PEARLS FOR TEEN GIRLS ANNOUNCES GROWTH STRATEGY TO MEET COMMUNITY NEED

Community Leaders Share their “Pearl of Wisdom” in a Graduation Send Off

PEARLS for Teen Girls, Inc. (PEARLS) joined Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in declaring today PEARLS Day in Milwaukee.  Community and business leaders also joined in to celebrate PEARLS Day in honor of PEARLS’ 2012 high school graduates, sharing their #PEARLofWisdom via Twitter. A virtual scrapbook of the Pearls of Wisdom can be seen by clicking here. 

In celebration of PEARLS’ success in transforming the experiences of at-risk Milwaukee girls, PEARLS Chief Executive Officer Danae Davis announced the 10,000 Girls Initiative, a growth strategy to build PEARLS’ capacity and bring its programming to even more at-risk Milwaukee girls. The Initiative is focused on quality, deliberate and purposeful growth to best meet the needs of the community. 

“There is a great need for the type of programming PEARLS provides to at-risk girls in the City of Milwaukee,” said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. “Girls in our community need to be encouraged to grow into confident, accountable and goal-oriented young women, PEARLS provides that encouragement in a meaningful, relevant way that has a positive effect on our community.”

PEARLS serves at-risk, primarily African American and Latina girls, ages 10 to 19 in the Milwaukee community. The organization’s programming is focused on equipping girls with the skills necessary to negotiate and sustain positive relationships, achieve academic success and increase their capacity and comfort level for being accountable for the decisions they make. PEARLS has consistently achieved these program goals, in tangible, measurable ways that illustrate the program’s ability to transform the experiences of at-risk Milwaukee girls.

Though PEARLS has seen great success, there is a significant need to increase its reach in the Milwaukee area. PEARLS’ research has shown that in light of the community’s low graduation rate and high teen pregnancy and poverty rates, there are more than 20,000 Milwaukee girls that could be greatly served by PEARLS programming.

In order to meet this great community need, PEARLS has been at work to build the internal capacity needed to serve additional girls. This fall, PEARLS will be adding 10 new groups, serving an additional 250 girls and bringing the total number of girls reached to 1,100 in 2013.

“Our growth strategy is designed to keep our focus on quality programming and proven results as we work to be able to effectively serve the thousands of girls in our community who need a program like PEARLS,” said Davis. “We see a need and we believe that with support from the community, our partners and our donors, we can continue to consistently grow to meet that need.”

The community can learn more about PEARLS, sign up to receive e-mail updates and become a financial partner by visiting www.PEARLSforTeenGirls.com. PEARLS is also on Facebook and Twitter.

PEARLS for Teen Girls, Inc. (PEARLS) is a dynamic and innovative non-profit leadership development organization serving at-risk, primarily African American and Latina girls, ages 10 to 19 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. PEARLS helps girls achieve in school, avoid teen pregnancy, and use their personal power to achieve their goals and dreams. PEARLS offers a totally distinct, custom curriculum that focuses on helping girls build leadership skills like self-reflection, critical thinking, sound decision making, goal setting, clear communication and personal accountability.