2018 She's the First Annual Report

FROM THE FOUNDERS When we launched a media campaign called “She’s the First” in 2009, we never dreamed we’d be writing you this letter a decade later. But even then, we knew this to be true: Every girl deserves to choose her own future.

Since the beginning of She’s the First (STF), we have united local organizations, philanthropists, and passionate student advocates around the world to create a movement. Whether you were there at the start or joined along the way, we are grateful to you and your commitment to strengthen our message and stand up for girls everywhere. If you’re just now meeting us, welcome to the journey. We’ve got a long road ahead, but we know what we’re heading toward: a world where every girl is educated, respected, and heard. We’re glad to have you by our side.

In this Annual Report, what you hold is the product of a decade of persevering, refining, partnering, and learning— as well as the Christen Brandt first steps into Chief Programs Officer a new decade of progress. We’ve never been prouder to stand with this community.

Cheers to 10 years!

Christen Brandt Chief Programs Officer

Cover: STF Scholar Winnie in Uganda (by Kate Lord)

Tammy Tibbetts Chief Executive Officer

OUR MISSION

SHE’S THE FIRST FIGHTS FOR A WORLD WHERE EVERY GIRL CHOOSES HER OWN FUTURE. WE TEAM UP WITH LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS TO MAKE SURE GIRLS ARE EDUCATED, RESPECTED, AND HEARD.

Ellie Kaaya met Michelle Obama in October 2018. Ellie graduated high school and university in Tanzania with support from She’s the First and our partner AfricAid. She is now an STF Fellow.

Photo credits: Rene Moses Ceesay (front cover, Mariama T. from The Gambia) and Kate Lord (back cover) The Obama Foundation (above) and Jeff Allen (left)

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GIRLS EVERYWHERE DESERVE TO BE:

EDUCATED

130 million girls are out of school worldwide.

Limited education for girls costs the global economy up to $30 trillion USD.

In addition to providing the resources for more girls to enroll in and graduate from high school, we make sure they learn about sexual and reproductive health and receive crucial life skills training.

HEARD

Girls’ lack of leadership opportunities means there isn’t a pipeline for political participation: only 1 in 5 government ministers are women.

Globally, girls spend 40% more time on chores than boys do.

This is time they aren’t spending on play, education, and building social networks. This narrows their ambitions and can put them at risk of violence.

We amplify girls’ voices to challenge gender bias and the policies that limit girls’ potential through advocacy campaigns, program design, and storytelling.

Sources: World Bank, UNICEF, World Health Organization, UN Women Icons: The Noun Project

RESPECTED

One girl under the age of 15 gets married every 7 seconds.

23 million girls become pregnant each year.

Girls’ safety is at risk; 1 in 3 women have experienced violence.

It isn’t enough to educate girls when the world hasn’t fully learned how to support them. We train educators and mentors to shape girls’ environments around their needs. We collaborate on campaigns to promote the end of practices trampling on girls’ rights, such as child marriage or forcing pregnant girls to leave school.

WE BELIEVE GLOBAL PROBLEMS HAVE LOCAL SOLUTIONS. WE LOOK FOR HIGHLY EFFECTIVE GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS WITH WHOM WE SHARE KNOWLEDGE, POWER, AND RESOURCES.

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"MY EDUCATION HAS TAUGHT ME TO STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT." - SHINEY, 2018 GRADUATE

ALL GIRLS MUST BE EDUCATED We team up with 12 local organizations in 11 countries, all of which ensure that girls stay on track to complete 12 years of education.

What this looks like varies by partner: four are schools and eight are wraparound programs that supplement learning beyond the classroom.

