LA Fund for Public Education and LA Metro Partner to Promote Girls Build LA
In October, residents throughout Los Angeles will be seeing images highlighting Girls Build LA, a program created by the LA Fund for Public Education. Metro has agreed to help promote the initiative by placing 200 Girls Build LA displays on Metro buses and rail during the month of October. Earlier this month, Los Angeles County and Los Angeles City declared October Girls Empowerment Month, in order to raise awareness of the need to empower young women throughout Southern California. In LA County, 30 percent of girls live in poverty, and women consistently face greater obstacles to success than their male counterparts.
“We are excited about this partnership with LA Metro to highlight the Girls Build LA challenge and Girls Empowerment month,” said Megan Chernin, Chair and CEO of the LA Fund. “The LA Fund is committed to empowering girls to use their voice and work together to solve problems in their schools and communities.”
Metro is also hosting an event for high school girls on November 12 to celebrate Girls Build LA. Students from schools in L.A. County will be invited to visit Metro Headquarters. There, they will learn about Metro’s employment opportunities from some of the women who have built successful careers in transportation. They will also be able to tour the building and experience the different aspects of a government transit agency, from operations and planning to communications and finance.
“Nationally, women remain greatly underrepresented in business, construction, manufacturing, science, technology, engineering, math and public service leadership positions,” said Mark Ridley-Thomas, L.A. County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair. “I am proud that Metro is actively working to change that, and is raising awareness of the need for more education and leadership opportunities for women, especially in the transportation sector.”
Earlier this month, the LA Fund launched its three-year Girls Build LA program, which includes a leadership challenge to 45 high school and middle school female teams to solve some of the most pressing problems in their school community, including health and wellness, civic engagement, and education. The challenge launch took place on Oct. 27, at the University of Southern California. Winners will be announced in April 2016, and each team member will receive a scholarship for higher education. For more information on the LA Fund and GBLA, please visit us at LAFund.org, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
