A Bridgeport woman is giving back to her hometown by helping young girls build confidence, leadership skills and meaningful relationships through a mentorship program.
100GirlsLeading is a nonprofit organization that provides mentorship to girls ages 9 to 18 in Bridgeport through guest speakers, workshops and community activities.
“Our mission for 100GirlsLeading is to provide interactive mentorship for girls in the city of Bridgeport,” founder Bobbi Brown said. “So they are not only learning something but they’re doing something.”
Brown, president of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP and a former chair of the city’s Board of Education, said she created the organization after returning home from college, hoping to provide the same resources and guidance that helped shape her own educational journey.
“I wanted to make sure that I came back home from college and was able to provide those resources,” Brown said. “Making sure that there are people in place, women that are in place to help support them as they navigate their educational journey.”
The organization focuses on connecting participants with local women leaders and creating opportunities rooted in the Bridgeport community.
Every session is designed to encourage the girls to participate, and is based within the community because the focus is encourage girls to love where they’re from.
“We believe learning happens through participation,” said Shaenna Taylor, program director of 100GirlsLeading. “Our girls are encouraged to ask questions, share their experiences and support one agram, every activity is based and within the community because we want girls to love where they’re from.”
For mentee Tamia Payne, the program has become more than a series of meetings.
“As I kept going to the sessions and working on myself and building that sisterhood with the other girls, it made me want to stay with the program,” Payne said.
Payne said one of the program’s biggest strengths is the sense of community it creates.
“My favorite thing about being a mentee is the sisterhood,” she said. “Meeting the new girls … they’re so shy at first, but I love being welcoming and just making new connections.”
She said the program also sends an important message to young people in Bridgeport.
“It’s important for the Bridgeport community because it lets everyone know that there is somebody there that’s there to help you,” Payen said. “There’s somebody there that can let you know you’re not alone.”
Brown said one measure of the organization’s success is seeing former participants return to mentor the next generation.
“One way of success is seeing the girls who finish your program go to school and then having them come back and want to be mentors in the program,” she said.
Looking ahead, Brown hopes to establish a permanent home for the organization where participants can gather and make the space their own.
“I would love for them to have a space that we could put up our own banners, decorate it, make it as girly as we want it to be so that the girls have a place to call their own,” Brown said.
More information about 100GirlsLeading’s mentorship programs is available on the organization’s website.
