GirlSpring

Through social gatherings, mentoring, workshops and now virtual space, GirlSpring has been empowering young women for more than a decade

Like a lot of teenage girls, Alex’ah Boone has a wide variety of interests — in her case, chemical engineering, orthopedics and writing, among other things.

Thanks to GirlSpring, a Birmingham nonprofit, Alex’ah gets to bring all those interests together, make new friends from across the metro area, and have fun.

“I love GirlSpring, mostly because … we get to do a wide variety of things,” Alex’ah said. “We not only write our own articles each month, we also get to meet women in all sorts of career fields. One time we met a lady who’s a marketer.

The next time we might meet someone who’s a forensic scientist. It’s just really fun.”

Alex’ah’s involvement in GirlSpring includes writing for the group’s website, making YouTube videos, helping to organize other members as secretary of the teen advisory board — the Springboarders — attending STEM fairs and other events designed to equip her for the future.

A student at Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School, Alex’ah said that GirlSpring is a place where acceptance and diversity are standard.

“The only thing you have to do in GirlSpring to be accepted is just be yourself,” she said. “There’s so many different people there, but I’ve never felt in a position where I couldn’t be me. And that’s what we’re really known for — is making everyone feel like they’re a part.”

Thousands of girls across the metro area have made connections — in person and virtually — through GirlSpring since it was founded in 2010, said Executive Director Kristen Greenwood. The nonprofit organization is totally focused on empowering young women in ways they might not otherwise experience.

Greenwood talked to Iron City Ink about how GirlSpring got started, and why it’s so important.

Q: What does GirlSpring do and why?

A: Our mission is to empower girls 9-18 with the tools they need to succeed in life: accurate information, inspiring events and positive female role models.

Q: What does that look like in practice?

A: What this looks like in terms of programming is an online magazine and mobile app created and managed by a group of teen girls called the Springboarders, monthly talks led by female community leaders called Wonder Women that focus on topics ranging from how to succeed in careers (particularly male-dominated fields) to cybersecurity and financial literacy to nutrition and wellness, career and STEM fairs, film screenings, mother-daughter events and an annual summer camp.

Q: Give us an example.

A: Our largest ongoing program is the Springboarders teen program, which consists of 60 girls, 13-18, who are tasked with managing GirlSpring’s website,

girlspring.com, which reaches 15,000 visitors per month, in Birmingham and beyond. The girls have varying roles of responsibility. At a minimum, each girl contributes some type of content to the site, such as an article on a topic relevant to their peers, a poem or artwork, or works with other team members to create a podcast or video interview with a female role model from the community.

There are also leadership roles such as chairs for the various committees (podcast, YouTube, etc.), and executive level (president, vice president and secretary). The girls work together to develop a monthly topic for their website submissions, create online events for their peers, such as trivia nights and peer to peer college prep advice panels, and periodically get together to have volunteer days. Girls are drawn from all different schools and backgrounds, so through this program they get exposure to girls from different walks of life, they learn how to work together as a team, develop leadership skills, and get to meet lots of inspiring women from our community that they might not otherwise meet.

Connect with GirlSpring

► Website: girlspring.com

► Instagram: @girlspringpower

► Facebook: facebook.com/girlspringpower

► YouTube: GirlSpring Power

Q: That would seem to touch on a lot of real-world skills.

A: In terms of volunteer opportunities, people often don’t realize how great this looks on a college application, but consistently the graduating seniors tell me that when they go for their college interviews or put this on scholarship applications, that it really stands out because it is a unique and different type of service. Even the girls who are participating at the minimum level and writing an article on a peer relevant topic, are helping another girl, just by having published something that might speak to her and knowing she’s not the only person dealing with that particular issue.

During COVID especially, we heard so many girls tell us what a great resource the website had been for them. People often want to hear about our events, which are wonderful, but the website, which is driven by this group of teen girls, is really at the heart of everything. There are resources written by professionals on certain topics, but 90% of the content is created by teen girls.

Q: How did GirlSpring get started?

A: GirlSpring was started by Jane Comer. She saw a lack of women in leadership positions and a need for more. She believed that by empowering girls, we build better communities, better businesses, better relationships, and ultimately a better world. She founded GirlSpring as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2010.

Q: Tell us more about Jane Comer

A: Jane has two passions: empowering girls and the arts. She is a native of Birmingham, and besides GirlSpring, she also started ArtPlay at UAB.

Q: How many girls does GirlSpring serve?

A: It’s a hard question to answer, especially on grant applications. Through our in-person programs, where we actually see girls directly, about 1,000 per year from Birmingham and surrounding areas. Our biggest platform, however, is our website, which has, on average 15,000 visitors per month. Our website visitors ... could be from Birmingham, or they could be from anywhere across the globe.

Q: How do girls sign up?

A: There are many ways to get involved. We have a number of public programs — monthly events called Wonder Women talks, films, an annual STEM Fair and Career Fair, and a summer camp, but to “join” means to apply to our teen leadership program, the Springboarders. Springboarders must apply via an online application, be interviewed by a small peer group, commit to monthly meetings, and commit to submitting something to our website each month (an article, artwork, poetry, podcast, video).

Q: Did the pandemic change what you do in any way? If so, how?

A: Yes, when schools shut down and girls had more time at home, we saw a dramatic increase in traffic to our website — 30% within weeks. We went from 8,000 average visitors to 13,000 in several weeks. That’s continued to grow since then.

We had the largest Springboarder class since we started, and the pandemic actually was a huge booster for our growth. Girls were looking for resources online, and luckily they found us. The feedback we got from the girls we work with directly was that we also were a great source of structure when the rest of their world fell apart. Plus, reading articles written by peers going through the same thing made them feel they weren’t alone. Also, all of our in-person programs are now completely offered online.

Q: What’s been the best thing about working with GirlSpring?

A: Seeing all these young women from different backgrounds and schools come together to work towards a common goal. They all believe in empowering each other, in using their voices to help other girls. They are also all really nice girls — no cliques — it’s very inclusive. They want to see each other succeed.

They all believe in empowering each other, in using their voices to help other girls. ... They want to see each other succeed.

-Kristen Greenwood

Q: If there was one thing you’d want people to know about GirlSpring, what would it be?

A: I think there is a perception that it is a website where girls publish their writing, artwork and poetry. That is only one component of what it is. Although that is important, and valued, I think what the girls get out of it is so much more. It’s the behind the scenes camaraderie of working together to decide on the theme for the month, it’s the women they get to meet as guest speakers at their meetings and the women they interview for podcasts and video interviews, the in-person events like the Wonder Women talks and the STEM fair and career fair and the summer camp. I hope that people will visit our website, Instagram, Facebook, and check us out!