g4g@Brussels 2013 -??? Whats going to be YOUR favourite moment? 
 

Join us for our next greenlight for girls day in Brussels on Saturday November 16th at the International School of Brussels and experience your own great g4g moment!

Our signature one‐day girl‐focused event demonstrates the fun in science through hands‐on workshops and activities run by volunteer role models in STEM fields. 

We are calling all girls aged 11 - 15 to come and join us on this fun day. We invite girls from any school in Brussels and as we conduct workshops in EN, FR and NL all languages are welcome! 

Here is how to get involved:

Girls: Pre-Register Here and get an email reminder when registration opens on October 26th!

Volunteers and Workshop Leaders: If you would like to volunteer or are in the STEM field yourself and would love to give a workshop follow this link and send us your information so that we may contact you!

Sponsors and Partners: We are looking for organisations to help us finance the event and sponsor the activities. If you believe we could partner together on brining this event forward this year please send an email to us on nevena@greenlightforgirls.org! 

We look forward to seeing you on November 16th! 

Impressions from our first greenlight for girls day in Athens

On Saturday, 12 October 2013, girls from the ages of 9 to 13 were invited to an all-day science day to encourage their studies and future careers in STEM subjects.  October 12th marked the launch of greenlight for girls’ activities in Greece.
 
Hosted by the Campion School located in the Pallini area, girls from near-by schools, both public and private, were invited to participate.  Melissa Rancourt, Founder of greenlight for girls and an engineer & entrepreneur, introduced the event to the sixty girls in attendance.  “These young girls are our future,” says Ms. Rancourt, “already at this young age, they demonstrate the drive and energy to pursue their dreams and the great potential to be a contributor to the science and technological advances that will only continue to be a part of our everyday lives.”  She continues, “Science is everywhere and this is what we wish to demonstrate.”
 
The greenlight for girls day consisted of several hands-on, fun workshops showing the various facets of science – from the linkage of art and mathematics, the computer programming skills to animate drawings and to create mobile phone apps, the different engineering professions, the everyday science we find in the kitchen, how to make lightning and discovering the DNA of a banana. 
 
Our survey results immediately following the event demonstrated that 93% of the participants wish to continue their studies in math and science.  This significant result helps to identify the potential of this type of event to encourage children.  More than 25% of the children admitted to feeling anxious about math and science prior to the day – and during the event, several comments were often heard about feeling uncertain about understanding – or even liking – math and science.   Ms. Rancourt states,“It is important to engage and encourage everyone, girls and boys – and adults, to learn basic skills in math and science as this can be a part of any future career.  In greenlight for girls, we work with both girls and boys in various activities.  This day is one event designed for girls – and we hope that by doing so, we can change the statistics we see of the number of women who take up STEM-related careers.  Today’s results give us great hope.  There is much more we can do – but this is an important beginning.”
 

Watch the Video of our event in Athens Here!

Many years ago, too many to admit, I met an entrepreneur who I decided to stalk.  Now this probably wasn’t real stalking (social media hadn’t been invented yet), but I did find every article written about her and I figured out a way to meet her and interview her for one of my MBA assignments.  I remember we had this amazing, insightful conversation.  However brief in actual time spent, I learned volumes.  She probably didn’t know that she became my silent mentor from that day forward – just from that one conversation.  She fascinated me.
 
From all the sage advice I soaked in, I can still hear her say this to me, “every week, I take one young professional out to lunch.” She told me that she felt it was her duty as a professional, as an engineer and as a business owner to encourage others to follow their aspirations.  She told me that if professionals do not take this time to give back to others, then we are not doing our job.  To me, she was the ultimate entrepreneur and I wanted to follow in her footsteps.
 
I am reflecting on this now as I’ve come to the revelation that I spend much of my time, with great enjoyment, meeting and encouraging potential rising stars at every and any age and background.  But, I didn’t do this consciously, meaning that I haven’t woken up every morning for the past 10 years and said, “I must mentor someone today – who will it be?” 
 
I am thinking about all of this at the moment as I sit in a café in a little town on the top of one of the Cadeia do Espinhao mountains in Brazil.  I am waiting for a young, eager group of university grads to come join me for lunch.  During my work here in the area, they have found me and asked to talk to me about their ideas to start a company.  They are asking for my advice and to learn from what I’ve learned in starting 3 companies in the same amount of years.  In fact, they’ve invited me to lunch.

I love doing this.  I love having a chance to talk to anyone who is seeking something more in their profession and in their life.  I don’t have the answers.  I have learned some things and I have many more things to learn – and this is what I tell them.  Sometimes, it helps just to have a listening ear with someone who can inspire you to take a leap and try a direction that may put you towards your goals.  I have had this someone in my life, many ‘someones’ in fact.  I enjoy the fact that I could be this someone to even one person.  The reality is that I take inspiration from the same people that seek it from me.

So, dear professionals in any field and at any age, I encourage you to reach out and invite others to learn from your own story.  Don’t be afraid to share what you’ve learned, even if and especially if you feel you had more setbacks than successes.  The greatest entrepreneurs (and intrapreneurs) in the world will tell you that they have failed many more times than they have succeeded.  (Some of my funniest stories are from when I have “failed”.)  The reality is that others will see what you have accomplished – and sharing what you have learned with others will give you a greater sense of what you have achieved. 
I shall repeat what my adopted mentor told me, “It is your duty to help others to reach their dreams.”  We all have stories to share.  We can all learn from each other’s stories.  Take someone out to lunch.  Invite a conversation over coffee.  Listen with your eyes and with your heart.  Share what you have learned.
 
During my week here, I had the extreme pleasure to meet 355 young girls, ages 9 to 19, from this small town in Brazil.  I had spent the day with them showing the fun in science and sharing my stories of how I became an engineer.   As I was leaving the event, and after 355 hugs and facebook photos, a 14-year old girl quickly ran to her teacher to ask her how to translate a sentence from Portuguese into English.  She ran up to me and whispered in my ear, “You fascinate me.”
 
Dear Professionals, you have a job to do.