to address neighborhood needs or interests. En-trepreneur Julie Baron, owner of Julie’s Coffee and Tea in Alameda, won the Grass Roots Award. Julie’s pathway into the world of tea and coffee began with her love of herbs. From a love of all things plant-made, Julie’s coffee & tea garden is born. Entrepreneurs LaShaelia Smith, Cassie Linzie and Georgia Hale, a group of teens from the Growing Youth Project at Alameda Point Collabo-rative, were also awarded the Grass Roots Award.

Like Girls Inc., women and girls who are entrepre-neurs in meaningful and honorable ways inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold.

Above: Best Foot Forward Participants: Alex, Sienna, Nikkita, Azameet, Clare ,

Amani, Lilly, Lula, Breanna, Menga, Karen, Yina, Kiley, Tabitha, Tina, Skylare,

Mercedes, Trinity, Yina, Selina, Tina

Best Foot Forward is a multi-workshop series de-signed for girls ages 6 to 12 that teaches them a vari-ety of skills including interviewing, script writing, presentation, public speaking, and etiquette. The program culminated in the annual Women Who Dare Awards luncheon March 28, 2009, where girls serve as co-hosts, network with guests, and present awards to the honorees. Entrepreneur, Judy Grant of Grant & Associates acted as Emcee of the event as Kathy Moehring, Ex-ecutive Director of the West Alameda Business As-sociation kicked off the program by singing “Putting It Together.”

Awardees included, Lori Shannon - President & Founder, See Jane Run and Sejal Hathi - CEO & Founder, Girls Helping Girls both receiving the Women for Women Award: for having impacted a national or global circle of influence by creating a ser-vice or product just for women or girls. The Cata-lyst Awards went to Suzanne McKechnie Klahr - CEO & Founder, BUILD and Warda Ali - CEO & Founder, Sure Shot Cricket Gear. These awardees

have started a non-profit or for-profit enterprise that impacted a social, political, economic or environmental circle of influence. Awardees for the Grass Roots Award were honored for having created a local circle of influence by providing services or products

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Middle School Girls From our Allies In Action Program

say...

I am strong because I never give up no

matter what happens. I am smart because I always do my best to keep my grades up I am bold because I don’t like to be in the

crowd. - Cristina, age 12

I am strong because I try my best at school I am smart because I

get good grades I am bold because I

can be trusted - Jasmine C.,

age 12

Upcoming Events

May 30 See Jane Run Women’s

5K/Half Marathon in Alameda to benefit Girls

Inc.

June 15 - Aug. 14 Alameda Island Kids Summer Program for

boys and girls

June 22 - Aug. 14 Girls Summer Camp

July 6 - 31

Pre-Teen camp for girls entering 7th-9th grade,

with three exciting sessions (see Pg. 5)

Inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold.

Best Foot Forward Girls Host 2009 Women Who Dare Awards Event Honoring Women Entrepreneur’s

Girls Inc. of the Island City Girl Power Press Newsletter

“Best Foot Forward is great because we interview the women and they

inspire me with all the things they’ve done.”

Lily Tu, age 8

2008-2009 Board of Directors

Officers Marilyn Sandifur - President Port of Oakland, Media & Public Relations Specialist, Spokesperson Arlette Walls - 2nd V.P. Novartis, Research Operations Nancy Heastings - Treasurer Safeway, Retired IT Sr. Project Manager Sue Bevins - Recording Secretary SB & Associates, Human Resource Consultant Ingrid Lamirault - Director-at-Large Alameda Alliance for Health, CEO Dr. Charlotte Tlachac - Past President Island Eyecare, Owner & Optometrist Members June Allen - First 5 Alameda County, Administrator Dania Alvarez-Morroni - Harbor Bay Realty, Realtor Anita Battle - Verizon Business, Regional Sales Manager Nancy Constantine - Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, LLP, Executive Director

Courtenay Davis - Harper & Yao, Executive Search/Software, Executive Recruiter Charlette Green – Senior Deputy District Attorney, Alameda County Laurie Harper – Harper & Yao, Executive Search/Software, President Tracy L. Hart – Clorox, Controller Richard J. Heaps - Selectica, Inc., Chief Fi-nancial Officer and General Counsel Debborah S. Knowles- Financial Advisor, Edward Jones Investments Greg Mauldin - Waterfront Hotel, Joie de Vivre Hotels, Restaurants and Spas, General Manager Sergeant Jill Ottaviano - Alameda Police Department, Officer Nick Petrulakis - Books Inc., Manager Mary Kimura Thompson - Federal Bureau of Investigation, Supervisory Special Agent

