Spreading awareness and information about gender equality related topics.

From club meetings where members have the chance to partake in advocacy workshops and explore relevant issues to events open to the public meant to educate and engage individuals from the McMaster and Hamilton community, most of Girl Up’s initiatives feature an element of advocacy. Recently, we had the privilege of planning and hosting the empowHER Virtual Summit, which featured empowering woman-identifying guest speakers including Mac alum Dr. Samantha Nutt, Dr. Caitlin Mullarkey, and Leah McNab, Managing Director of NBA Canada and was enjoyed by over 50 attendees. This summit exemplifies our club’s efforts to provide the community with access to acclaimed and inspiring female perspectives and information on current social justice topics. 

Raising money and awareness for issues on both local and global levels.

Our goal is to use certain activities and events to fundraise for local organizations, such as women’s shelters in Hamilton, as well as United Nations Foundation Girl Up campaign initiatives like the Give Her a Future campaign, which provides refugee girls with the resources they need in order to get an education.  We also plan to release club merchandise, with a portion of the profits going to a local Hamilton women’s shelter.  

Involving students in community engagement through hands-on initiatives such as partnering with local businesses and our mentorship program with Mission Services of Hamilton.

Thus far, we have had the opportunity to do a social media ‘giveaway’ in support of local businesses such as Planted and SPINCO. We are currently in the process of organizing a mentorship program in partnership with local schools with the goal of connecting high school students with undergraduate students to learn about their experiences and to discuss important topics such as bullying, body image, violence against women, Indigenous rights, and more. 

Engaging club members in experiences that foster leadership and critical thinking skills - such as creating content for our online platforms, participating in and leading advocacy workshops, and building collaborative skills through creativity-based activities.

Girl Up enables its club members to get involved in many unique ways in the hopes of instilling valuable skills and a sense of empowerment within each member. (Keep your eyes peeled for more opportunities to get involved in 2021!) Whether a club member wishes to contribute to our website, make a post for our social media, mentor a high school student, or publicize a fundraiser, they will be happy to find that our inclusive club offers a variety of ways for them to get involved.