HEART OF THE COMMUNITY
SUPPORT LOCAL
By Amanda Ventura
The Girls Rule Foundation Local nonprofit helps girls become future leaders
Dena Patton was a young, successful owner of a PR and marketing company in New York City when tragedy hit. At age 27, she suffered a minor stroke. Looking to buy time to heal, she sold her business to a startup internet company and became its director of marketing. During that year, she found her true calling to work with women and girls. In 2000, she opened a coaching and training company working with women leaders and entrepreneurs nationwide and started to volunteer with girls’ organizations. After eight years in New York City, she moved to Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2002. While volunteering at local girls charities, she met three like-minded women who also had a passion to educate and empower girls. These women co-founded the Girls Rule Foundation with a mighty mission. It has since become a leader in empowerment, leadership and educational programs for girls ages 12 to 18. It helps young ladies build leadership, self-confidence and bright futures through its programs. “What we have found is that girls with big dreams often become women with big vision, and vision is what solves big problems in the world,” Patton says. “That is why our programs play an important role.” The organization offers five programs: an annual leadership summer camp in northern Arizona, the annual motherdaughter Shine Brightly Summit, and its brand new program, dreamLABs – a 12-week afterschool leadership club for girls. It also has two workshops, “Dream Big” and “Brilliant, Beautiful and Bold” that are free and available for local groups, schools, churches, teams and nonprofits. Girls Rule is expanding its facilitator team for these workshops
so it can serve more groups around Arizona. The organization also encourages confidence and builds leadership potential in hundreds of seventh and eighth graders at a Deer Valley middle school, at UMOM New Day Centers and Fresh Start Women’s Foundation. Patton is CEO of this 501(c)3 nonprofit, along with a part-time program manager, board of directors, and group of volunteer workshop facilitators. She also still devotes time to her coaching and training company. The organization impacted nearly 2,000 girls in 2015. However, Patton’s mission is to reach, educate and empower many more. “Arizona is third worst in girls’ success statistics and that’s not OK with me,” Patton says. “Not on my watch.” The organization’s goal for 2016 is to reach 12,000 girls around the country through the dreamLABS program and training more workshop facilitators from other states. Tish Times is on the board of directors and chairs the Brilliant, Beautiful and Bold Awards, which are presented at the annual Mother Daughter Summit. “Last year, the committee was blown away by the accomplishments, talent and aspirations of the nominees,” Times says. “The attendees and winners expressed how inspired they were by the Shine Brightly Summit. However, we were even more inspired by them. I get the opportunity to speak with the girls about every other month and am still impressed by their tenacity and desire to accomplish their dreams.”
16 June 2016 | azhealthandliving.com
Photos Courtesy of the Girls Rule Foundation