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Volunteers in the Spotlight:

Janet and Bill Thoma

Janet and Bill Thoma began volunteering with Girls Inc in 2006 at the Annual Holiday Sale. Janet, who is a member of Alameda’s branch of The American Association of Uni-versity Women (AAUW), has been an active volunteer with Girls Inc. and is very supportive of the organiza-tion. Janet advertises Girls Inc. volunteer opportunities

Girls Summer Camp Summer Camp 2009 at Girls Inc. will run from June 22 to August 14. This promises to be a great summer filled with new friends, great classes and awesome field trips. At Girls Inc. we encourage girls to learn, explore, make friends, and most of all have fun! All girls should have a safe, nur-turing environment where they feel comfortable to be who they are and to discover the world around them with the support of other girls and women. Girls Inc of the Is-land City is just that kind of place, a place that inspires all girls to be strong, smart and bold.

Last year, we made some big changes to our camp, and we

received really positive feed-back! After great success last year, camp will be a full– day format from 9:00am-4:00pm with themed weeks. We have many of the same classes with new fun activi-ties, new Funky Fridays and new field trips. Girls will go on exciting field trips to places like the San Francisco Zoo, the SF Asian Art Mu-seum, Ardenwood Farms, and an Oakland A’s game!

Also, our Pre-Teen Camp will include Girls enCourage, Science & Cooking and Design Time.

For information, contact Tristen Fredrickson at (510) 521-1743 ext. 204 or tfredrick-son@girslincislandcity.org.

Alameda Island Kids

Summer Program

for Boys and Girls

We are also offering a sum-mer program for boys and girls from June 15 to Aug. 14.

Camp will be held at Earhart School and will include many exciting themes, including: Construction Zone, Groovy Gardens, Artists Ahoy, Island Animal Mascots, Dino-Mite, and Rip Roaring Roundup.

Childcare will be provided from 7:00am-6:00pm at $200 per week. For information, contact Alameda Island Kids Program Director Pam Wil-liams at (510) 521-1743 ext. 202.

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G I R L S I N C . O F T H E I S L A N D C I T Y PA G E 2

with AAUW and assists in recruiting volunteers for the Holiday Sale. Bill (Janet’s hus-band) has also been a volun-teer with Girls Inc. for the past few years.

Volunteer duo Janet and Bill Thoma have volunteered for a number of activities and events at Girls Inc., including the Holiday Sale, Father Daughter Dance, Garden Work parties, and See Jane Run. Thank you Janet and Bill!

Want to Volunteer? For more information about

Girls Inc., contact Toniesha Webb at twebb@girlsincislandcity.org or 510-521-1743 ext. 207. Teens can also volunteer to earn community service hours toward graduation.

Above: Janet Thoma at the 2009 Teen Summit.

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Women of the 21st Century Club

• What is Women of the 21st Century Club?

Our Women of the 21st Century

Club was formed to financially support the mission of Girls Inc. of the Island

City to inspire all girls ages 6-18 to be strong, smart, and bold (SM).

• What does Women of the

21st Century Club do?

The Club gives women an opportunity to get acquainted with people with

similar goals and to serve as role mod-els for girls and teens, to serve as am-bassadors for Girls Inc., and to raise

funds for Girls Inc. programs.

Carly Alameda, New Member “I moved to Alameda about

a year and a half ago, and I was excited to recently learn

about this group and its support of Girls Inc. I am looking forward

to becoming involved. I am interested in supporting Girls Inc.

and its cause for many reasons; for example, I personally was an

athlete through college and I know how that experience shaped

my path, and I think it is critical for girls to have activities and ex-periences that empower them. I also attended the brunch this past Sunday and I really enjoyed all the

members I was able to meet.”

Our Girls on Girls Inc.: “I love Girls Inc. because I learn about

inner beauty.” - Azameet Gebremariam, age 7

“My favorite thing about Girls Inc. is

all the classes. I like cultures and cooking because we get to eat what

we cook!” - Mengna Lin, age

“I like Best Foot Forward because you get to ask awesome questions to the women who have started their own businesses. I want to start my own

business too.” - Selina Webster, age 8

“Girls Inc. is fun and my favorite class is eat fit because we exercise, dance

and do kick boxing.” - Tabby Compton, age 9

“Women entrepreneurs are my he-roes because they inspire me to be

whatever I want to be.” - Amani Webber, age 10

To join the Women of the 21st Century Club or for more informa-tion, contact Kellee Hearn at 510-521-1743 ext. 201 or visit www.girlsincislandcity.org.

