GIRLS ON THE RUN INTERNATIONAL

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. Additionally, we aim to maintain a culture of inclusiveness that honors our core values while scaling the organization.

Girls on the Run has multiple strategic imperatives for the next 3 years, including:

Extending to communities that traditionally have not had access to programming

Optimizing council infrastructure to ensure sustainability and operational excellence

Developing new programmatic, operational, and merchandise initiatives to diversity revenue streams

Leveraging technology to ensure efficiency and effectiveness

Implementing processes to ensure program quality, integrity, and demand

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. In Fact, 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.

Girls on the Run was established in 1996 in Charlotte, North Carolina and in 2000, Girls on the Run International was established as a 501c3 organization. Since its inception 25 years ago, Girls on the Run has served more than 2 million girls.

In 2016, Girls on the Run commissioned a rigorous, independent study conducted by Dr. Maureen Weiss and her research team to evaluate the impact of Girls on the Run on positive youth development. In 2017, Girls on the Run was included as a top research-based program in a Social-Emotional Learning Guide developed by researchers at Harvard University and recognized by the National Afterschool Association (NAA) as one of the most influential after-school programs within the Health & Wellness area.

Currently, Girls on the Run annually serves over 200,000 girls in grades 3-8 spanning all 50 states. These girls are led by more than 50,000 trained volunteer coaches. Girls on the Run hosts the world's largest 5K series by number of events with over 330 events per year.

Girls on the Run will continue to invest resources into expanding program accessibility for girls. Girls on the Run is committed to serving diverse populations and supports 45% of its participants with financial assistance in the form of program scholarships, totaling over $13 million in fiscal year 2020. Some key components of achieving this extended reach of the program is through assessing and addressing barriers to program access – such as cost and transportation - and ensuring that our curricula is inclusive through creating curriculum modifications for girls with cognitive and physical disabilities. The organization is also turning an intentional eye toward expanding programming in previously unserved communities and working toward strengthening the overall sustainability of our local Girls on the Run councils to ensure the long-term growth of the program. Part of developing council sustainability is ensuring that local councils have adequate support and resources from Girls on the Run International to engage in strategic planning, recruit qualified staff and board members from diverse backgrounds, expand reach of the program, secure revenue, and maintain program integrity. New programmatic initiatives such as Camp GOTR, an one-week program that may be implemented during summer or non-traditional school times such as intersessions, are also being launched to extend program access to girls who have not been able to participate in Girls on the Run during the traditional school year. Lastly, the organization is focusing on increasing the impact of the program in local communities through working to recruit volunteer coaches that reflect the diversity of participants and communities served and assessing the needs of parents to improve their overall engagement in the program.