Funding for Your Impact Ideas and Initiatives in 2023

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Do you have ideas or established initiatives with potential to make a powerful, positive impact? Could you use a little help to make it happen? There are resources to help individuals and organizations doing good in their communities and beyond.

In the spirit of the Be the Impact Summit, Empowered Flower Girl is continuing to share funding opportunities for young changemakers as well as community organizations.

Here are a couple funding opportunities worth exploring:

New York Life Foundation’s Aim High Grant for Middle School Programs 

http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/awards.cfm

New York Life Foundation will make 40 grants to out-of-school time programs serving youth, specifically middle schoolers, through its Aim High grant program. The program is part of the company’s ongoing investment in middle school OST programs to help eighth-graders reach ninth grade on track and on time. One- and two-year grants are available. Applications are due February 1, 2023 at 5 p.m. ET.

Pace e Bene Changemaker Youth Grants 

https://paceebene.org/changemaker-grants

Pace e Bene is thrilled to announce a second round of Changemaker Youth Grants! Youth ages 12-23 can receive up to $1,000 for projects that provide a creative solution that addresses violence in their community. These projects can be creative, artistic, out-of-the-box ideas. Ideally, they advance a nonviolent solution or alternative to the problem. 

“The Changemaker Youth Grants are about supporting the brilliant and wise ideas that young people have for addressing violence in our communities,” said Rivera Sun, Pace e Bene program coordinator. “With creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, these projects offer hope, inspiration, and tangible change. We were blown away by the 2022 recipients, and can’t wait to see what this year’s applicants dream up.” 

Applications are due on Feb 10, 2023. Awards will be announced by Feb 20. Projects will be completed by June 1, 2023. All recipients must be available to attend a virtual Final Showcase in June. 

Starting Your Own Business: Becoming a Business Owner as a Teenager

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By Joyce Wilson

Have you thought about starting your own business but are unsure if you can because you are a teenager? It’s possible to run a business of your own even if you’re not out of high school.

Working for yourself can come with many benefits, including learning how to manage money and teaching you about investing in your company, and it can give you an idea of what type of career you want to pursue in the future. 

The Benefits of Working for Yourself

Working for yourself can teach you many helpful habits when it comes to money management. You can learn about setting aside money to reinvest in your company and estimating how much you’ll need to get started. Building your own business is easier if you have low overhead, or don’t have to spend a lot of money to get set up and run your company. 

For individuals who are trying to build upon their commerce skills, this can be a useful way to solve problems (such as filling a need for your community), showcase your creativity (creating or designing something that people will buy).

Budgeting and Saving While Running a Business

After you have identified what type of business you want to create, set up a budget for your company, planning on how much you will spend. According to experts, this will help stay within spending limits and help you avoid spending too much money before your company has had a chance to take off.

Saving money is important because you’ll want to reinvest earnings into your company. You’ll want to identify what your profits and losses are, and use this information to tweak changes to your company so that you can ensure you are earning as much as possible. 

Potential Work in Animal Care

Are you wondering what type of business you could set up as a teenager? If you love animals, consider working with them and setting up a company that caters to their needs. You could become a dog walker or offer pet sitting services either in your home or the home of the pet’s owner. 

This business model wouldn’t cost much to get started since you’d only need to focus on marketing efforts, and you could take on as many clients as you felt comfortable managing. If you want to stand out from the competition while marketing, try using an online logo maker so you can make custom logos instantly and easily. Select a style and icon, choose the text you want, and you’ll be able to view different logos in a variety of colors and fonts. 

Working with Children

Babysitting can be fun for individuals who like to work with children. Much like pet sitting, you can set your own hours and work as much or little as you would like. You might take care of children for a few hours or a majority of the day. Your efforts will mostly rely on marketing and word of mouth to help you find customers, thereby keeping your costs low and making this a worthwhile venture. 

Even if you are still a teenager, there are plenty of ways to build a business of your own. This can teach you valuable skills that can help you in college and beyond, no matter what you choose to pursue later in life. 

Joyce Wilson is a retired teacher and enjoys sharing lesson plans, resources, and teaching tips on Teacher Spark. Her website is a compilation of practical resources that will inspire student engagement and instill a love for learning. By tapping into a student’s natural creativity and curiosity, Joyce believes that they can take their education to a new level.

Girlpreneur logo

The Girlpreneur Expo is Back!

Are you a girlpreneur or aspiring young entrepreneur in the Detroit area? If so, join us on Saturday, August 13 for the Girlpreneur Expo, hosted by the T-Rose Foundation. The event is free for attendees. Register via Eventbrite or visit www.t-rose.com/girlpreneur. Empowered Flower Girl will be there with information about our workshops and programs, including how you can get featured in our She’s EmPOWERed column and attend our Be the Impact Summit this fall.