We support a comprehensive education that includes: Academics: Classroom access Tutoring support Sex and Health Education: Healthy relationships Understanding power dynamics Sexual agency and consent Contraceptives Menstrual hygiene LGBTQIA+ issues Mitigating health risks Life Skills Training: Financial literacy (saving, budgeting) Confidence/self-esteem Vocal empowerment General mentorship

Photo credits: Shanti Bhavan (above, of Shiney) and Carly Piersol (left)

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"I'M GOING HOME WITH BETTER POLICIES THAT HELP GIRLS HAVE A VOICE.” - FATOU Y JAITEH, PROGRAM DIRECTOR, THE GAMBIA

THE 2019 GIRLS FIRST SUMMIT, AN ANNUAL TRAINING CONFERENCE CO-HOSTED WITH AKILI DADA IN NAIROBI, KENYA

ALL GIRLS MUST BE RESPECTED You’ve heard it before: Educate a girl, and she’ll educate a community.

Why is it all on her?!

We work with local experts to run trainings, conferences, and advocacy campaigns, so that we all have girls’ backs. Because when a community supports her, her possibilities are limitless.

Our trainings for mentors, educators, and organizations are co-hosted with local partners and focus on: • Building programs around girls’ needs • Inviting girls’ voices into organizational decisions • Creating comprehensive child protection policies Our trainings for youth equip them to deliver impact for girls in their local communities, ensuring an early start to their social entrepreneurship. To date, STF Fellows hail from Guatemala, Peru, Kenya, Tanzania, and the U.S.

Photo credits: Carly Piersol (above) and Lynch Atong (left)

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ALL GIRLS MUST BE HEARD For too long, girls have only been talked about and not invited to be part of the larger conversation. We say, “No more!”

Girls deserve a seat at the table, a spot on the stage, and a microphone in hand. Their ideas matter now more than ever as we all work toward a world where they can decide their own futures.

We ensure girls are heard by: • Training local organizations to incorporate girls’ voices into program decisions • Developing Girl Hour, a conference session which brings girls’ voices directly into learning and decisionmaking environments • Amplifying girls’ own voices in campaigns, on social media, and in videos

In 2019, we’ll add two girls to our Board of Directors.

Additional amplification efforts: Our campus community invites more than 5,000 high school, college, and university students around the world to use their voices and resources to be advocates for girls’ rights and gender equality.

Photo credits: Lynch Atong (left, of Riziki) and STF Wootton High School chapter (above)

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IMPACT

7,841 41,302 GIRLS SERVED

BY OUR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

TOTAL REACH OF FAMILY MEMBERS IMPACTED

75+

$7.5M

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS REACHED

RAISED

10 YEARS OF STF IMPACT

* The jump in 2018 is attributable to expansion efforts to reach more vulnerable girls, particularly by our partner AfricAid in Tanzania.

PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

2010: Began funding girls’

2012: First STF Summit

2013: Reached 1,000+

education globally

for campus community to meet and learn about issues affecting girls

campus community members

2014: Recognized by the

2015: Funded 2,500+ years

2016: Kicked off “Adopt a

United Nations for our work

worth of education for girls at our partner programs

Cause” with The New York Foundling, which gives us a pro bono HQ

2017: Launched the Girls First 2018: At our Community

2019: With our local partners,

Summit, a convening co-hosted with a local partner to train educators and mentors on building effective programs for girls

released “She’s a Girl First,” a video that went viral in Sierra Leone to help activists overturn a ban that prevents pregnant girls from returning to school 12

Impact Fellowship in Guatemala, trained 11 students from 6 countries to launch gender equality projects that would eventually impact 150+ girls

2018 + MARCH 2019 BUZZ 1

2

3

4

5

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1. Students at the 7th annual STF Summit hit the streets of NYC for a public “artivism” display that Good Morning America broadcasted on Instagram. 2. Michelle Obama posted about Ellie and STF on her Instagram for International Women’s Day (IWD)! 3. We closed out 2018 at the New York Stock Exchange. 4. Michelle Obama celebrated International Day of the Girl with us on The Today Show!

(Pictured: Ellie from Tanzania with Al Roker and Freida Pinto) 5. Photo seen in Gap store windows worldwide, featuring STF’s co-founders in an IWD campaign 6. Our 5th annual Mentor Breakfast, honoring STF Fellow Verónica and retiring Board Chair Gwen Greene, raised record-breaking funds.

