1. An unprecedented Alliance to address the challenges girls face in the crucial middle-school transition years.
Auburn Boylston Grafton Holden Millbury Shrewsbury West Boylston Worcester
For healthier, happier girls
THE Investing in Girls ALLIANCE

2. The Investing in Girls Alliance is an outcome of the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth at Risk
in the City of Worcester. The group was brought together to address the recent rise in violence
among adolescent girls in the local community.
More than 30 partners convened on
this important issue and discovered:
• No local data was available that gave a voice to
adolescent girls by reporting what their needs and
fears are, and how they thought that adults in their
community could help.
• No comprehensive listing of current programs for
girls in the greater Worcester community existed,
and there were many obstacles facing girls in taking
advantage of these programs, i.e. transportation, fear
of violence.
Through the financial support of the Fred Harris Daniels
Foundation and the Women’s Initiative, United Way of
Central Massachusetts, the Investing in Girls Alliance
commissioned a local needs assessment. The task of
this research was to gather information from parents,
adolescent girls, and local agency service providers. The
goal was simple: identify the challenges our girls face
that impede them from leading successful lives.
The challenges our girls face
T H E R E S E A R C H
The study revealed that girls are primarily
concerned about their education, health
(mental, physical and sexual), and relationships
(peer, boy/girl, relationship violence).

3. • 71% of middle-school girls surveyed identified the
biggest problem for them as educational
demands, citing concerns over the quantity and
level of difficulty of schoolwork, worrying over
completing their homework, getting good grades,
the transition to middle and high-school, and how
they were going to afford college.
• 51% of girls identified violence and sex as the top
two issues that adults should focus on addressing.
When discussing violence in more detail, girls from
towns outside of Worcester are more concerned with
boy/boy violence whereas girls in Worcester are
more concerned with girl/girl violence.
• Almost three quarters (73%) of the respondents
identified peer pressure and sex as challenges
facing girls. Girls, parents, and providers all identified
sexual health as a high priority and the girls were
unequivocal about their need for more information
and frank discussion about their emerging sexuality.
• 74% of the girls said that sports and fitness
programs—with options for “girls-only”—should
be a priority if new programs are going to be
created. 36% also indicated that additional career
and life planning programs are needed.
DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE
RESEARCH REPORT ONLINE:
For the complete needs assessment report, written
by Kathryn A. Wheeler Consulting & Associates, visit
www.unitedwaycm.org/investingingirls.html
T H E R E S E A R C H R E S U L T S

4. The Investing in Girls Alliance is a consortium of
state and local agencies, public school departments,
non-profit organizations, state and local government,
and business professionals that share a concern
about the issues facing adolescent girls. More than
30 leading experts from greater Worcester joined
forces to create a strategic plan, which will provide
a framework to offer Worcester area girls what they
need to succeed.
Members of the Investing in Girls Alliance include:
The consultants for the strategic planning process were Katie Wheeler of Kathryn A. Wheeler Consulting & Associates, Laura
Watkins of Dovetail Associates LLC, and Patsy Lewis.
The strategic planning process was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Fred Harris Daniels Foundation.
The Women’s Initiative, United Way of Central Massachusetts provided funding for the needs assessment research and report.
The Investing in Girls Alliance is grateful to both of these visionary, committed philanthropic organizations.
The strategic planning process identified five priority areas: Education, Health, Relationships, Data and Information, and Public
Education and Communication. Task forces, chaired by knowledgeable experts, were created for each of the priority areas.
AnAlliance unlike any other
American Red Cross
Boys & Girls Club of Worcester
Children’s Friend, Inc.
Clark University
Department of Social Services
Department of Youth Services
Edward Street Child Services
Family Health Center
Fred Harris Daniels Foundation, Inc.
Girls, Inc.
Great Brook Valley Health Center, Inc.
Latino Education Institute, Worcester State College
Montachusett Girl Scout Council
Office of Senator Harriette L. Chandler
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
Quinsigamond Community College
Rainbow Child Development Center
The Research Bureau
United Way of Central Massachusetts
Women’s Initiative, United Way
of Central Massachusetts
Worcester Public Schools
YouthNet
Y.O.U., Inc.
YMCA of Central Massachusetts
YWCA of Central Massachusetts
T H E T E A M

