Empowering Girls and Women through Education and Self-Worth
We are changing lives from the inside out. Helping girls and women to understand the importance of education and self-worth.
About You
About You
First Name
Nina
Last Name
CARTER
Twitter URL
Facebook URL
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Mirror Me Foundation, Inc.
Organization Website
Organization Country
United States, IN, Fort Wayne, Allen County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, IN, Fort Wayne
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
Less than a year
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
Innovation
Name Your Entry
Empowering Girls and Women through Education and Self-Worth
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)
How long have you been in operation?
Operating for less than a year
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
When we look at our community and the women that are a part of it, we see an increase in the number of singles mothers, youth incarcerations, a decline in motivation to work and/or to be educated, limited resources for women of low-income, and young girls who are struggling just to have minimum self-worth. Our mission is to focus on these groups of young girls and women, and to assist with their educational endeavors and personal self-worth achievements. Our purpose is to aid young girls and women in making better choices for themselves that will allow them to enhance their chances of success. Our programs are designed to fit the need of various groups of girls and women that will be a part of this foundation. We want to make a difference by improving their quality of thinking.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
Mirror Me Foundation, Inc. is something that is going to change the lives of many girls and women. Because we focus on education and self-worth, we will teach participants that having the ability to trust and know yourself, will allow you to achieve any educational goal. Some girls and women do not have someone in their corner, but our efforts to change that will empower girls and women they can fulfill any dream and desire they have for themselves.
We will do this by offering program such as the following: Single mother’s program- this program is to enhance the life skills of mothers-to-be and current single mothers, GED program- this program prepares women to take the GED test and help them with technological challenges they may have. It is to educate individuals that have not completed their high school education and/or need help with basic operational skills for computer based jobs and programs, and Summer program which teaches girls ages 13-19 years old about life skills.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
The program and foundation evaluations will be handled mainly by the project coordinator with representatives from the communities, staff, and partners, plus two independent evaluators. Evaluations will be based on test results, attendance, classroom performance and behavior, and surveys on how well we impacted an individual’s level. Achieving its goals and objectives are the bases for the foundation’s success. To determine this, we will provide exams, pre and post testing, and completed evaluated forms from the girls and women that attend our programs. We will also strive to use different sources as external and independent evaluators in order to make sure we have a clear and un-bias evaluation. This is how we measure our solution to making a difference.
If you take the summer program for girls ages 13-19, it includes three-weeks. They will be taught various lessons such as life skills, self respect and self-esteem, educational tools, job skills, etc. During this program, they will convene daily from 8 am to 4 pm. There will be various activities and events, special guests and speakers. At the end of the program, the passing of the post-test will allow each eligible candidate to participate in the scholarship program that awards two individuals with a grant to the college of their choice. The girls are responsible for transportation to the summer program. Housing and food will be covered by Mirror Me Foundation. There will be an adult team leader assigned to every group of girls in the summer program to monitor their individual success.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Our organization is the only one in Fort Wayne the caters to ages 10 and up. Since our main focus is education and self-worth, there are no other programs like ours. There are a couple of similar organization, such as the Women’s Bureau, Boy’s and Girl’s Club, and the Hope Center. Each organization has different focuses that are not similar to our programs. Women’s Bureau- all Bureau programs and services focus on its mission: Advancing women through advocacy, education, and economic empowerment. Today, the Bureau has two major program areas in operation, the transition program and rape awareness program. Boy’s and Girl’s Club help kids by providing a positive outlet. Hope Center has services like Pregnancy Testing,Community Referrals, Group Classes nutrition, newborn care, and parenting
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What solution(s) does your initiative address to better the lives of girls and women by leveraging technology? (select all applicable)
Access to technology, Access to education/training, Access to economic opportunity.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
We are now working more on a individual level, due to limited funding. We have been a resource for girls and women with drug/alcohol issues, depression issues, employment issues, parenting advice, and more. Mirror Me Foundation, Inc. has adopted “Achieving our goals one person at a time” as our business motto. With our Continuous Program Development as part of the program development, we will have the following plan of action to old regular meetings and conferences with staff for monitoring and progress reports,Provide intensive training, workshops, and seminars for the staff’s professional growth; provide teachers with exposure/training to the different kinds of teaching strategies that they can apply to the program; creation of core groups and links with other institutions, foundations, and/or organizations for a wider opportunity and success; and to distribute newsletters and survey forms for feedback from women, parents and/or guardians of the young girls, and other observers.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
Our objectives is to increase levels of awareness about different life skills. We anticipate an 85% rate or more of the girls and women overcoming their personal and social difficulties at the end of the program, to provide special financial aid to students and single mothers who are struggling to pay for education and have a GED program for women without a high school education, for each program to demonstrate significant improvement through a pre-test and post-test conducted by our educational professionals; Single mother’s classes for mothers-to-be and for current single mothers; Free counseling and HIV/AID testing done on a monthly bases. To facilitate other helpful curricula and programs that will further enhance the knowledge and skills of these women. WE want a 75% success rate.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
To have every program filled with active participation and attendance from individuals who need assistance.
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
Getting the information to the individuals who need the assistance.
Task 2
Making sure the programs lead to successful and productive outcomes for individuals who participate.
Task 3
Partnering which other community organization to enhance the lives of the girls and women when want to impact.
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Having inquires outside of our community, to be able to bring these programs to different cities and states.
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
Market what we are doing outside the community.
Task 2
Network with other companies and organization to build alliances and relationships with people to help spread the word.
Task 3
Have the programs success rates and individuals who have completed the program who can testify about the difference it has made.
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.
When I look around me, I see so many silent cries for help. Knowing all too well what that is like, I want to share my story with others in hopes that someone will be inspired not to live inside the box, but live outside the box by living their lives to the fullest by education and loving who they are. Not everyone is comfortable in their own skin and that is no excuse to not fulfill any dream that they may have. Mirror Me Foundation, Inc. was my dream and I had to do something about it. I feel so strongly and passionate about young girls and women, who may face social disadvantages, personal problems, and self-esteem issues. Not everyone is blessed to have a support system, not everyone is comfortable in their world, and not everyone has a positive outlet which allows each to be themselves. That’s why, I created Mirror Me Foundation, Inc., to help motivate and inspire other girls and women to empower themselves with an education and to understand the importance of self-worth.
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
We have partnered with a few of our community based organizations such as American Caner Society, Allen County Tobacco Free, Smoothie King, and Wild 96.3.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
 | 51 weeks ago mirrormefndn updated this Competition Entry. |
| 53 weeks ago mirrormefndn updated this Competition Entry. |
| 54 weeks ago mirrormefndn updated this Competition Entry. |
| 54 weeks ago mirrormefndn submitted this idea. |
