May 2026
Its Official - We're Stronger Together
One team. One vision. Three programme pillars working with girls, in schools and in communities. Explore it all in our new site! At Girl Rising, we’ve always focused on shifting mindsets at scale through storytelling, through working with teachers, systems, and communities. And then She’s the First’s model brought something equally powerful: depth, proximity, and direct investment in girls’ leadership.
Girl Rising's storytelling and research-proven RISE programme meets She's the First's depth, proximity, and direct investment in girls' leadership. The result is something neither organisation could build alone.
We’re also pulling back the curtain on how we got here: The Merger Diaries on LinkedIn, documents our process in real time because the nonprofit sector needs new models for resilience and growth, and we're sharing ours.
And at the heart of all of this: staying truly girl-centred. Our Girls Advisory Council helped shape this merger and continues to guide what comes next, with two members now part of our newly integrated (and powerhouse) Board of Directors.
Joining Strengths in Our First Integrated Pilot Programme
Our first integrated programme in Narok County, Kenya is underway, bringing together work in schools, communities, and directly with girls. Narok is also a place full of committed people. Community leaders who want better for their daughters. Teachers who stay after hours. Mothers who've been waiting for a programme like this. Local organisations are doing extraordinary work with almost nothing.
Girls thrive when the people around them are part of the change. That's what this work is designed to support — the ecosystem that already exists, strengthened and connected.
As the new academic term begins, we’re starting one of the most important parts of the work: engaging parents. Because real change doesn’t stop at the classroom door - it needs families alongside it.
Debbie Odenyi, who leads our RISE work in Kenya, shares reflections from the first stage of the pilot, and why parent engagement matters so much.
Celebrating Change in Chhattisgarh
A few weeks ago our India team celebrated the completion of our RISE programme in central India with teachers, government representatives and the young people who brought it to life. Fifteen-year-old Reshma was one of our student speakers. She shared how RISE taught her how to understand her emotions and make decisions about her future. When her parents planned to buy her jewellery, she asked for something different: books.
Across the regions where we work, we’re seeing similar shifts. More teachers believe girls can lead. More students are confident using digital tools. More girls are choosing to stay in school.
Girl Rising In the Rooms Where It Happens
With our new colleagues from She's the First, we’ve taken a leading role in some of the year's most important convenings to date. Our leaders have spoken at CIES, the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women, and at Women Deliver in Melbourne last week. We're proud to collaborate with our peer organisations in building a movement that puts girls' needs and voices at the center.
Across all of these spaces, one thing is clear: at a time when backlash is real, supporting girls’ leadership isn’t optional, it's urgent.
Check Out Girl Talk!
You may have noticed that Girl Talk, our blog dedicated to the voices of girls, has been busy, and front and center.
Read our latest entry - Abigail, our Girl Board Member in Nigeria, shares what it was like being a delegate at the West African Adolescent Girls Summit -- and why inclusion can't be optional.