2018 FINANCIALS* CONTRIBUTIONS BY CATEGORY

EXPENSES

7.5% 8.6%

8.9%

7%

28.7% 13.3% 84.3% 13.9%

27.6%

Corporate and Foundation

Individual

Program Services

Grants

Mentor Breakfast Fundraiser

Management & General

Other (Board, Campus)

Donated Good and Services

Development

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 2011-2018* ($)

*Charts are derived from annual 990 and audit reports. STF has been audited by WithumSmith+Brown since 2013. Contributions from 2011 & 2012 are from the 990 and Accountant’s Review.

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LOOKING AHEAD As we think about our role moving forward, we see ourselves as the connective tissue: the glue that bonds together innovative, impactful solutions happening locally and elevates them to the global stage.

For the last decade, STF has built trust and relationships with community-based leaders as well as the public, which uniquely positions us to meet this challenge.

We support grassroots organizations striving to do better in their girls’ programming and we’ll continue to broaden the availability of our resources until every girl has limitless possibilities, regardless of where she is born.

To support our commitment, we look forward to: • Organizing a global Girls’ Bill of Rights for the 2019 International Day of the Girl—written by and for girls everywhere • Creating the Girls First Coalition, a collaboration among STF and other girl-first organizations who apply for funding together • Hiring our next two staffers and electing a board member in Nairobi, Kenya To scale, we need: Sustainable funding: a combination of multi-year foundation grants, multi-year pledges from individuals in our Luminary Circle,* and monthly donors in our Front Row** Catalytic funding: developmental grants of $100K-$3M that allow us to make key hires, expand our reach and programs, and deepen our impact on girls everywhere Visibility: girls have powerful stories to share and deserve bigger stages and media outlets to amplify them

*visit shesthefirst.org/luminary **visit shesthefirst.org/frontrow Photo of Candelaria in Guatemala: Kate Lord

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LEADERSHIP 2018 Board of Directors

Selamta Family Project (Ethiopia)

$15,000+

Gwen Greene, Outgoing Chair

Shanti Bhavan (India)

Brides for a Cause

Tara Abrahams, Incoming Chair

Starfish International (The Gambia)

Catbird

Harish Nataraj, Vice Chair

FCTRY

Kimberly Heinen, Outgoing Treasurer

2018-2019 Communications

Johnson Family Foundation

Angela Brisotti, Incoming Treasurer

Committee

Todd Herman's 90 Day Year

Andrea Lontoc, Outgoing Secretary

Chanel Cathey, Co-Chair

Tom Kerns & Jeanmarie Hargrave

Vivian Nunez, Incoming Secretary

Susan Goodall, Co-Chair

Christen Brandt

Suzanne Berman

$10,000+

Tammy Tibbetts

Kimberly Dixon

Ani & Mark Gabrellian

Outgoing Board Directors:

Robin Gelfenbien

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Chernor Bah

Ann Shoket

Christen Brandt

Ingrid Simunic

Jennifer Simon

Daria Foster & Eric Wallach

Jennifer Simon

Jessica Tarlov

Hajim Family Foundation

Incoming Board Directors:

Facebook

Philippe Lust-Bianchi

2018-2019 Strategic Partnerships

Gwen & John Greene

Dee Poku

Committee

Inmaat Foundation

Lisa Sepulveda

Ingrid Simunic, Outgoing Chair

J.P. Morgan Securities

Erin Leigh Patterson, Incoming Co- Marie Forleo International STF Staff

Chair

May Day Women

Christen Brandt, Co-Founder/CPO

Amy Shoenthal, Incoming Co-Chair

Mighty Leaf Tea

Tyler Harris, Operations Assistant

Kristen Tully

Beatrice & Reymont Paul Foundation

(new to the team in 2018!)

