Naomi Lilly

Backstage Capital is a venture capital fund investing in the best startups led by underrepresented founders in the U.S.

Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) works intergenerationally, through a Black feminist lens, to center Black girls and nonbinary and gender-expansive young people of color in policy and advocacy, direct service and culture change work to achieve gender and racial justice. We believe that widespread violence against women and girls of color in particular points to deeply rooted racial and gender discrimination that must be tackled as a peace-building and human rights priority. As a Brooklyn, New York-based coalition-building and youth development organization, GGE acts as a catalyst for change to improve gender and race relations and socio-economic conditions for our most vulnerable youth and communities of color. Through our signature programs Sisters in Strength, the Young Womens Advisory Council (YWAC), and JustUs we mobilize young people ages 14-24 to deeply engage civically and socially with their communities and the wider world around them. Then, through intergenerational organizing for just policies, our staff works to create the world our young people deserve.

Bipartisan public affairs firm driving outcomes for our partners that achieve their goals and build value in today’s policy and political landscape.

Backstage Capital is a venture capital fund investing in the best startups led by underrepresented founders in the U.S.

Building Brij - A community tool for mentorship in media

The Partnership for Appalachian Girls’ Education seeks to inspire and empower underserved rural girls through education. Now in its 8th year, PAGE offers innovative learning opportunities for girls in grades 6-9, a mentoring program for 9th grade girls, and high school internships for rural girls with college dreams. At our demonstration site, PAGE serves girls in Madison County, North Carolina, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Even girls living in remote hollers and rural communities have access to high-quality, out-of-school learning opportunities across the school year and over the summer. With these learning opportunities, PAGE is providing girls with 21st century skills they can someday invest back into their future families and into North Carolina’s mountain communities. Our goal is to help rural girls and young women create futures that include greater confidence and success in middle school and high school, graduation from high school, and postsecondary education. A highlight of PAGE each year is an academically rigorous but fun summer program – offered free of charge to girls in Madison County’s most rural and economically distressed areas. Over four years in grades 6-9, girls learn advanced technology and literacy skills in our Digital Learning Lab, benefit from intimate book reading and discussion groups, form life-changing bonds with successful undergraduates, and enjoy extended stays on college campuses. Our 11-month program culminates each year in July with a final Exhibition. At this event, our students share their learning, their stories, and their dreams with family and community members, our PAGE partners, special guests, and friends of the PAGE initiative.