Girls Joined Sam’s Club Giving To Build Business and Leadership Skills
Three-Day Summer Experience Introduced Girls to Working World,
College Life, and Women Entrepreneur Role Models
From July 23 – 25, 2013, Girls Inc. of Omaha members Hailey Turner, Gabriela Aguilar, Sunday Faya, and Empress Cozart joined high school girls from across the United States and Canada for the first Girls Inc. Girls InCharge Summit in Indianapolis, sponsored by Sam’s Club Giving Program.
The three-day program was held on the campus of Butler University and gave 52 girls the opportunity to learn and practice business skills, meet women entrepreneurs, discuss options for their futures, and gain insight into the corporate world and business ownership. Girls took part in communications and presentation workshops, attended networking events, and learned from women business owners. The college campus setting exposed the girls to higher education as a real possibility for their lives.
The Girls Inc. of Omaha teens qualified for the Girls InCharge Summit by completing leadership and entrepreneurship programming and committing to facilitating workshops with middle school girls. In addition to the Omaha teens, participating girls hailed from local Girls Inc. organizations in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, New York, Oregon, Ontario, Tennessee, and Texas.
“This incredible experience gives our girls an invaluable opportunity to meet women leaders, gain skills they’ll use in college and when entering the workforce, and share this knowledge with even more girls upon their return,” said Judy Vredenburgh, President and CEO of Girls Inc. national. “We are thrilled to partner with the Sam’s Club Giving Program in helping girls take critical steps to achieving economic independence and successful futures.”
“Congratulations to the local young women nominated to attend the Girls InCharge Summit. We are confident they are the entrepreneurs and business leaders of tomorrow,” said Susan Koehler, Senior Manager, Community Involvement for Sam’s Club. “Sam’s Club is pleased to provide the funds to launch the summit and appreciates the work of Girls Inc. around the country and on this program.”
“The Girls InCharge Summit provided so many powerful learning opportunities for our girls,” stated Roberta Wilhelm, Executive Director of Girls Inc. of Omaha. “In addition to the learning, they had a chance to travel and to meet their peers from across the country. It is important for the girls to realize that they are part of something bigger – a national movement for developing the innate potential within every girl. We are grateful to Sam’s Club and to our national organization for the awesome opportunity they provided for our girls.”
About Sam’s Club Giving
Since 2008, Sam’s Club has invested more than $10 million in national and local programs to support small business growth and success and inspire the next generation through youth entrepreneurship programs. Last year, Sam’s Club grants to nonprofit partners helped to train over 3,600 small business owners, enabled 265 small business loans and created or maintained 1,200 American jobs. For more information on national or local giving, visit SamsClub.com/giving.
