The Girls of She’s the First

She’s the First has a large E-Board, but starting a new club is not an easy task. Leading the club is creator and president Amelia Jimenez (Marketing Communications 2014), Co-Vice Presidents Emily Brownell and Divya Reddy (Marketing Communications 2014 and Marketing Communications 2013), Secretary Chelsey Falco (WLP 2014), Co-Treasurers Samantha Gordon and Jessica Nicholson (Writing for Film and Television 2014 and Marketing Communications 2014), and Programmer Kanika Misra (Marketing Communications 2014). Together, these girls are bringing the She’s the First mission of educating young girls in third world countries around the world.
 
An admirable mission first started by Tammy Tibbetts about 2 years ago, She’s the First is a national organization with branches in 11 other schools. Emerson’s all started when Jimenez combined her interest in nonprofits with a summer internship assignment. After creating a marketing plan, she realized “I wanted to take it back to Emerson…their mission is something students in college can get behind.”
 
This was not an easy transition to make, but all board members have previous experience with nonprofits and know it’s not always an easy path. First, you must get followers, which Emily Brownell is in charge of. As head of the marketing department for inside Emerson, promoting the club and all it’s events. Her co-marketing chair Kanika Misra focuses on marketing outside Emerson, searching for donors and support form the Boston community. Once the money is gathered, Jessica Nicholson and Samantha Gordon ensure that it gets to the national organization.  
 
So, why would all of these girls put in so much effort when starting a new club is, as Nicholson puts it, “probably one of the most intimidating things in the world,” well, it all has to do with the mission. Chelsey Falco says, “I want to help other people achieve” and Divya Reddy believes, “educating girls is the answer to many of the serious problems facing third world nations and…more awareness and funds really need to be dedicated to this cause.” Their first mission is to raise the $300 needed to give a group of girls in Guatemala food, uniforms, and an after-school program.  
 
These girls intend to keep their promise to the Guatemalan girls who are awaiting their education. Samantha Gordon says, “I hope this club gets enough hype that we can take on new cases and help multiple girls at a time.” After only a month in existence, they are already on track to reach their goal and have multiple events planed for the rest of the semester. Divya Reddy has been hard at work as the event committee leader with two events in the coming weeks.
 
First, look out for the Halloween costume contest. Not a traditional contest, they are using Facebook for most of the competition. If you’re interested, during the week of Halloween, register at a table where you will make a $1 donation as entry into the competition, then take a picture of yourself in costume, tag She’s the First in it, who will compile all of the photos and then the voting begins!
 
The following week She’s the First is also having Cupcake Week. Between November 1^st and 8^th, they will be selling tie-dyed cupcakes and hosting an array of contests and events to promote the mission of She’s the First. Emerson is one of 75 teams across the country and Sydney, Australia that has signed up. At the end of the week, pictures will be uploaded to a website where you can vote, the winning team gets a prize. All proceeds are donated to the national organization. Nicholson hopes is a “unifying thing that everybody can do that will hopefully become recognizable.”
 
Chelsey Falco has been hard at work on the social media for She’s the First and has created an impressive amount of platforms to connect with the people of Emerson. With a combination of facts, questions, statistics, information on upcoming events, it has everything you need to know about She’s the First Emerson. If you want help the girls of She’s the First educate the next generation, you can join the club by emailing the board at emerson@shesthefirst.org. Or if you’d like to learn even more about STF by following them on Twitter at @STF_emerson, like them on Facebook at STF Emerson, or explore their Tubmlr at She’s the First Emerson.