Giving is good…on Giving Tuesday and the other 364 days a year!

We’re keeping the giving vibe alive this week by focusing on female founders who built non-profit organizations or who have incorporated social responsibility into their core businesses.  All week long, we’ll be sharing stories of women who give back.

Today’s focus is on three women who are inspiring the next generations to make changes in their lives and the lives of those around them. Let’s teach our children well!

Code & Prosper!
Resma Saujani, the first Indian-American woman to run for US Congress in 2010, visited dozens of schools on the campaign trail and witnessed low female enrollment in computing classes, despite the rapid rise in tech jobs. Welcome Girls Who Code. Founded in 2012, the organization now reaches 10,000 girls in 42 states through its clubs and summer immersion programs. Saujani and her team are unleashing girls’ unlimited potential and expanding their career opportunities. (Fast Company says that coding is the most important skill of the future!)

Save Our Earth!
Grades of Green launched in Manhattan Beach, CA on Earth Day 2010 after a parent-led environmental education program sparked cries of “may we copy your model?” from surrounding towns. Fast forward 10 years to a digital community, enabling green activities for 250,000 K-12 students in 40 states and nine countries.

Co-founder Kim Lewand Martin is committed to teaching kids how to protect the planet. Says Martin, “When my daughter started kindergarten, I volunteered to help get harmful cleaning supplies out of her school. At the time, I was an environmental lawyer, and loved my job, but my work with students showed me I could make an even bigger difference in a classroom than I could in a courtroom.” Grades of Green now champions a broad range of student-empowering activities, from Electricity Challenges to Trash-free Lunches to No Idle Zones, all designed to make green living an integral and fun part of education.

Overcome Obstacles and Believe in Yourself!
Founders tackling major societal issues, like Sharon Content and her Brooklyn-based Children of Promise NYC, know the importance of coming to work inspired and energized every day. Content set up shop in the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn to provide after school programs, counseling and other hands-on support to children of incarcerated parents and the caregivers stepping in to raise them; a community Content calls a “forgotten population.” Seven years in, the organization has raised more than $5 million  and supported 1,000 children out of their Brooklyn office, Content plans to open a South Bronx facility 2017, but success means more than growth and fundraising. “There’s a certain energy I need to bring every day to motivate my team and for that energy to ultimately spread to all the families we serve. Inspiration, motivation are just as important to our success as our long-term business plan,” says Content.

Ready to lend a hand?  Last year’s Giving Tuesday (November 29th) effort raised $116 million with over 700,000 people taking part. But every Tuesday (and Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) can be a day for giving too…beyond just check-writing. As the Giving Tuesday website says, you can help by “giving a gift of your time, donations, goods or your voice.”

sheBOOMS and sheGIVES…all week long!