Above: Member Christina Ell-wood receives an award at

Women Who Dare

In Memoriam Shirley Weishaar, the past

dean of students at Mills College, was a long time sup-porter of Girls Inc. and also

served as Vice President on the Board of Directors.

Patricia Fong was a part of

the Alameda Island Kids staff at Girls Inc. from 1994-2008, where she worked at both

Franklin and Bay Farm schools. Patricia touched the lives of

hundreds of families in Alameda.

Amber Bishop, a former

Girls Inc. girl, and 8th grader at Wood Middle School passed away from complications with leukemia. In 2005, Amber was part of the Best Foot Forward

Program and Girl Power at Girls Inc.

Girls Inc. is Going Green To set a strong example for the girls we serve and to be good stewards of our resources, Girls Inc. is going green. Support us in this effort by sending us your e-mail address at khearn@girlsincislandcity.org and we will send your next newsletter digi-tally. Please add e-mail address in the subject line. We will keep you up to date on the girls and families we serve and their accomplishments. For each address sent, we will enter your name in a drawing and the winner will receive a prize TBD.

Above: Our girls thank Peet’s Coffee & Tea for the Holiday Donation Program!

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Intern at Girls Inc.: Meet Kelly Sorensen

Girls Incorporated of the Island City has an internship program! Our newest intern, Kelly Sorensen, found Girls Incorporated of the Island City and the intern program through San Francisco State University, where she is currently a senior. The internship at Girls Inc. is the central part of her Work-Study in Feminist Projects class at S.F. State, and is meant to be the culminat-ing experience of the Women & Gender Studies degree. Kelly chose Girls Inc.’s in-ternship program because she was interested in working somewhere that worked specifi-cally on girl’s issues and only with girls. To Kelly, a Women and Gender studies ma-jor, “Girls Inc. programs are successful be-cause they separate the girls into age-appropriate programs and there’s a progressi-

on in the education on girls’ issues.”

Above: Kelly Sorensen with Tabby, Azameet

and Kiley.

Kelly’s internship gives her the opportu-nity to put what she has learned in classes into practice, as well as to get experience in her field. Kelly says, “I definitely want to work somewhere women-focused. I’d really like to work in an organization where men and women work in tandem on women’s issues.” Girls Incorporated of the Island City is looking for an Intern for Summer 2009. Duties include assisting in preparation and facilitation of sessions, classes and activi-ties, supervising girls on field trips, and other duties as assigned. The Summer program will take place from June 22 – August 14, 2009, from 9am to 4pm Mon-day through Friday. For more information or to apply for an internship contact Girls & Teen Program Director Tristen Fredrickson at 510-521-1743 ext. 204 or tfredrick-son@girlsincislandcity.org.

Girls Inc. Community

Event Round-Up

Holiday Sale On Dec. 8, 2008 we held our annual Holi-day Sale for the children in both our Girls and Alameda Island Kids programs. The children were able to purchase and wrap gifts, each costing under a dollar, for their families. Thank you to the 51 volunteers who helped set-up, price, sell, wrap, and clean-up that day! To donate gifts, gift bags, or other wrapping supplies, or to volunteer for this year’s event, please call (510)521-1743 ext. 208.

A Night at the Oscars:

Father Daughter Dance On Feb. 6, we partnered with the Ala-meda Parks and Recreation Department

to hold our popular dance for girls and their fathers or favorite male role models. This year’s theme was A Night at the Os-cars. Thank you to the 10 great volunteers who helped with set-up and clean-up and who led crafts and other fun activities that night.

Above: Girls Inc. girl Abby and her father, Gary enjoy some father

daughter time at the dance.

Kiwanis Chili Cook-Off On Jan. 31, we entered our popular chili recipe in the Alameda Kiwanis Club chili cook-off and Girls Inc. won second place in the “People’s Choice” category.

Want to Contribute? To organize or participate in an event to raise money for Girls Inc. contact Kellee Hearn at (510) 521-1743 ext. 201 or khearn@girlsincislandcity.org or check out our website at www.girlsincislandcity.org.

