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My Girl Power Announces Winners for 2017 Legacy & Wingtappers Tour to DC, NYC & Beyond

Diverse group of Southern Arizona High School girls chosen for unique trip to DC

and NYC, to celebrate legacy makers and women who left their marks on history

· WingTappers

Tucson, AZ - On June 30, 2017, My Girl Power™ hosted a reception at the historic Pima County Tucson Women's Commission to welcome the 2017 Legacy & WingTappers Tour to DC, NYC & Beyond Scholarship Winners, alongside several community partners focused on developing girls and young women in Southern Arizona, thanks to a generous donation from the Casino del Sol Resort and Seiwalo Golf Club. Check out this link for photos from the 2nd Annual Charity Golf Tournament and check out this link where we were presented our gift!

The Pima County Tucson Women's Commission is honored to support My Girl Power! As an outgrowth of The Pima County Tucson Women's Commission, My Girl Power empowers girls and women with the skills, experiences, awareness, and connections to fulfill their potential as business and civic leaders. They further support young women in leading heathy lives and gaining access to higher education. We appreciate their impact on our community, creating a program that was designed for youth by youth! Thank you for continuing to acknowledge the commissions involvement in launching this incredible service!​

- Deena Stewart Hitzke, Chair, Pima County Tucson Women's Commission

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The 3rd Annual Legacy Tour to DC and NYC is taking off this summer, scheduled for July 18 - July 22, 2017, a date that coincides with the very first National Women's Convention, held on July 19, 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY, organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, two of many names that ALL high school girls should know, according to My Girl Power™ Project Team. Click here for information and winners from the 2014 Tour and click here for information and winners from the 2016 Tour.

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"Girls can't be what they can't see so we are focused on delivering opportunities like this for deserving girls looking to thrive and lead"

-Lucy Howell, My Girl Power Co-founder/Chair

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This year, My Girl Power™ Project Team partnered with the The Boys & Girls Club of Tucson, the Lapan College Club, the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Young Entrepreneur Academy (YEA! Tucson), the Tohono O'odham Tribe and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. My Girl Power awarded one full scholarship to each organization, and they selected the young woman, who has made an impact on their respective organizations and displayed extraordinary leadership skills. Two organizations, The Boys & Girls Club and the Lapan Foundation, even matched the scholarships, and selected two deserving winners to represent their organizations on the tour, bringing our 2017 tour total to ten!

The girls were chosen because they have displayed strong leadership skills, and exhibited an excitement to learn more about how they can leave their marks, like the women who have left their marks on history. The tour is a program designed by My Girl Power and planned through Historic Program Tours, a non-profit educational company, based out of Mesa, Arizona. Lucy Howell, My Girl Power Co-Founder and Chair, will serve as Tour Host and Chaperone and will be accompanied by Sarah Lewis, from Pascua Yaqui Tribe.

 

Tour Scholarships will cover travel, hotel, main attractions included on itinerary, and major meals. Participants will be expected to bring some spending money for souvenirs, snacks, etc.

Winners will be expected to participate in a pre-tour launch meeting, interviews, digital media platform development, and post tour celebration party with key community stakeholders.

The reception started with an Executive Welcome by Lucy Howell, Chair, My Girl Power Project that included:

  • My Girl Power – History, Overview, and Future Projects
  • Introduction of Community Partners, Advisors & Ambassadors
  • Special Thanks to 2017 premier sponsor, Casino Del Sol and Seiwalo Golf Course
  • Special thanks to our hosting partners – Pima County Tucson Women’s Commission and the John P. Bell Family Foundation
  • Special Words and Welcome from Herminia Frias, Tribal Councilwoman, Pascua Yaqui Tribe
  • Special Announcement for Tucson Unified School District about our Civics and Science Day
  • Introducing the concept of Legacy Makers & WingTappers

"We now have 5 women on the council out of 11. It's a good balance...as a nation our traditional societies are led by men but the women are also valued and there's an opportunity for us to learn from each other and learn what our value is together.

- Herminia Frias, CouncilWomen, Pascua Yaqui Tribe

 

"Increasing access and exposure to women who have left their marks on history for k-12 girls is one of the most important things we can do to help mold their future pathways and to help impact gender disparity rates in the private and public serving space within a single generation.

 

The Legacy & WingTappers Tour is an excellent way to make that happen, up close and personal, and we are eternally grateful to organizations like the Lapan Sunshine Memorial Fund and Casino del Sol, featuring Seiwalo Golf, for supporting this mission."

 

- Lucy Howell, Founder/Chair - My Girl Power™ Project

 

The 2017 Legacy Tour and WingTapper Scholarship Winners are:

(Hint: Click on the winners name to learn more about them)

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Some words of wisdom from Legacy Tour Alumni....

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I would just want to say for each individual to completely take it advantage of this experience. For them to know that having an opportunity like this usually only comes once in a lifetime, so enjoy it. I'd encourage them to fight for their rights no matter what and not be afraid of meeting others.

Now that I have graduated, it is a bittersweet feeling. There were so many people telling me I wouldn't make it especially because of my depression but I made it and now I'm attending my dream University. How do I didn't get any scholarships I am not going to let my economic status close doors of opportunities for myself.

 

Everyone can make it and make their dreams reality. It's just a matter of pushing negativity and the stereotypes away.

- Lizette Nohely, Legacy and Wingtapper Tour '14

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As for advice for the girls, tell them be yourself and don't live to please others, don't be afraid to have an open mind and to welcome in new ideas and cultures. I myself had always had an open mind but when it came to change, I'd cringe at the thought of it, but My Girl Power Trip helped me see that there's more out there in the world than just Tucson. It put me in the mindset that I could do anything and be anybody and that mindset pushed me all through out my senior year of high school...so much in fact that I was able to earn a full ride to study neurological psychology in order to be a brain surgeon at Georgia Tech university.

So don't be afraid to to do anything you want in this world because the sky is the limit. This trip helped me more then you'll ever know. Thank you thank you so much.

- Aminah Robinson, Legacy and Wingtapper Tour '16

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Special Announcement re: first annual Civics and Science Day

My Girl Power Project co-sponsored a Civics and Science Day field trip to the state capital for about 80 middle school girls from 3 Tucson Unified District schools on May 22, 2017. This was a TUSD planned field trip that My Girl Power helped both fund and plan. Funding for this was also made possible through the generous grant from the Casino Del Sol Resort, Seiwala Golf Course, and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, who are very interested in helping support programs that build stronger female leaders, starting with girls. For a link to more information about the first annual Civics and Science Day at the Capital, click here.

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Since a simple game of ping-pong seemed to be one of the highlights of the day, My Girl Power will be donating a ping pong table, paddles and balls to each of the participating schools for the upcoming 2017-2018 school year.

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This was presented to Destiny Grigsby, Student Success Service, African American Student Services, who then had these words to share with the girls: