She’s the First teams up with grassroots leaders to make sure girls everywhere are educated, respected, and heard.

Who are those grassroots leaders? They are girls who are organizing peers in their area to stand up together for their rights, such as by hosting a demonstration in Nepal, producing a reproductive rights art show in New York, or leading a farm project that raised funds for girls’ tuition in Uganda. They are women running programs for girls in oppressed communities, from rural Kenya to the mountain valleys of Peru to remote towns in India.

And what do we do with them? We teach a girl how to speak up for herself in her home, school, and community, while we teach the mentors in her life practical ways to support her agency.

Volunteers: Start a STF club, join the girls advisory council, advocate in your community, participate in social media efforts, and more.