Panelists at the Sustainability and Development Conference at the University of Michigan, November 9-11, 2018 Left to right: Marcus Jenkins, Lindsey Coleman, Darienne Davis, Tessa Davis, Jaehyun Ahn, Mitchell Baker. Dr. Manuel Pina, Jr., and Jenna Kurten
JLMC and Texas A&M join 500 scientists to discuss sustainability and development at the University of Michigan.
Just Like My Child Foundation (JLMC) and Texas A & M University (TAMU) were honored to join 500 scientists, representing universities from all over the world, to present at the inaugural Sustainability and Development conference held at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan in early November.
TAMU professor Dr. Manuel Pina, Jr. moderated a discussion on “Gender Equity and Cultural Autonomy: Implications for Sustainable Development,” while JLMC program director Tessa Davis, and master’s degree students Lindsey Coleman and Mitchell Baker, from the Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications (ALEC), and Darienne Davis and Marcus Jenkins, from the Bush School of Governance and Public Service (Bush School) reported on the year-long evaluation research that was completed to discover the impact that Just Like My Child’s Girl Power Project (GPP) is having at the community level.
Tessa Davis spoke about the history and successes of empowering teen girls and boys through the Girl Power Project® in Uganda, where JLMC has reached nearly 5,000 girls and community members to date. Tessa also discussed JLMC’s two design studies that included 750 girls (treatment and control) and the findings demonstrated that GPP girls are more empowered in many areas.
Lindsey Coleman reported key community-level impacts based on a two-month in-country evaluation of the GPP where she, Mitchell Baker, Darienne Davis, and Marcus Jenkins collected 2,669 responses to nine questions from 143 members of seven stakeholder groups from 17 communities. (You can read more about their journey to Uganda here.)
Overall, this important partnership and research with TAMU has proven that the Girl Power Project® is working—GPP engagements with the community contribute to improved conditions for a girl to live an empowered life! This information will also assist JLMC in showing the importance of scaling the Girl Power Project® in the future.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE GIRL POWER PROJECT®
Follow JLMC on Instagram @justlikemychild and Facebook @justlikemychildfoundation for more updates on the progress of this study, which begins in June.
About Just Like My Child Foundation: Since its founding in 2006, Just Like My Child Foundation has developed deep partnerships with rural communities in Africa to deliver sustainable programs that address health care, education, microenterprise, social justice, and women/girls’ empowerment. Through that work, JLMC organically came to understand that focusing on vulnerable adolescent girls is a powerful approach to disrupting the cycle of poverty. Today, Just Like My Child Foundation is focused on its mission to empower vulnerable adolescent girls by enabling them to create healthy, self-sustaining families who prosper without further aid. Learn more about their quest to transform the world, one girl at a time, at www.JustLikeMyChild.org
