Four Local Organizations received a share of $175,000 from PepsiCo

Girls in the Game is an organization that serves girls from ages 7-18 and has programs for teenage girls that are focused on leadership. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY JESSICA ORTIZ
Girls in the Game is an organization that serves girls from ages 7-18 and has programs for teenage girls that are focused on leadership. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY JESSICA ORTIZ

 Four Local Organizations received a share of $175,000 from PepsiCo

By Tia Carol Jones
PepsiCo distributed $175,000 to four organizations as part of its recently launched Pathways to Readiness and Empowerment Program. Teamwork Englewood and Girls in the Game are two of the organizations that received the money.

PREP was launched in October of last year as a way to show PepsiCo’s commitment to sustainably investing in Chicago’s future, as well as new opportunities and high-quality careers for Chicago’s youth. The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago and Step Up were the other two organizations who were awarded money from the $5 million initiative.

“PepsiCo is committed to stimulating long-term economic growth in our South and West Side communities,” Neil Pryor, the president of PepsiCo Beverages North America, Central Division, said in a release. “Our investment in career exposure, paid internships, credentialing and hiring is designed to support workforce readiness in underinvested neighborhoods by helping to build a pool of talent who we hope will join our team.”
Teamwork Englewood was founded in 2003, with the mission to improve the quality of life for Englewood residents and stakeholders with economic, social and educational opportunities. The organization received $75,000 from PREP.

 The funding will go to expand current youth programming, which includes civic leadership, basketball, yoga, coding and dancing. Teamwork Englewood wasn’t able to sustain the coding and dancing programs this fall, but with the money from PREP, it will be able to bring them back.

“Some young people have been able to actually go into college and their careers with our coding program. The coding program also helps local groups and their websites. The youth also can create gaming,” said Cecile DeMello, executive director of Teamwork Englewood.

The Teamwork Englewood dancing program works with a local dance company with a dance curriculum rooted in physical therapy moves that helps young people cope with trauma. The money also will go towards career support in all of the programs Teamwork Englewood facilitates.

DeMello has been working with PepsiCo to get more participants from Teamwork Englewood and the larger community into careers at Pepsi, post high school or post college.

Teamwork Englewood wanted to find ways to get the young people in the community more connected and help them cope during the pandemic. In 2020, it decided to prioritize its youth programming to respond to doing more trauma-informed work.
Girls in the Game’s mission is to help every girl discover her voice strength and empowers them to lead with confidence.

The organization serves girls from ages 7-18. The organization has partnered with PepsiCo for many years.

Girls in the Game received $40,000 from PepsiCo’s PREP. It will use the money to support its teen programs, which are very leadership focused.

“Specifically with the teen programs, we do a lot of career exploration, we give them opportunities for them to see themselves as role models in their community and role models for younger girls,” said Meghan Morgan, executive director of Girls in the Game.

One of the programs, Leader to Leader Interviews, the girls interview a panel of women in different careers and professions and ask them questions about their background and what their job is like. The program allows the girls from Girls in the Game to have access to people in careers who look like them.

With the funding, Girls in the Game will work closely with PepsiCo to increase the goals in the program, as well as provide internship and mentoring opportunities with Pepsi.
“One of the great things about our partnership with PepsiCo has always been the employee involvement. We’re really excited to build on that and formalize it and make a deeper impact with our teens in our programs,” Morgan said.

For more information about the Girls in the Game, visit https://girlsinthegame.org. For more information about Teamwork Englewood, visit www.teamworkenglewood.org.

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