Girl Powerful After School Programs

Girl Powerful® is youth empowerment 501(c)3, co-founded by sisters Tedi and Sonya Serge, designed to give tween and teen girls the social and emotional learning tools to build a strong sense of self. Girl Powerful’s mission is for all girls to feel seen, valued and heard when they need it the most.

Today’s children need mental health tools in order to succeed in the future. Learning how to navigate societal expectations, manage emotions and communicate feelings with others is a big task to take on and can sometimes be an internal struggle. Since we live in a social media obsessed world, a majority of our girls express that they feel the need to be perfect. With that immense and unattainable pressure, they are experiencing mental health issues such as anxiety, stress, depression and low self-worth.

Sand Sisters co-founders, Tedi and Sonya Serge, believe it is best to learn social and emotional learning (SEL) skills at a young age to help children recognize consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that make individuals feel happy, valued and secure. Through their own journeys, Tedi saw the need for girls to have access to SEL from her experience as a classroom teacher and enrichment director. Sonya needed SEL personally, when she hit a wall and realized she was neglecting her own mental health and developing bad habits.

Sand Sisters’ Girl Powerful™ program is a dedicated “safe space” where female youth are informally encouraged to build positive self-esteem, set and achieve goals, manage emotions, develop a mind-body connection, self-reflect and find value in female unity.

Girl Powerful enrichment courses are led by our original Girl Powerful journal, which helps each student balance life outside of academics and improves their physical well-being and social progress, therefore creating a strong sense of self. The skills gained are important influences on a child’s individual foundation that will carry them into a thriving and balanced adulthood. You can purchase your own Girl Powerful journal here.

According to DoSomething.org, 7 in 10 girls believe that they are not good enough or don’t measure up in some way, including their looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members. Further, by the time a girl reaches the age of 8, her confidence will decline by 30%. Tedi and Sonya Serge, co-founders of Sand Sisters Los Angeles, want to change that statistic and prevent tween girls, ages 8 to 14 years, from falling into the “Confidence Gap.” Sand Sisters Los Angeles’ Girl Powerful model utilizes social-emotional learning (SEL) to increase individual empowerment and prepare tween girls with the tools and skills to develop into their best selves.

Girl Powerful is seeking funding to provide tweens from underserved neighborhoods with quality after school programs. GP is specifically fundraising for a school in West Adams, a low-income area of Los Angeles. The demographic at the school is predominately Latina and 98% of students are on a free lunch program. These girls deserve an empowering 10 week after school program so they are accounted for and aren't getting into trouble with drugs, alcohol, vaping or sex. 

Tedi and Sonya were asked to provide a 10 week after school program for the middle school girls at Crown Prep Academy in West Adams by the middle school teachers. Tedi and Sonya are on the teachers team as well as the girls. They believe in cultivating community and while they are on school campus's they not only inspire, motivate and teach the teens they also empower the teachers to support and promote sparking your inner confidence by using Girl Powerful tools throughout the school day.

The only way Girl Powerful can make this program happen is by backers like YOU! Tedi and Sonya and the Girl Powerful Board of Directors appreciate every dollar donated and we appreciate every "like" and "share" on social media as well.  Thank you for supporting our mission for ALL girls to feel seen, valued and heard during the time they need it the most.