5. Steering Committee Tri-Chairs:
Linda Cavaioli, YWCA of Central Massachusetts
Elisa Lopez-Dobski, Latino Education Institute,
Worcester State College
Iliana D’Limas, Worcester Public Schools
Steering Committee Members:
Kerry Conaghan
Jeff Fogel
Eve Gilmore
Ron Hadorn
Donna Hollis
Jackie Mansfield-Marcoux
Rob McGlory
Kate Myshrall
Wendy O’Leary
Honorary Chair:
The Honorable Harriette L. Chandler, Massachusetts State Senate
Task Force Chairs:
Education:
Gail Carberry, Ed.D., Quinsigamond Community College
Wendy O’Leary, Women’s Initiative, United Way of
Central Massachusetts
Health:
Fran Anthes, Family Health Center
Jackie Mansfield-Marcoux, Planned Parenthood League
of Massachusetts
Jennifer Meyers-Light, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
Relationships:
Lynne Flanagan Tsombakos, Girls, Inc.
Judi Kirk, YWCA of Central Massachusetts
Lory Santoro, YWCA of Central Massachusetts
Data and Information:
Laura Swanson, The Research Bureau
Laurie Ross, Ph.D., Clark University
Public Education and Communication:
David Keller, M.D., University of Massachusetts
Medical School
Misty Perez, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
Tri-Chairs: Elisa Lopez-Dobski, Linda Cavaioli, and Iliana D’Limas
JOIN THE ALLIANCE! For more information on how
you can help girls succeed in greater Worcester, visit
www.unitedwaycm.org/investingingirls.html
Elsa Rivera
Nancy Rosenblum
Lory Santoro
Josie Shagwert
Susan Swanberg
Laura Swanson
Meridith Wesby
Christine Whipple

6. The birth of a strategic plan
for healthier, happier girls
The five Task Forces will focus on the following strategic goals to achieve the vision of the
Investing in Girls Alliance for happy, healthy, and productive girls.
Education
• Show the connection between education and
future economic success to encourage girls to do
well in school.
• Connect girls to information about career pathways
and how to access higher education.
• Assess and when necessary, create additional resources
to support both in and out-of-school time activities
that encourage academic success, such as mentoring
programs.
Health (Mental, Physical, and Sexual)
• Identify or create programs focused on health
and well-being, including sports and fitness, stress
reduction, and healthy eating.
• Offer comprehensive health education in and out
of school.
• Provide opportunities for girls and adult mentors to
talk candidly about their emerging sexuality.
T H E R E S P O N S E

7. Relationships (peer, boy/girl, relationship
violence, and healthy relationships)
• Identify programs and/or activities that assist girls in
defining healthy relationships and how to nurture
those types of relationships.
• Provide girls with tools and strategies to develop and
maintain confidence and self-respect while utilizing
positive communication skills.
• Create opportunities for girls to feel safe both in and out
of school, as well as provide safe and reliable transportation
to local programs.
Data and Information
• Create a specialized web site for girls that can also be
accessed by other audiences; families, providers,
researchers, and evaluators.
• Set up an online data repository to compile research
and local information as part of the comprehensive,
interactive website.
• Develop standards for tracking the community’s
progress toward achievement of gender specific youth
development outcomes.
Public Education and Communication
• Educate policy and decision-makers on the
issues facing middle-school girls.
• Engage key constituent groups such as parents,
school personnel, legislators, youth groups,
religious leaders, etc. to formulate responses
and model best practices regarding the needs of
middle-school girls.
VIEW THE PLAN! To read the full strategic plan
created by the Steering Committee and Task Forces,
visit www.unitedwaycm.org/investingingirls.html

8. MissionTo improve services for middle-
school girls in central Massachusetts through research,
education, advocacy, and collaboration.
VisionTo improve the lives of girls in
greater Worcester and ensure that local girls grow up to
be happy, healthy, and productive.
THE Investing in Girls ALLIANCE
View complete research report online:
For the complete Investing in Girls research report, visit www.unitedwaycm.org/investingingirls.html
Fred Harris Daniels Foundation, Inc.
To get involved or receive information, e-mail: investingingirls@unitedwaycm.org
or phone United Way of Central Massachusetts at 508-757-5631.
G E N E R O U S LY F U N D E D B Y: