Strong Women, Strong Girls (SWSG), a creative new Boston-based mentoring program that inspires young women to change the world, is opening its first satellite office in Pittsburgh this August.
Founder and Director Lindsay Hyde started the program in 2000 as a Harvard freshmen looking for a way to pass the knowledge, strength, and inspiration of strong women in history and the local community on to elementary school-aged girls. The 7-year-old program has achieved tremendous success, earning Hyde numerous awards including a prestigious 2007 National Jefferson Award, the Nobel Prize for public service.
Last year 45 students from CMU, University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University volunteered as mentors to more than 150 girls throughout Pittsburgh’s city schools. The program was a hit and the decision was made to establish a Pittsburgh office.
“We hear from parents that our mentors are such phenomenal role models,” Hyde exudes. “The girls really look up to them. It really widens the scope of what they can imagine for themselves.”
Lynne Garfinkle, a past president of the National Council of Jewish Women, has been named as the director of the Pittsburgh office, which will locate along with the Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pa. in the Strip District.
“Pittsburgh is a phenomenal place for us to be,” she adds. “It’s really exciting to see how much innovation is going on here, creative new programs like the Girls Math and Science Partnership that have helped us recreate our programs. I love the collaborative nature of the community.”
Strong Girls is supported by the FISA Foundation and the Eden Hall Foundation.
By: Deb Smit
Source: Lindsay Hyde, Strong Women, Strong Girls
Image courtesy of Strong Women, Strong Girls