In today’s fast-paced world, adolescent girls face unprecedented challenges. From social media pressures to academic stress, the journey through teenage years can be tumultuous. That’s where Girls Rising Strong comes in—a character-centric initiative designed to empower young girls during their most formative years. Focused on cultivating Virtuous Character as the foundation of personal growth, Girls Rising Strong equips young girls with the skills to face any challenge, grow confidently, and lead with integrity.
Girl Rising Strong is more than just a program – it’s a life-changing journey of character-building. By focusing on virtues such as empathy, resilience, and leadership, this program helps girls in 4th through 8th develop their best selves in all areas of life. Like other skills, we believe Virtuous Character can be taught, learned, and strengthened, laying the groundwork for girls to enhance their relationships, build confidence, and embrace a positive sense of self.
Why It Matters
Adolescent years are a critical stage in a girl’s life. They are a time of emotional, social, and physical changes that can significantly impact self-perception, behavior, and future success. By addressing these challenges head-on and using tools of high character building, we aim to help girls build a strong foundation for their future selves.
Our innovation lies in how we deliver these tools:
We build from the inside out.
Rather than telling adolescents what to think, we empower them with the skills to think, feel, and lead for themselves. Through experiential learning, reflection, and practice, participants develop self-trust, emotional awareness, and personal agency, enabling them to face internal doubt and emotional overwhelm with clarity and confidence.
We prioritize safe relationships and real connections.
Teens are taught not just about relationships but how to create emotionally safe spaces rooted in empathy, communication, and mutual respect. In doing so, they learn to identify red flags, set boundaries, and form friendships and peer groups that support their growth rather than sabotage it.
We train values-driven leaders, not passive followers.
Through our lens of Respect, participants learn to make decisions based on character and conviction, rather than conformity or peer pressure. Our approach to autonomous thinking teaches adolescents how to critically evaluate influences and stand firm in their values—skills often overlooked in traditional SEL programs.
We integrate virtues with their corresponding positive character traits with developmental science.
By blending virtues and character traits with evidence-based psychology (e.g., Seligman’s VIA strengths, Gabor Maté’s emotional resilience, and Dr. Leonard Sax’s gender-informed education), we meet adolescents where they are—culturally, developmentally, emotionally, and psychologically.
We engage the whole ecosystem.
Parents are not bystanders in this journey. Through family toolkits, workshops, and service-learning, we co-elevate the home and community environment, ensuring that the lessons don’t end in the session—they ripple outward.
Ultimately, Elevate Adolescence transforms identity confusion, emotional dysregulation, and peer disconnection into confident self-leadership, emotional fluency, and character-rooted community engagement.
