Our firm has been dedicated to the success and prosperity of girls and women since its founding. Dr. Shanesha Brooks-Tatum, Creative Research Solutions’ (CRS) Executive Vice President, has led various projects that focus on improving the outcome of women and girls of color. CRS believes that investments in programs and policies that center women will lead to healthy, sustainable communities where barriers are uncovered and obliterated so that women and girls can reach their fullest potential.
In accordance with this commitment, Dr. Brooks-Tatum led an impact evaluation from 2010 to 2015 of the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up Campaign. Girl Up is “a global movement of empowered young women leaders who defend gender equality.” The campaign aims to empower girls by 1) helping girls go to school and stay in school, 2) ensuring access to health and nutrition information, 3) preventing and protecting them from gender-based violence, 4) building their skills as leaders and provide opportunities to lead, and 5) ensuring that the girls have access to their basic civil rights. Girl Up clubs are operated by girls and women who educate, empower, and engage with girls through various programs and events, such as movie screenings and fashion shows.
The purpose of our work was to document the impact of the movement, identify the characteristics of participants, and how to improve upon existing infrastructure to better support employees and other personnel. We evaluated various components of the Girl Up movement operation including its strategies towards fundraising, advocacy and awareness, and leadership. After five years, we found that research participants experienced a 92% increase in social and political participation and a 77% increase in self-esteem. CRS offered recommendations to the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up Campaign, such as cost-benefit analysis and ways to better coordinate resources to continue this positive trend as they grew internationally.
Currently, Girl Up operates programming in over 13 countries with an impact that reached 48,000 girls and counting. Our firm is proud to have assisted the campaign with its mission to empower the next generation of women. CRS will continue to support organizations like Girl Up through our comprehensive approaches to research and evaluation. We value partnerships with organizations who would benefit from our services by documenting their successes and enabling continued growth. Contact us at info@creativeresearchsolutins.com to learn how we can support your mission.