Euan Lampett

Henah Parikh, Development and Nikki Mendell Communications Manager Alvi Rashid, Programs Coordinator

Kasia Reterska

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld

Anna Spitzer

In Memory of Elizabeth Casey

Katie Riley, Director of Strategic Partnerships Tammy Tibbetts, Co-Founder/CEO Special thanks to the organizations who serve as our thought partners and collaborators in all that we do: AfricAid (Tanzania) Akili Dada (Kenya) Arlington Academy of Hope (Uganda) Blink Now (Nepal) Kusi Kawsay (Peru) MAIA (Guatemala) Project Education South Sudan Project PIKIN (Sierra Leone) Sacred Valley Project (Peru)

$7,500+

Naveen Nataraj

HONOR ROLL $100,000+ Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation Nuria $30,000+ American Express Foundation Harish & Sarah Nataraj NoVo Foundation $20,000+ Dermalogica Dow Jones Foundation Edelman Foundation to Decrease World Suck Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Richard Handler Tara & Riad Abrahams $5,000+ Andrew Zobler Angelo Gordon Crystal & Company DefineMe Fragrance Hale Advisors Muriel F. Siebert Foundation Société Générale The Cameron Family Foundation $2,500+ CharityMiles Chilton Running Club Dhvani FitWeek 2018

2018 HONOR ROLL Gary Benanav

Kimra Luna

Joan Beal

KK Ramamoorthy

Julie Steiger

Laura Davis

STF Sacred Heart Academy

Katherine Hobson

Laurie Aaronson

STF Saint John's Preparatory School

Kelly Taglialavore

Leah Austin

STF Saint Louis University

Kevin & Zhou Curry

Lindsey Feist

STF University of Central Florida

Lore de Force

Lindsey Jackson

STF University of Connecticut

Newman's Own Foundation

Milton & Marilyn Safenowitz Family

STF University of Florida

Nina Abrams Fund

Foundation

STF Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School

STF University of Minnesota

Nitya Kari

Noelle Scaggs

Pinkerton Foundation

Nomi Bergman

STF University of Notre Dame

Regena Thomashauer

Ohr Family Fund

STF University of Wisconsin (Madison)

Rhoades School Girl Rising Club

OUAI

STF Vanderbilt University

River West Meeting Associates

Pamela Theriot

Robin Gelfenbien

Patrick Dwyer

Pro Bono

Shankar Ramachandran

Proskauer Rose LLP

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

The Klein Group

Rajesh Ullatil

The New York Foundling

Tom & Paige Labadie

Rebecca Reed

AppNexus

Rosie McFarland

Lore de Force

$1,400+

Selena Soo

Elyse Richter

Amy Simpson

Shalini Suravarjjala

Andrea Bartz

Sherry Brown

Asha & Hitendra Patel

Shuchita Patel

Bethany Lampland

Susan Ann Bowen

Carrie Xu

Tammy Tibbetts

Charlie Henick

Tianna De Silva

Community Foundation of

VEERAH

Greenville, Inc. Connie Hodge

(Twin Cities)

Donors noted reflect gifts made between Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2018. We do our best to be accurate but please let us know if there is an error so we can correct our records.

Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT NY)

Elina Bromberg Elizabeth Daly

$1,400+ (STF Campus Chapters)

Emily Williams

STF American University

Emma Tynan

STF Arizona School for the Arts

Fabian Roche

STF BASIS Chandler

Gemma Rogers

STF Chaparral High School

Genevieve Tabios

STF Dartmouth College

Heather Harrell

STF Dominican International School

Helen & Nat Wisch

STF George Washington University

Jessica Newell

STF H-B Plant High School

Jess Weiner

STF Hanover High School

Jim & Sharen Branscome Fund

STF Harwood Union High School

Jon Guhl

STF Highland Park High School

Jung Eun (Silver) Choi

STF Immaculate High School

Kimberly Heinen

STF La Trobe University

Kimberly Hunt

STF Lasell College

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