A Letter from Girls Action Foundation

We are so proud to share Amplify: Designing Spaces and Programs for Girls Toolkit with you and with communities across Canada. The dream for this project was born many years ago; inspired by requests from communities across the country that desired to start and sustain girls’ programs. Responding to these requests has been the drive behind the growth of Girls Action Foundation and the National Network.ⁱ

Our vision is for every girl to have access to resources, support, and love to achieve her potential. We know that girls’ programs can play a pivotal role in supporting girls’ critical-thinking skills and self-confidence. We also know girls’ programs help deconstruct the many pressures and realities that are often unaddressed in their lives – like relational violence, poverty, and racism. Our work aims to support the initiative and strength of such girls’ programs in communities all across Canada.

The purpose of the Amplify Toolkit is to harness our learnings from over a decade of delivering girls’ programs and to share this through the Amplify Training, the Amplify Toolkit, and other supplementary resources. To create this Manual in a good popular education format, we developed a process that involved both Network members and Amplify Training participants, who shared their learnings, and informed and strengthened the development of this Manual and the Amplify Training program. This resource is not only reflective of Girls Action’s learnings but also the experiences of the diverse range of programmers from across the country.

Most importantly, we designed the Amplify Toolkit with the recognition that programs cannot be directly imported into local communities. We know that contexts, realities, and issues vary and that each program needs to grow out of its local context. We therefore engaged experts in popular education curriculum development to work with us in the creation of this Manual. Christine McKenzie contributed invaluable knowledge, expertise, and guidance to the Amplify project and the popular education process and we would like to extend our deepest thanks. Nisha Sajnani, a key trainer, also brought a wealth of experience and expertise and we would like to thank her for her involvement. We would also like to sincerely acknowledge and thank the girls’ programmers, Network members, participants, and advisory committee members for all their contributions.

The years of experience we have providing girls’ programming on a local and national level has allowed us countless opportunities to learn and grow. Connecting with existing girls’ programs and leaders across Canada has inspired us to share our experiences and to make suggestions and recommendations for developing girls’ programming. With funds from a grant from the National Crime Prevention Centre, we were able to connect with and set up focus groups, interviews, and an online survey with successful girls’ programs across the country. We asked program leaders to share their thoughts and reflections on some of the essential components of running a successful girls’ program. We also asked them to identify the resources they use and need in order to make their girls’ program the best it can be. The Amplify Manual has been tested by girls’ programmers for three years and has been updated and revamped to reflect their experiences and learnings each year. It has undergone three rounds of evaluations and been revised by three advisory committees. We are proud to say that this Manual is a truly participatory resource and could not have been made without you.

Our goal is to continue to deliver face-to-face training for girls’ programmers, to offer the Amplify Toolkit as support, and to help girls’ programs to flourish and grow from coast to coast to coast. Our intention is to support a network and a community of practice that is actively learning and exchanging across the country in order to strengthen and sustain girls’ programs. Our hope is that this growing community of practicing girls’ programmers will grow into communities of influence where we can work together to make a better society. Together we want to continue transforming inequities and injustice into hope, possibility, and a better world for everyone.

Tatiana Fraser, Girls Action Foundation