Breaking news! g4g Global Scholarship launches in India!

Greenlight for Girls believes that the future is full of possibilities and that every girl has the right to dream big. But there are bright girls in many parts of the world for whom accessing the possibilities that life has to offer is a bit of a challenge.  We are thrilled to announce that we are launching a grant to provide college-level education in STEM-related areas to girls in disadvantaged communities around the world.  Our first stop is Bangalore in India.  Known as the Silicon Valley of India, roughly 10% of Bangalore’s population lives in slums. 8 girls with exceptional academic records with dreams of pursuing a career in Science have been chosen and greenlight for girls would help funding their college education through the Global Scholarship initiative. After Bangalore, Greenlight for Girls will replicate the project in other parts of the world.  We invite you to take part in helping to send these 8 bright girls to university.

Join the Chain of Change now! Help fund their college scholarship!

Click here: Provide Scholarship For 8 Bright Girls In India

Science Library, Currently in the Air!

On 27 June, in Boston University Brussels, greenlight for girls launched yet another dynamic initiative to join communities around the world that have demonstrated a need for science books for children. 

The project itself was made possible by the generous donations of English and French books, as well as several educational toys for girls ages 8 – 15. Ultimately, the goal of this initiative was to inspire a child to be curious and start thinking about science.  This was truly a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate that science is everywhere in everything we do. Not only, was science truly redefined and rediscovered, it also enabled the creation of bridges in our international community, linking one community to another.  Ideally, the book exchange provides a learning experience for both the donor and the recipient in another part of the world.  By donating books to their peers living in more impoverished countries there is benefit on both sides of the world.

A passionate group of greenlight for girl’s volunteers in Brussels sent the books and educational toys to Cameroon, while another group in the United States sent books and educational toys to India. 

The books were collected from the girls attending a Greenlight for girls event. The Girls are encouraged to choose a book that they read (or would like to read) that they think would be meaningful to a contemporary in the developing world.  This is an opportunity for girls to consider the information they would like to share with their peers.

The girls made personal inscriptions written in the books, such as, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams, ” in order to give the science books a personal and encouraging touch. All the volunteers involved in this project aim to expand it by spreading the world around the globe that “the future is full of possibilities”.

Greenlight for girls would like to thank Boston University Brussels for their generous support to ship the books for the launch of the g4g Science Books on the Move initiative.

150 girls yell “I’m proud to be a Science Geek!”

We call it a good day when 150 girls yell in unison, “I’m proud to be a science geek!”at the top of their lungs.  Saturday, June 2nd at UMass Dartmouth, was certainly one of those days. 150 girls aged 10-15 gathered at the University of Massachusetts--Dartmouth, to explore activities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The day included a plenary session with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Scientist Andone Lavery and greenlight for girls Founder Melissa Rancourt. During the day girls were treated to a variety of hands-on workshops that included learning about physics using paper airplanes, exploring medicine by suturing fake skin, and discovering the science behind natural beauty products. In addition to the eleven workshops, the girls had the opportunity to explore marine life when the New Bedford Ocean Explorium's mobile van was on sight during lunch. The day concluded with a closing session that saw the science in dasies and the cheers of 150 happy girls. We can't wait until next year!

OSS girls wear engineering hats for a day

"Do you know what I learned today?  Science is sticky!” exclaimed one OSS student after spending the afternoon constructing a tower using spaghetti and marshmallows. 

On May 23, 50 students from Our Sisters’ School in New Bedford, Massachusetts had the opportunity to explore engineering as a career.  US Director, Sarah Thomas, and g4g Founder, Melissa Rancourt, led hands-on workshops using daisies, legos, spaghetti and marshmallows to demonstrate science and engineering concepts. 

The girls were also given the opportunity to learn about one of our greenlight schools in another part of the world – the Democratic Republic of Congo.  After viewing a video made by the girls in the DRC, “Science through our eyes”,  the OSS girls were full of questions about life in the Congo.  When seeing the girls at school, one OSS girl exclaimed, “They wear uniforms too!  Just like us.” 

Greenlight for girls would like to thank the Director and teachers of the school for their enthusiasm to conduct a day of science for the girls – and the girls themselves for an inspiring day for everyone.

More school visits and activities continue this week as we get ready for our big event day on 2ndJune at UMass Dartmouth.     

500 Girls get the Greenlight at ASML Girlsday

On 16 April, in celebration of Girlsday 2011, Greenlightforgirls.org helped Dutch company ASML give 500 girls and their mothers the greenlight to experience science and technology in fun and exciting ways. We were honored to contribute, along with several partners, to the first-ever such ASML event encouraging girls to pursue science and technology.  Greenlightforgirls.org "DaisyChain" members led workshops on "Breaking Down & Rebuilding your Computer" and "Song of the Stars," and we carried out several activities in the ASML Tech Market, including Labcoat Decoration, the Daisy Experiment, Chemistry for Life and Dancing to Learn.

ASML Girlsday 2011

(Click picture above for more photos!) 

It was awesome to be involved in an event which so perfectly reflects the greenlightforgirls.org mission to "promote science, technology, math and engineering to girls of all ages and backgrounds."  Seeing the smiles and looks of wonderment all day long on the faces of the moms and girls -- and all the marvelous ASML and Greenlightforgirls.org volunteers -- was also a tremendous joy.

First Denmark g4g Event also Celebrates "Girls in ICT" Day 2012!

Coinciding with the Danish Presidency of the EU, Greenlightforgirls.org inaugurated it's first-ever Danish event, Greenlight@Odense Day, on 21 April 2012!

Greenlight@Odense Day 2012, part of South Denmark's Festival of Research, welcomed sixty-five 11-15 year old girls to a full day of hands-on workshops showing the fun in science and technology by exploring themes ranging from satellites and climate, to DNA and molecular biology.  In celebration of International Girls in ICT Day that took on 26 April, workshops on using ICTs to save the planet, the science behind slow-motion photography, as well a fresh and fun look at computer coding, were all on the agenda for the g4g Odense event.

Attendees of Greenlight@Odense Day 2012 were treated to a keynote speech by female role model scientist and author Anja C. Andersen, of the Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, and esteemed genetic researcher Mette  H. Hansen from theInstitute for Molecular Biology & Genetics - Center for Quantitative Genetic Research.

For more information about Greenlight@Odense Day 2012 or other upcoming g4g activities in Denmark, please contact us!

Update on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 8:39PM by greenlight

Grateful for a terrific preview of Greenlight@Odense Day 2012 by Dorte Toft, Danish author of"Happy in Nerdland - Who'll build the future," including a chapter about g4gOdense2012 keynote speaker Anja C. Andersen!