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SMART Friday is a new program offered by Girls Inc. that will give girls hands on experience in the fields of Science, Tech-nology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). For six Fridays during the months of April and May, one female STEM mentor will work with girls in our center by leading an activity or project while sharing informa-tion about their career and how they got to be where they are today. Girls Inc. of the Island City was chosen as one of three pilot sites to implement an orientation guide in an effort to enhance the group mentoring to girls we serve. After the pilot stage, this guide will be rolled out to over 90 affiliates throughout the US and Canada. Six female mentors, or SMART Partners, will be chosen to work with the girls.

Teen Summit

Teen Summit - On Feb. 21, teens par-ticipated in workshops on healthy skin, self defense, college admission, and sexual health; took part in yoga and hip hop en-ergizer activities; and had a robust discus-sion about issues important to them, in-cluding gossip, relationships, peer pres-sure, drugs, and teen pregnancy. The Teen Summit takes place annually each February. For more information, contact Teen Coordinator Toniesha Webb at 510-521-1743 ext. 207 or twebb@girlsincislandcity.org.

Girls enCourage SM Adventure Sports Pro-

gram July 13 - July 24

Girls enCourage SM is a part of the pre-teen camp for girls entering 7th-9th grades which runs from 12:00 - 6:00pm. Girls enCourage SM is an adventure sports program that builds health awareness, a coopera-tive and competitive spirit, an inter-est in all sports and an exposure to the outdoors. Girls will go on adventures such as hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, and windsurfing. For more infor-mation or to sign up for the pro-gram, contact Girls & Teen Program Director Tristen Fredrickson at 510-521-1743 ext. 204 or tfredrick-son@girlsincislandcity.org.

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Each Friday we will select a different focus (Electrical Engineering, Biology, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, etc.) The girls will hear from the SMART Partner about her education and career. Then the group will do a project that the girls will take home. Each project will relate back to the focus of the day. For example, on Aerospace Engineering Day the girls will make and test balsa wood airplanes that they can later take home. All six SMART Partners will participate in a two hour orientation. This orientation was created by our national organization. The orientation will focus on how to work effectively with girls as partners, roles of SMART Partner, and engaging girls in STEM. Additionally, our SMART Partners will be asked to help evaluate the orienta-tion process as part of the pilot project.

SMART Partners are asked to commit to the following:

• 2-3 hours for the orientation (this can be done at home) plus

• A brief follow-up in March (on site or over the phone)

• 1.5 hours on a specified SMART Friday to work with the girls at our center

• Additionally each SMART Part-ner is invited to attend and par-ticipate in any other SMART Friday to work more with the girls and hear from the other SMART Partners.

To participate or get more information, please contact Program Director Tristen Fredrickson at tfredrickson@girlsincislandcity.org or 510.521.1743 x204.

SMART FRIDAYS AT GIRLS INC. OF THE ISLAND CITY Girls receive hands on experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

Girls Inc. Sees Rise in Scholarship Requests

As we face economic struggles, Girls Inc. of the Island City’s services are more important than ever. This has been evident as we are receiving an increased number of scholarship requests. Your support of Girls Inc.’s programs makes it possible for scholarships to be available to all girls. As we continue to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold, we rely on the support and generosity of our community. If you would like to make a donation to Girls Inc. of the Island City, please visit our website www.girlsincislandcity.org/html2/donate.htm or contact Kellee Hearn at 510-521-1743 ext. 201 or khearn@girlsincislandcity.org.

I am strong because I’m independent I am smart because I got an A- on a

science test I am bold because I never give up

something I keep failing on! -Hailey, age 12

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID Permit #40

Alameda, CA

It’s not too late to sign up! See Jane Run 5k/Half Marathon

On Saturday, May 30, 2009, Girls Inc. of the Is-

land City is partnering with See Jane Run, to hold the 4th Annual See Jane Run 5K/Half Mara-thon in Alameda for women from all over the

Bay Area. You can get involved, here’s how!

• Run or Walk • Raise Money - Create your own web page

at www.SeeJaneRun.com • Volunteer - Come out and show your sup-

port! Contact Toniesha Webb at 510-521-1743 ext. 207 or

twebb@girlsincislandcity.org Kids Race too!

Register at www.SeeJaneRun.com

For more information or to form a team contact Fund Development Director Kellee Hearn at

510-521-1743 ext. 201 or khearn@girlsincislandcity.org

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Girls Incorporated of the Island City 1724 Santa Clara Ave. Alameda, CA 94501 www.girlsincislandcity.org

Alameda, CA May 30, 2009 Benefiting Girls Inc. of the Island City