Valuing the uniqueness and worth of each person
  • Integrity – Doing the right thing consistently
  • Diversity – Celebrating race, culture, ethnicity, life experience and age
  • Definition – Encouraging positive self-definition
  • Learning – Inspiring education and growth through role models, ideas, thought, perseverance, and fun
  • Everyday Heroism – Demonstrating courage, striving for excellence, and maintaining an attitude of service

Research and Statistics

Career Studies

  • A lack of female role models in nontraditional careers is a barrier to entering these professions (DeSantis, 2006)

Connection Studies

  • Adult-youth relationships characterized by mutuality, trust and empathy are a fundamental contributor to positive prevention outcomes (Rhodes, 2002)
    – Adults can be a family member, educator, or other caring adult
  • Teenagers whose parents regularly talk to them about the dangers of drug use are 50 percent less likely to use (Partnership for Drug Free America, 2009)
  • Involved parents can help children overcome peer influence to start teen smoking (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2006)
  • Adults can help prevent child eating disorders by building self esteem,  modeling positive behaviors and attitudes, and discussing the impact of media on body image (Levine and Smolak, 2008)

Career Statistics

  • 16% of US Congress seats are held by women
  • 16% of US CEO’s are women, and women hold 15% of seats on boards of publicly traded companies
  • 14% of U.S. Science and Engineering PhD’s are awarded to underrepresented minorities – those who make up 28% of the population
  • 17% of US Computer Science degrees are awarded to women
  • Women in the US earn 77% as much as male colleagues of equivalent skill and experience

Teen Statistics

  • One in four girls in the US does not finish high school, including 37% of Hispanic, 40% of African American and 50% of Native American/Alaskan girls
  • 10% of US girls have symptoms of eating disorders, and leading causes include the desire to look like people in the media
  • 750,000 young women aged 15-19 become pregnant each year
  • An estimated 140,000 US girls between ages 13 and 19 are identified as “cutters”
  • In a survey of 12-17 year old US girls, 755,000 reported using marijuana, 83,000 LSD, 66,000 cocaine, 19,000 heroin,13,000 crack during the past month
  • 800,000 US children under 18 begin smoking each year