The 5th Annual Rebel Women Luncheon was an inspiring celebration of International Women’s Day & Women’s History Month. Held March 18 at the John H. Harland Club and hosted by our Champions Club for GIRLS women’s giving society, the event featured a panel discussion centered around the theme “Empowering Women, Igniting Change.”
Moderated by BGCMA Trustee and GEEARS Founding Chair Stephanie Blank, the panel featured special guests Katherine Saez (Georgia Regional President of Truist), Kathy Waller (Executive Director of Atlanta Committee for Progress), and our very own BGCMA 2023-2024 Youth of the Year and 2024 Georgia YOY Runner-Up Jaden T.
BGCMA President & CEO David Jernigan and Chief Programs & Operations Officer Terri Fishback provided remarks. BGCMA Board Member Erica Bolden (Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & People Analytics for Mercedes-Benz USA) served as emcee.
“According to the World Economic Forum, sadly none of us will see gender parity in our lifetime,” Bolden said. “Gender parity won’t be attained for well over a century. But by coming together for moments like this, we are raising awareness of the challenges facing women and helping to create a fairer world for future generations.”
So, why ‘rebel women’?” You may be familiar with the popular children’s book series Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls. Boys & Girls Clubs created a curriculum based on this book, highlighting great women throughout history. “Rebel Girls” question ideas that are unfair, choose to be themselves even when it’s not popular, and create a better world for others. BGCMA’s women’s giving society Champions Club for GIRLS wanted to inspire and connect women by creating a space to promote the rebel in all of us.
“As an organization where women constitute about 65% of our workforce and girls constitute about 48% of our Club membership, we see ‘rebel women’ igniting the unlimited potential of ‘rebel girls’ at our 25 Clubs across Metro Atlanta each day,” Fishback said. “Our dedicated staff mentors and girl empowerment programs help guide our girls through their journey into womanhood. At BGCMA, we’re also fortunate to have the support of volunteer leaders and community partners like Champions Club for GIRLS who understand the value of investing in our girls.”
More recent programs include the Girls Empowering Movement (GEM) program, a statewide initiative to increase physical activity and fitness levels of Georgia’s middle school girls through activities designed and led by girls, and SMART Girls, a small-group health, fitness, education and self-esteem program that helps young women build skills for eating right, staying physically fit, getting good health care and developing positive relationships with peers and adults. In addition, Champions Club for GIRLS prepares Senior Send-off Bags full of all the supplies all of our BGCMA graduating seniors need to start off on their own.
The 2024 Rebel Women Luncheon was made possible through the Rebel Women Luncheon Planning Committee, led by BGCMA Board member Cloteen Jasmin and BGCMA’s Senior Director of Individual Giving Whitney Brown and through the generous support of several sponsors: Trailblazer Sponsors: Papa Johns, Truist, and Ryan Companies | Changemaker Sponsors: Atlanta Hawks and Forvis | Empower Sponsors: Emory Executive Education and The Pipes Family Foundation.