Non-Profit of the Week: Girls Inc. Celebrating 60 Years

Source: Girls Inc.

Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara is celebrating its 60th Anniversary in 2018, marked with a special 2018 Girls Inc. logo and the theme “Imagining the Future for Girls.” On March 17, 1958, the Girls Club of Santa Barbara was incorporated as a nonprofit organization. Girls Inc. flags will fly on State Street March 14th-28th in honor of the organization’s birthday, and the anniversary will provide the theme for the upcoming One Hundred Committee Scholarship Fundraising Event on April 7th at the Goleta Valley Center. Additionally, Girls Inc. is seeking 60 new donors this year to help ensure programs for girls are available for the next 60 years.

When Girls Club became a nonprofit organization, its mission was to help girls become good wives, mothers, homemakers, and citizens. The Girls Club served 280 girls a year, ages 6-16. Today, Girls Inc.’s mission is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold, and the organization – one of 81 Girls Inc. affiliates in the U.S. – serves nearly 1,400 girls in our community, ages 5-18.

“At the core of Girls Inc. programs is the out-of-school learning and enrichment curriculum that support Strong, Smart, and Bold outcomes,” says Barbara Ben-Horin, Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara CEO. “In addition to our award-winning afterschool, summer camp, and gymnastic programs, Girls Inc. focuses on a larger picture. We have remained relevant for the last century because of our commitment to advancing the rights and opportunities for girls and young women, whatever those may be for each generation.”

The Girls Inc. national organization has roots dating back to the 1800s, founded as “Girls Club” to serve girls and young women in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Girls Club was founded upon the fundamental belief in the inherent potential of each girl and established the core value of creating a safe gather place for girls – values Girls Inc. remains committed to today.

The Goleta Girls Club was founded in 1966, and in 1989 the Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara and Goleta merged to become the Girls Club of Greater Santa Barbara. The name would change to “Girls Incorporated” in the 1990s; this new name and affiliation with the national Girls Inc. organization reflected a more serious approach to impacting the lives of girls. It was at this time that Girls Inc. established itself as a vigorous advocate for girls. Read more Girls Inc. history on our timeline. Learn more at girlsincsb.org and follow Girls Inc. on social media @girlsincsb.

Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara

Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold, providing more than 140,000 girls across the U.S. and Canada with life-changing experiences and solutions to the unique challenges girls face. The Girls Inc. Experience consists of people, an environment, and programming that, together, empower girls to succeed, overcoming gender, economic, and social barriers to develop leadership and teamwork skills, to set career goals and to adopt healthy lifestyles, nurturing their growth into healthy, educated, independent adults. In 2016 Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara served nearly 1,400 girls through out-of-school learning programs (after-school and summer camp), a teen center, and gymnastics programs.