Boston GLOW IGNITE Change Leadership Contest Honors Five Cambridge Rindge and Latin Students for Creating Community Change for Girls

Boston GLOW IGNITE Change Leadership Contest Honors Five Cambridge Rindge and Latin Students for Creating Community Change for Girls
Posted on 05/18/2015
Boston GlowFifty guests gathered at Maggiano’s Little Italy in Boston on Monday, May 18th to award over $12,000 in educational scholarships and prizes to the ten finalists of the IGNITE Change Leadership Contest, sponsored annually by Boston Girls’ Leadership, Organized Women (Boston GLOW).

In its fifth year, the IGNITE Change Leadership Contest is the primary initiative of the organization’s Girls’ Leadership programming arm.  Girls aged 13-19 are asked to identify what they would like to see change for girls and women in their community, city or school. Along with an essay putting forth an actionable plan for change, contestants must submit a project plan and detailed budget describing how they would use a $1,000 grant from Boston GLOW to implement their proposed plan. The ten finalists were chosen by a panel of female leaders in Boston across a range of professions and disciplines. Out of the ten finalists, five of them attend Cambridge Rindge and Latin. The names of the finalists and their essays titles are below:

Boston GlowJohanna Abrams, 17 - Healthy Food Education and Demonstrations for my Neighborhood

Rebecca Sadock, 17 - Infiltrating the Technology Industry

Eliza Klein, 18 (Finalist) with Project Partners Lestra Atlas, 17 and Clara Roth, 18 - Celebrating Female Characters - A Zine About Strong Young Women

Emily Chan, 16 - Be Your Own Boss

Amelia Kroner, 16 - Poetry for Young Girls

“The goal of the IGNITE Change contest is to challenge young women to go beyond simply noticing community issues and inequalities to thinking critically about how they can use their voice, network and community to create tangible change,” explains Boston GLOW Founder, Leah Moschella.  “As we enter our fifth year of programming, we continue to be in awe of the ideas put forth by high school-aged girls. Each year they challenge our expectations with innovative ideas to empower their female peers.”  

This year’s finalists were awarded educational scholarships, iPads and a plethora of other tools and prizes to further their development as leaders. Further, all ten IGNITE Change Finalists will now have the opportunity to pitch their project to a panel of judges.  The winner of the second stage of the IGNITE Change Leadership Contest will receive an additional $4,000 scholarship and a chance to implement her community change project over the course of the 2015-2016 year with the support of a community of Boston women.

“The ideas that have come from these young women are incredibly inspiring and we are eager to support them in developing the leadership skills necessary to make their plans a reality,” said Gaughen. “We want to empower them to know that having an idea is an incredible first step, but even at a young age, with just a few resources, they can actually make a positive impact on their community.”
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