SAVE A GIRL SAVE A WORLD (SAGSAW) is a multigenerational mentoring non-profit born from a conversation at the 2011 Rainbow Push Annual Conference, inspired by Dr. Julianne Malveaux, which was founded by Glenda A. Gill. Starting as a 3-day experiential retreat at Bennett College, SAGSAW expanded in response to increasing demand, relocating to Clark Atlanta University and extending its influence across five historically black colleges and universities. Their annual retreat for young women in high school and college takes place this year, Nov. 10th - 12th.
I asked Ms. Gill to tell us about the conversation that Dr. Julianne Malveaux inspired. She mentions that Dr. Malveaux gave the keynote speech after the scheduled orator could not attend. In that speech, Malveaux said, "If we’re going to save the world, we have to save our girls.” The women at her table were all inspired. They developed programming and strategy and launched the nonprofit SAVE A GIRL SAVE A WORLD.
Gill shares information about its programming and her experience leading her passion project for twelve years. She speaks about the initial funding and the growing demand for the programming. She explains that this multi-generational mentorship program uses a triad approach. A woman mentors a college student who mentors a high school student. She stresses how important it is to pass along lessons learned by older generations and reminds us that mentorship works both ways as young people pass along their knowledge to mentors. She shares the story of a young woman who joined the program as a high school student and is now mentoring as a doctoral student.
Gill asks that we connect with their organization online at www.saveagirlsaveaworld.com