Celebrate the International Day of Girl with Polished Pebbles


Celebrate the International Day of Girl with Polished Pebbles

The International Day of the Girl will be celebrated around the world on Friday, October 11. This is a perfect day to join Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program to create early exposure to job experiences for young girls in Chicago. Polished Pebbles seeks to ensure the employability of young women in high-demand jobs through our job shadowing program with partnering businesses. Girls travel to company campuses and stores to experience a typical workday and learn from their business mentors about the skills needed to perform different jobs well. For girls, this experience expands the way they view the world, and enhances their ambition about the role they aspire to play in it.

It’s never too early to take the girls in your world to work. One visit to an office, manufacturing plant, or construction site can give a girl the courage to shape her future career. Our girls should be exposed to the wide range of careers available to them starting in elementary school and continuing through high school, so that when they’re asked what they want to be when they grow up they don’t have only one or two answers saved up for response.

While middle-skill jobs make up the largest part of America’s labor market, only 43 percent of the United States’ workers are trained to fill these jobs . Afterschool programs such as Polished Pebbles contribute to closing the skills gap by equipping young girls with the qualities that many companies are looking for in candidates such as strong communication, teamwork, and leadership skills.

There are a lot of reasons as to why girls, and particularly girls of color, are in dire need of initiatives that specifically target boosting their self-esteem and exposing them to different career pathways. Our desire is that after participating in Polished Pebbles young women will not only increase their employability, but will also develop the leadership skills to help shape the future workplace and make it a more inclusive space.

I invite you to join people around the globe and celebrate the girl, or girls, in your life on International Day of the Girl. Please consider joining other Polished Pebbles partners such as Microsoft, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Bloomingdales to invite girls to your workplace to learn about different jobs available to them in a variety of industries, especially those that traditionally lack female representation, such as technology, trades, and manufacturing and STEM. Visit www.polishedpebbles.com to learn how you can host a group of girls at your workplace and be a part of that change.

Kelly Fair, founder and president Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program

The Chicago based non profit Polished Pebbles is celebrating 10 years with a “We’re Better Together” carnival-themed event for the entire family on Saturday, October 12.

Polished Pebbles has provided hundreds of girls with the experiences and confidence to obtain their first jobs, obtain leadership positions in school and community groups, and also become Fulbright Fellows . Kelly Fair frequently speaks with organizations and businesses about the benefits of mentoring and the state of our girls.

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