Last Spring, CMU’s Center for Professional and Personal Ethics brought in Linsday Hyde, founder of “Strong Women, Strong Girls” (SWSG). Her goal with SWSG was to create an after-school program that is committed to nurturing and mentoring at-risk girls between the ages of 7-11. You can visit the website HERE.
Lindsay Hyde, Director of SWSG
What is so extraordinary about Lindsay, and SWSG itself, is where it came from. It began in a philosophy class Lindsay took at her public high school in Miami, Florida. She, herself, developed a close relationship with her teacher—a woman who believed in her capacity to be and do whatever she wanted. With the support of this teacher, Lindsay was able to attend Harvard University. It was there that she and a few other women at Harvard began by calling schools in the Boston area offering a free, after school mentoring program. The response was not immediate; however, as more and more schools began to see the power of mentoring, and particularly with girls of this age group, SWSG caught on. They now have a second location in Pittsburgh and are continuing to expand.
We (CMU’s Center for Professional and Personal Ethics) interviewed Lindsay for our radio show, EthicsTalk. You can listen to the podcast HERE (look under “Archives,” episode from 4/2/2009).
The beauty of a program like SWSG is that it encapsulates what I believe education ought to be. It makes knowledge, encouragement, and nurturing available to a demographic that is seen as disadvantaged. Often, (at least from what I’ve seen, and please correct me if I’m wrong) the tendency with at-risk youth, in terms of educators, is simply seeking an outcome that allows for survival. In other words, it does not always go above and beyond in encouraging at-risk students to seek out and achieve their dreams. Yet, this is precisely what SWSG does— it provides the kind of hope and encouragement that is necessary to overcome the expectations.
For this, strong women and girls everywhere thank Lindsay and SWSG.
