Our Vision
A world where self-acceptance empowers all girls to be their best, bold and beautiful self - inside and out.
This is the BIO Girls vision.
For the past 7 years I have served as a volunteer site director at the Olivet (Fargo) site. Yes, I founded BIO Girls and am blessed to be able to work full-time for the organization, but I continue to serve as a volunteer leading the 12-week session at the original location. I truly LOVE this work which allows me to get know and lead 35+ girls each spring, many of whom have left a lasting impact on me.
Once in a while we are blessed to hear the impact the BIO Girls program has had on a participant from their parents. Often, we can literally SEE the growth in confidence from the beginning of the season to end. But, in most cases as the program concludes we as volunteers never fully understand the difference we have made in the lives of our participants.
This past week, I was able to meet up with two past participants who shared what BIO Girls meant to them. The first was a surprise visit from E. She’s now a sophomore at Fargo South and participated in the first 2 years of the Olivet program. She was visiting BIO Girls with her PAY group from school. I didn’t even recognize her because she has grown a foot. But as soon as she introduced herself, I was swept back to those first two seasons. She shared that her mentor was influential and that she had so much fun, there was no pressure. She and her bestie often ran the workouts holding hands. I still have the thank you card I received from her after the season, dated May 3rd , 2013.
The second young lady I sat down with is a more recent ‘graduate’ of our program. She participated for 4 years and will serve as a junior mentor this year. I knew G benefited from BIO Girls from a few things her mom shared with me during drop off last season, but was blown away hearing it from her point of view. I have known G for 4 ½ years and had no idea the impact we have had on her life. She had me in happy tears given the confidence she spewed. G is going to be brave enough to share her story at our You Be You event on April 5, 2019. Don’t miss out!
The conversation with these two young ladies made me think back to our mission and vision. BIO Girls is working to empower ALL girls. We may never know the impact we have on most of our participants, but I believe the majority are like E and G - growing more confident and gaining important skills by being a BIO Girl.
1,200 participants in 2019. That’s not ALL girls, but it’s a great start.