Girls Opportunity Alliance convenes over 100 girl-serving leaders to build connection and collaboration

This year, the Girls Opportunity Alliance convened more than 100 Chicagoland leaders and stakeholders committed to advancing opportunities for girls in our city.

Designed to deepen connection and exchange, the day’s programming featured expert-led sessions on women’s health, current trends in fundraising and philanthropy for girls’ initiatives, and a reflective “Girl Talk” on sustaining personal well-being while leading change.

The program also included a special girl-led dance performance, along with a wellness activation that encouraged participants to pause, recharge, and reflect.

Take a look at highlights from the day:

A powerful dance performance by girls from Praize Productions, Inc., a Chicago-based girl-serving organization supported by the Alliance, grounded participants in the purpose of the convening and the shared mission to uplift girls.

A panel of women physicians from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Chicago Medicine focused on the importance of women's health, empowering leaders with valuable knowledge and suggestions on how to care for their own health.

Led by lululemon Ambassador Kayla Jeter, this intentional warm-up activation shared realistic wellness activities that leaders can incorporate into their busy daily routines.

The day included a lively networking session, offering leaders opportunities to connect and explore resources to strengthen their organizations.

Proactive leadership today is more critical than ever. Through this panel, leaders gained access to vital resources, strategies, and language needed to enhance fundraising effectiveness, ensuring the sustainability and continuity of their programs.

Urban Rural Action hosted an interactive workshop that introduced a structured tool designed to help leaders collaboratively address common challenges.

A fireside chat centered around two prominent women leaders, Liz Thompson and Myetie Hamilton, and their approach to balancing self-care, caregiving, and their demanding executive roles. Together, they offered valuable advice on the importance of emotional intelligence, productive tension, and establishing generational legacies.

As Shatina Edwards, who leads M.E.A.N. Girls Empowerment, reflected, “This is a sisterhood, and today really showed that—how we can come together to improve the well-being of girls in Chicago.”