How to “Mess” Up Your Summer in 5 Steps (2020 edition)

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With so much drama and chaos happening in our world from the fallout of COVID-19 to civil unrest, I had to revisit a topic I blogged about a few years ago. And now with EVERYONE and their mama online … literally (your grandma and great grandma are trying to figure out Zoom) social media engagement is at an all-time high. 

And that means more opportunities to engage with people – some of whom you may want to avoid. 

In 2017, I published “How to Eff Up Your Summer in 5 Steps.” Pardon my crassness but I had to be direct given the climate at the time. 

The blog was mostly aimed at young people from middle schoolers to college students. But let’s face it, many adults are involved in online drama. 

Fast forward to June 2020, we’re witnessing many states open back up just as summer starts to sizzle. Here’s our chance to make summer great again. 

But countless media reports have already shown: people are messing it up before it truly begins. 

From posting inappropriate, offensive and down right mean comments to participating in ridiculous online challenges for likes, there are some surefire ways to have an effed up summer break. Don’t be that kid or grown up.

So are you ready? Here is the 2020 list:

5. Get in a Twitter fight with a celebrity … or a president. We all love to voice our opinions about celebrities who do wild and obnoxious things, have bad hair days or overuse photoshop. But resist getting into a battle with celebrities, politicians or anyone who has a fanbase as dedicated as Beyonce. They sting. And they will come for you, boo. 

4. Put your friends or family on blast via social media – any platform. Sure, best friends can disappoint us and sometimes our siblings can do jerky things. But, there is a better way to bring this to their attention. Instead of posting a shady status update, pick up the phone, send an email or schedule a Zoom meeting. Just kidding on the Zoom meeting. But you really should talk it out. 

3. Post incriminating pics or videos on Instagram or TikTok. This is one of the best ways to kiss your summer internship, college acceptance or job security good-bye. Even if everyone else is doing it, DO NOT post pics of drug use, private parts or illegal activity.

2. Make racist or homophobic posts and comments. This one should be obvious but in the wake of what’s happened in the U.S. over the past month, apparently it isn’t. People are losing their jobs and livelihoods. Think before you post, seriously. I always say, “what’s in my head doesn’t have to be said.” Making racist and homopobic comments is rude (first of all) and also mean. If you want to stay employed either change your thinking or don’t post your thoughts. 

1. Do something productive. Of course this doesn’t follow the format of the other tips because you actually SHOULD engage in activities that inspire you and those around you. Kindness is the key to a kick-butt summer. Volunteer or advocate for a worthy cause, get a summer job or learn a new skill. Staying occupied will keep you out of trouble and give you a confidence boost.

So in conclusion, don’t be a jerk online, stay off the Internet when you’re in a crappy mood and overall, think before you Tweet or Snap or whatever you do. 

Hope your summer is fiya. 

Chica Chat: Imagining Girl World Peace

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Do you want girl world peace in your school/community?

Imagine the day where exclusion, apathy and relational aggression no longer exist. It’s all possible if youth are engaged and equipped with the right tools.

Designed for middle and high school students, Chica Chat promotes sisterhood and gives girls the tools to transforms the they relate to one another.

Participants have the opportunity to be self-expressed, heard and understood by their peers and adult mentors in a supportive, safe and accepting environment.

Additionally, girls break down barriers by participating in fun and engaging ice-breaking activities and have the opportunity to ask questions anonymously that are answered by their peers with guidance by facilitators.

Why Chica Chat?

In our 10 years of facilitating bullying prevention and esteem building programs, we’ve noticed:

  • On and offline conflict adversely impact classroom dynamics and student performance.
  • Girls often exclude each other because they really don’t know each other.
  • Girls who are confident in expressing their own feelings are typically more empathetic toward others.

Why Empowered Flower Girl?

  • 98% of Chica Chat participants found the workshop content helpful or very helpful.
  • EFG founder and chief empowering officer Rasheda Kamaria Williams has more than 15 years’ experience as a mentor and youth empowerment speaker.

But don’t just take our word. Here’s what educators/youth advocates have to say:

“We were experiencing a lot of drama with our middle school girls. Our girls needed a structured and safe environment to learn and express themselves. The Chica Chat allowed them to do so. I received positive feedback afterward and even felt the climate change a bit. One girl even said ‘I actually squashed some beef from that.’ Hearing that, made me very happy.”  – Alaina Evans, Teacher, Laurus Academy 

“The workshop provides students a forum to talk about issues that are important to them. The workshop also allows young ladies to freely express their feelings without being judged or embarrassed”. – Bianca Heath, Student Family Liaison, Reach Academy

Are you ready and able to invest in transforming the climate in your school or community? If so, let’s work together. Schedule your consultation today. Email rkamaria@empoweredflowergirl.com or fill out the form below. 

