September was a special month for Give Us The Floor. It’s our first anniversary. And we launched the first “semester themes“, the first product of our very special process for letting teenagers decide for themselves what they need: the teens voted to focus on two broad themes. The results are Health (Mental & Physical) and Expectations vs. Reality.
Since June, they have been preparing to launch the campaign to announce these themes: doing videos, writing blogs, creating social media campaigns, creating branding & promotion material such as logos, flyers, stickers.
I want to thank all the people who have trusted me and supported the mission of Give Us The Floor. I want to thank all of you who have agreed that Give Us The Floor is a space that teenagers need, a space that will make a difference in their life.
All of you have supported us because you love teenagers and know that the society doesn’t trust them enough, isn’t willing to give them the floor. You have been proven right. The growth of Give Us The Floor shows that we are right: teenagers want this space, need this space and like this space.
It is an enormous pleasure for me to see them evolve in the organization. Most enter the space shy and uncertain, wondering what this is all about. Then they blossom over a very short period of time, daring to do new things and take risks about their creativity and take on roles they never thought they would do.
I can see them thriving and watch their talent develop in front of my eyes. Whether it is as a discussion leader, a blogger, a social media team member, creative team member, or an ambassador. They take risks and learn not to be afraid to fail. Their peers and adult Give Us The Floor team members are their safety net. Teens are supporting teens. They learn a lot. As they address the different challenges that teens encounter, they see that their friends and peers have challenges as well, sometimes even the same ones!
I want to thank our amazing cohort of early adopters who put and are still putting a lot of energy and talent to the service of their peers: Carson, Jessica, Jennifer, Jordan, Jules, Kat, Kelly, Melita, Mikayla, Qinglin, Savanna, Shayna, Vanessa, Victoria. You made it happen. Give Us The Floor is alive and thriving thanks to you. Thanks to you, dozens of teens are joining every week! Yes, dozens every week!
Thank you to our amazing non-profit partners who have been experts for years in the teenagers space: we will be eternally grateful to Tony DiStefano, Executive Director of The Enterprise for High School Students and Ronald Chase, founder of Art&Film SF.
Thank you to the schools and teachers who have become our allies and are helping us to recruit new members and to the teens who are opening Give Us The Floor school clubs.
And last but not least, thank you to Kara, our Project Manager who is not counting her hours to improve teenagers life!
I can’t wait to see what the coming year is going to be. Stay tuned!
We would be grateful if you could help us by:
*Donating by clicking here we are very happy to accept small donations, we understand that money is not flowing and are grateful if you decide to help. Small monthly donations are very helpful)
*Follow us on IG, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, G+, FB
*Volunteer: email kara@giveusthefloor.org
September 30, 2015 at 9:24 pm
Valerie, glad to see EHSS is with you. I was on that board for 7 years. Loved it.
Sent from my iPhone
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September 30, 2015 at 10:22 pm
Small world 😉