OUR MISSION

With Berry Powerful Ladies (BPL), girls ages 13 to 24 visit women on their job sites working in various careers, attend social, cultural, and political events, and participate in leadership seminars. BPL wants to expose young girls and women to as many choices in life as we can because we believe that when we empower girls, they empower our communities.

San Francisco native Gloria Berry established BPL in 2014 as she emerged from a particularly difficult time in her life and reflected on the women in her youth who had taught her the survival tactics she needed in a world that seems to try to take girls’ and women’s power from us.

BPL operates at a very practical level in its work to build girls’ up by deepening and widening their understandings of what’s possible. Girls sign up for our program, and when events come up, we contact those on our list, confirm attendees, and go!

Bringing girls places is a deceptively simple strategy. In fact, BPL’s impact on girls and our communities is multifaceted:

1. BPL girls learn their options. BPL believes that it is not enough to tell young people that they can do anything, but to give them some ideas for what “anything” could be! While many of them grew up knowing of only a few career choices – doctor, lawyer, police officer, princess – when they go places with BPL, girls start to see themselves as potential graphic designers, contractors, coders, financial planners, museum curators, community organizers, copywriters, etc.

2. BPL girls network. When they visit women on the job or attend an event with us, girls meet other girls and women who are all invested in one another’s success.

3. BPL girls learn by doing. They know quite literally how to get there. They know how to navigate the city and the wider Bay Area. They know what to do in the intimidating lobby of a company, how to participate in a city council meeting.

4. BPL girls have wider access to the world. When we take girls to the opera or a gallery opening, they develop the unseen cultural capital behind social status. They get Shakespeare references.

5. BPL are mentored by their drivers and hosts. We know that going places is not enough if we don’t spend the car ride listening to girls, showing that we care about their day-to-day lives, their fears, their hopes.

6. BPL girls contribute to their communities. Whether by actively working to lift up those around them or just by being positive models, BPL girls give back what they get.

As a solely volunteer driven organization, Berry Powerful Ladies has proven to be a successful model. With grant funding, we could hire a full-time staff member to enhance this success through active recruitment of girls and increased event scheduling.