Back to School Series: How to inspire an emPOWERed school year

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Educators and parents, mentors and coaches all care about the wellbeing and livelihood of young people in our communities.  We are well aware that twenty-first century tweens and teens face unprecedented challenges that many of us may have never imagined, from cyberbullying, drama, trauma and immense societal pressure. 

 But to combat these challenges, I was inspired to do something.

Nearly 15 years ago, I was a mentor and youth advocate who wanted to do something to make a difference for middle and high school students – who like me – were teased, bullied and ostracized by classmates and even relatives.

In 2010, I launched Empowered Flower Girl. Since we started, we’ve been on a mission to transform the way young people relate to one another. Through workshops and programs that address and combat cyberbullying, relational aggression and other social/communications challenges facing youth, we work to empower the next generation of leaders.

So as students prepare for a new school year, we want to remind the adults in their lives of the importance of collaboration aka the Village approach.

It takes parents, educators, community members and youth themselves to truly make a difference.

Let’s work together to ensure that every young person has a successful and safe school year!

EmPOWERing 21st Century Girls: Event Aims to Bridge Generation Gap, Inspire Teens to Live Powerfully

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Twenty-first century girls face challenges that generations before them may have never imagined. From cyberbullying to societal pressure, they’re coping with the pangs adolescence both on and offline. But because of technological advances, they also have unlimited resources and opportunities to live powerful lives.

On Thursday, March 9 during Women’s History Month, Empowered Flower Girl (EFG) – in partnership with the Skyline Club’s Emerging Leaders Group – will host “EmPOWERing 21st Century Girls.”

The event, scheduled 6-7:30 p.m. at the Skyline Club in Southfield, aims to bridge the gap that exists between 20th and 21st century women and girls while encouraging sisterhood and empathy.

Participants will break down the walls of separation by participating in engaging, inter-generational icebreaking activities as well as learn about local organizations and programs supporting girls and women.

Rasheda Kamaria Williams, EFG founder and author of Be EmPOWERed: How to Live Above & Beyond Life’s Drama, will facilitate the workshop and sign copies of the guidebook and journal.

“The ultimate goal of this event is to boost understanding and empathy across the generations while combating behaviors and norms that lead to drama, relational aggression and other challenges young women face,” Williams said.

The event is open to girls 11 and older and their parents, guardians or other adult chaperones. Admission is $10 per couple and includes appetizers and a raffle ticket for prizes.

Call the Skyline Club at 248-350-9898 to RSVP. Learn more about Empowered Flower Girl at empoweredflowergirl.com.

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Empowered Flower Girl Workshops for Schools & Communities

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Booking spring and summer workshops!

Rasheda speaks with Communicating with Confidence workshop participant.

Empowered Flower Girl Chief Empowering Officer Rasheda Kamaria invites schools and community organizations throughout southeast Michigan and beyond to book an empowering workshop this school year.

Kamaria delivers engaging content that inspires youth, teachers, parents and the community. From workshops combating teasing, cyberbullying and drama, to programs encouraging goal-setting and career exploration, Empowered Flower Girl can helps schools and organizations address critical social issues in a way that empowers and entertains.

 

Workshops include:

  • Chica Chat – Empowered Flower Girl’s most popular workshop which fosters positive and empowering relationships among girls and young women. The two-hour program ultimately aims to combat teasing cyberbullying, girl drama and cliques. Participants have the opportunity to be self expressed, heard and understood by their peers and adult mentors in a supportive, safe and accepting environment.  Activities challenge stereotypes and “mean girl” behavior.
  • Goal Setting through Vision Boards – This workshop takes arts and crafts time to a new level. Participants learn the art of positive thinking and visualization as a method of goal setting. Each participant leaves with a vision board.
  • Communicating with Confidence –Teens learn new and effective ways to communicate with diverse audiences including the general public, potential funders and the media. The interactive workshop includes networking, mock interviews and an impromptu “talk show” culminating the training.

 

Empowered Flower Girl workshops are cost-effective for schools and nonprofits and are offered for as little at $5-10 per participant. As a social venture, Empowered Flower Girl is dedicated to supporting the community and gives back 25% of all merchandise sales to schools and organizations during cause campaigns throughout the year.

For more information or to book your workshop, email rkamaria@empoweredflowergirl.com or call 248-629-0334.

“The Communicating with Confidence workshop was fun, informative and engaging.  The girls really enjoyed the hands-on activities.  We received such positive feedback from the girls.  This was a learning experience they will truly remember.” Tonya Weary, Founder of Young Entrepreneurs Series