Girls Gotta Run Partners with the Global Girl Project

GGRF Student-Athletes recently led a community awareness session as part of the Global Girl Leadership Initiative.

Girls Gotta Run student-athletes in Soddo recently completed the 11-week Global Girl Leadership Initiative (GGLI), a program developed by the Global Girl Project, a not-for-profit organization that mobilizes girls around the globe for social change through community development and social action.

The GGLI is a three-month facilitated program that helps girls build confidence in their voices and leadership, explore social issues affecting their communities, and plan and deliver their own community event. In weekly sessions, girls participate in a bespoke leadership curriculum that helps them explore different models of leadership from around the world. They also gain practical skills in project design, planning, and community action.

“The Global Girl Leadership Initiative challenged our student-athletes to think beyond themselves and recognize the role they can play in creating positive change in their own communities,” said GGRF Executive Director Blaine Kebede. “It encouraged them to lead boldly and embrace their role as changemakers, while reinforcing what's possible when organizations come together to invest in girls.”

That mindset was reflected in the students’ final project. Building on the lessons learned during the GGLI, GGRF’s student-athletes identified human trafficking, modern slavery, and unsafe migration practices as issues within their community that needed more education and advocacy. To cap off their 11 weeks in the program, they developed and led a day-long session focused on the ways women and girls in Ofa Gandaba—a neighborhood within Wolaitta Soddo—become victims of exploitation, abuse, forced labor, and other forms of modern slavery.

Utilizing several communication tactics—including Q&A segments, debate, dramatic performances, and poetry—the girls educated families and young people about the risks of this exploitation, encouraged informed decision-making, and inspired their community to stand together against these challenges.

“Ofa Gandaba is one of the areas where many people migrate to other countries, including underage girls through unsafe channels,” said GGRF Soddo Program Manager Kidist Daniel. “Raising community awareness is essential to protecting vulnerable individuals and promoting safe, informed decisions.”

Following the training in Ofa Gandaba, the GGRF’s student-athletes conducted an external awareness campaign, asking community members along the roadside if they were aware of the risks and consequences of unsafe migration, if they knew what someone should do if they suspect a case of human trafficking, and where suspected trafficking cases can be reported. While conducting their canvassing, the girls wore self-designed t-shirts that included the phrase “:ህገወጥ የሰዎች ዝውውር እና ዘመናዊ ባርነት እንግታ!” on the back. This translates to “Let us stop human trafficking and modern slavery!”

“The awareness session had an immediate and meaningful impact on several community members,” noted Daniel. “A young woman shared that she had already decided to migrate abroad and was looking for a loan to cover the costs of transportation, documentation, and the migration process. After participating in the awareness session, she reconsidered her decision. She explained that she no longer planned to migrate through unsafe means and instead intended to use the money she would have spent on migration to start a small business in her local community.”

The GGLI reaches girls at local organisations and schools that work with marginalised girls aged 13 to 18 across the Global Majority. Upon graduating from the program, each participant receives a grant towards their continuing education and becomes part of the Global Girl Project’s changemaking network, Global Graduates Connect (GGC).

“We’re especially proud that this marks the first time Girls Gotta Run has delivered the Global Girl Leadership Initiative, and what an inspiring start it has been,” said the Global Girl Project on social media. “Together, we’ve seen girls step into leadership with courage, compassion, and purpose.”