About Girls Inc.

Mission
The mission of Girls Incorporated of Metropolitan Dallas is to inspire all girls to be Strong, Smart and Bold^SM.  Girls Inc. is the champion for all girls and young women, ages six to 18, that for over 40 years has provided effective life skills and enrichment programs to empower girls daily to take charge of their lives. We provide learning and development opportunities designed around personal effectiveness, academics, and career planning so that girls are inspired to be strong, smart and bold and lead successful, independent and fulfilling lives. (The vision of Girls Inc. is to enable girls, ages 6-18, to become strong, smart and bold, and graduate from high school equipped for success with personal effectiveness, academic, and career planning competencies.)

History
The Girls Club of Dallas has a long history in the community, established in 1968 and first chaired by Jane Murchison and Evelyn Lambert.  In 1969, a campus was opened in West Dallas.  Since its inception, four campuses have been established throughout Dallas County as a result of collaboration with and funding from various local organizations, including: O.M. Roberts  Elementary School (1983), the Dallas Hispanic Chamber of  Commerce (1983), the Parkwoods Apartment Complex (1989),  the Crystal Charity Ball and Junior League of Dallas (1993), and  the State of Texas Criminal Justice Department grant (1999).  Originally doing business as the Girls Club of Dallas, our name was officially changed to Girls Incorporated of Metropolitan Dallas in 1990.   

Who We Serve
Our four campuses located in West Dallas, South Dallas, North Oak Cliff, and Love Field currently have the capacity to provide quality programs for more than 800 girls, ages 6-18, through after-school programming during the school year, and all day programming in the summer months.  Of those members attending the four campuses, 62% live in a single parent home or with neither parent; 80% reside in homes with family incomes of less than $25,000 a year; and 67% are African-American, 32% are Hispanic and 1% are of other ethnicity.

Curriculum
Our overall method and strategy includes curriculum that focuses on the following seven core areas identified as critical to addressing the challenges faced by all girls: educational enrichment, health and sexuality, self reliance and life skills, career and life planning, sports and adventure, leadership and community action, and culture and heritage.  We seek to inspire and help girls improve their overall grades and their educational advancement in math, technology and the sciences.    

Results
The effectiveness of the curriculum can be clearly seen through successful statistics and measurable results.  Over the past 12 years, 100% of senior girls in the program have graduated from high school as well as gone on to some form of higher education pursuits.  Additionally, 11 out of the last 12 years, 100% of girls in the program have remained pregnancy and drug free. 

Unique
What differentiates and makes Girls Incorporated of Metropolitan Dallas unique is that the organization provides:  (1) an educational, interesting and fun environment with an emphasis on the developmental needs of girls; (2) an extensive seven-core, tailored, nationally researched and proven programming curricula segmented by developmental age groups with outcome and evaluation mechanisms; (3) Girls Inc. National has officially had a research function since 1981 and monitors, collects, and analyzes significant research about girls and young women in the U.S. & Canada; and, (4) Girls Inc. programs address 1,025 areas of the 1,800 McREL (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning) Compendium benchmarks (content standards for K-12) as well as numerous areas of the American Alliance for Health, Phys. Ed, Recreation and Dance National Health Education benchmarks.

Our ultimate goal is for all girls to become inspired and empowered to make responsible overall life choices, learn how to respond in socially appropriate ways through verbal conflict mediation and negotiation skills, recognize and avoid negative media and peer pressures, develop strong leadership skills, graduate from high school equipped for success with personal effectiveness, academic, and career planning competencies, and set a course for their future.