GIRLS ON THE RUN RHODE ISLAND

Girls on the Run empowers all girls to know and activate their limitless potential. Girls on the Run aims to ensure that our organization is relevant and engaging, known and respected, and that our mission-based programs are accessible to any person who wants to participate. We aim to maintain a culture of inclusiveness that honors our core values while scaling the organization.

Our strategic priorities from 2023-2025 include:
Assess and eliminate barriers to participation
Ensure all participants have access to high impact programming
Increase community engagement and partnerships
Build and foster relationships with diverse stakeholders

Girls on the Run provides a safe and welcoming space where girls can thrive. Our intentional curriculum effectively integrates life skills learning with physical activity to provide girls with the skills and confidence to navigate their lives with purpose and joy. With a focus on quality program delivery, our formal volunteer training ensures that coaches are fostering positive, supportive relationships in a caring, inclusive climate. Our intentional curriculum and National Coach Training have made the positive outcomes we see in the lives of the girls we serve possible.

A rigorous, independent study conducted by Dr. Maureen Weiss and her research team at University of Minnesota evaluated the impact of Girls on the Run on positive youth development. The study also looked at how Girls on the Run participants differ from a comparison group of girls in physical education or organized sports programs on developmental outcomes and life skills. Findings provide strong evidence that Girls on Run is effective in promoting positive youth development, including season-long and lasting change in competence, confidence, connection, character, caring, physical activity, and life skills. Girls on the Run makes a stronger impact than organized sports and physical education programs in teaching life skills, demonstrating that strategies such as those for managing emotions, resolving conflict, helping others, and making intentional decisions are optimized when they are taught explicitly.

Now, more than ever, we are committed to our vision of a world where every girls knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams. As such, we have dedicated significant resources to formally assess and address barriers to participation in order to ensure that our program is accessible to any girl who wants to participate. We are being purposeful about developing best practices, relationships and resources to support our network of councils as they engage new sites to host our program and expand into underserved communities.

We are working to meet our goal of serving 1,000 participants that mirror our community by 2025. We have established a financial strategy to provide scholarships to 50% of participants each year. We continue to expand our materials to meet the needs of multi-language learners and participants with disabilities. We are focused on recruiting, supporting, and retaining volunteer coaches that reflect the diversity of our participants. We are diversifying council leadership to also reflect the participants we serve.