In Berlin’s dynamic heart three extraordinary women crossed paths, united by a powerful idea. Christina Limbird, Chineme Ugbor, and Courtney Adams, driven by a shared vision of empowerment and a relentless belief in the potential of young women, co-founded Girls Gearing Up (GGU). This initiative wasn’t born from mere chance; it was the culmination of years of dedication to education, peacebuilding, and the unwavering commitment to foster a world where girls can lead with confidence and grace. From Iowa’s open fields (Christina), Nigeria’s vibrant communities (Chineme), to California’s sunny shores (Courtney), their journeys led them to Berlin, where their paths converged. Together, they’ve created a space for learning, growth, and inspiration, proving that when diverse minds unite for a common cause, the impact can resonate across the globe, one girl at a time.

Fascinated by their passion and dedication, I met these three game changers to learn more about them and to look behind the scenes of “Girls Gearing Up”. Christina is a visionary in education and empowerment, she leverages over 15 years of expertise to champion educational inclusivity and uplift teen girls worldwide. Chineme worked through the complexities of coordinating development programs in conflict zones and mentoring youths entangled in the juvenile justice system. California native Courtney Adams’ global journey through Austria, the Czech Republic, India, and now France, reflects her unwavering commitment to youth empowerment and peacebuilding.

How did you meet and what inspired you to start Girls Gearing Up?

Courtney:  Tina and I met on the first day of University at Earlham College in Indiana and have been close friends ever since. In 2002, we founded our first non-profit organization, The Youthbridge Initiative, dedicated to building bridges of peace and cultivating civic engagement among youth in post-conflict Croatia. And then Chi and Tina worked together when Chi was a school counselor and mentor at Berlin Brandenburg International School and Tina was the head of student services.

Christina: In 2012, Courtney and I went to the WIN (Women’s International Networking Conference) together. It was the first time we had been in an almost exclusively female environment and the energy was incredible. I turned to Courtney and said: “Just imagine the impact, if we had been here when we were teenagers”. This was the lightbulb moment that sparked Girls Gearing Up.

Chineme: The three of us met for the first time at an outside table at Knofi on Bergmannstrasse and GGU took off from there. We started with a question – What if we could create an empowering summer camp for teen girls? If we could bring girls from diverse backgrounds together to build their confidence, gain tangible skills for their further education and career journeys, get inspired by female role models, and prepare to take action on issues that matter to them – would it make a difference?

Throughout 2014, Courtney and I had regular skype meetings to conceptualize the program, including our pillars – grow confidence, get equipped, be inspired, be the change, to make our first website and brochures, and to prepare the launch of our pilot program in July 2015.

And when and how did it start then?

Courtney: In 2015 for that first week, we were a volunteer team of four – Christina, Chi, Courtney and Sheila, a really wonderful artist/youth worker. We did pre-, midweek, and post surveys which clearly showed the effectiveness of the program, but it was watching the girls grow every day, stepping out of their comfort zones and trying new things, using their voices, and lifting each other up- that really convinced us. By the end of the week, we knew we had to continue.

Christina: We added some in-person workshops in Berlin during the 2015/2016 school year, and our cohorts grew organically each year through 2019, when we had 31 girls from 13 countries. In 2020 when Covid started, as we were unable to bring girls together, we did an 11 week online program from June to August. Through this experience, we became more confident in our ability to reach girls, build connections, and create impact online – so we continued to build out online discussion groups and events. In 2021 we launched in-person hubs in India and Malawi, as it was still impossible to bring girls from outside of Germany to our summer academy.

What have been / are your biggest challenges?

Courtney: We received our first big funding in December 2018 for our 2019 program. This was bittersweet as we received the news one week after I entered the hospital for leukemia treatment and it was clear I would not be able organize the 2019 Academy. The good news was that the funding allowed us to hire someone on a freelance basis to do the administration and organization throughout 2019, so the Academy could go on as planned.

Christina: Our biggest challenge has been and continues to be funding. We are still a mostly volunteer organization and it remains our challenge to make a big impact with limited resources. It is sometimes hard for donors to understand the resource-intensive nature of our program. We know that the week-long Academy is incredibly impactful both in the short and long term (based on quantitative and qualitative data), but it is also very costly both in terms of the time it takes to organize and implement, and the cost of hosting girls for a week.

Courtney: In our first years, it was sometimes a challenge to help people understand what we are doing and why it’s important. Many people expressed the belief that we live in a post-feminist world, and/or wondered why our programs would be necessary at this point. But over time, participant testimonials and word of mouth, along with collaboration with organizations and schools that recognize the role we are playing in supporting teen girls, have led to us expecting the biggest group ever in 2024 WITH a waiting list. Now my big challenge is having to turn motivated teen girls away.

Chimene: Post covid, it has been increasingly challenging to get visas for interested girls especially coming from the global south, which is disheartening and feels very unfair for them. We are learning to plan much further in advance.

Could you share an instance where you witnessed the tangible impact of GGU on a participant, and how did it reinforce your commitment to the mission?

Courtney: Leandra was 13 when I met her at the pilot of our Girls Gearing Up International Leadership Academy. Leandra was ambitious about all the ways she wanted to bring about social change. But she was also shy and often hid behind her long bangs.

On the last night of the Leadership academy, we had an anything goes show. Not a talent show. A show in which EVERYONE has to participate in some way and share SOMETHING. ANYTHING.  So Leandra went on stage. She explains that in the past year when her mom took her books away because it was time to sleep, she learned PI (the mathematical number) to the 67th decimal point – to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

Now THAT is unique.

And Leandra begins, very tentatively at first to sing to us PI to the tune of twinkle twinkle little star. 3.14159 …..

And before she even got to the 40th decimal point, a whole room full of teenage girls were on their feet cheering and clapping in an almost ecstatic appreciation and recognition of her courage and her individuality, and her own unique MAGIC. And when she finished, a whole room full of teenage girls stormed the stage.

Christina: In the years since the triumph of the PI song, Leandra helped found our Youth Advisory Board, started an LGBTQ club at her highschool, gave a Tedx talk on identity, did an internship on policy making for Gender, Security, and Human Rights. It is just amazing to see these young girls

Reflecting on your journey with GGU, what key leadership lessons have you learned that could inspire future female leaders?

Courtney: One thing that we tell the girls again and again:

Being a leader starts with leading yourself. If you show up with empathy and compassion, stand up for what you believe in, and consistently put in the work to turn your dreams into reality – you will also motivate and inspire others to join you.

We have consistently and clearly seen that young women from all over the world aspire to lead with empowerment, inclusiveness, respect, and unity. We do an activity that explores the types of power, participants see being used by leaders around them and those they would like to use as leaders themselves. In 2017 we asked the group if they thought there was a model of female leadership. They said not yet, but that their generation would create it. Every summer since then we have witnessed this younger generation creating new models that better serve everyone.

Chimene: And – one of our favorite mottos is: Behind every successful woman is her own hand, reaching out to pull a sister up.

Looking ahead, what are some of the innovative ways GGU plans to expand its reach and deepen its impact on empowering young women globally?

Courtney: Digitalization is our goal and way to reach more girls. We are turning our Leadership Academy curriculum into a modular curriculum with photos and how-to videos that can be used for in school and after-school programs anywhere in the world. Our goal is to provide the curriculum and online facilitator training to interested organizations, clubs, and schools so that the GGU message and values can reach more girls everywhere.

We are expanding our online resource library and building on online events so that girls can become part of a global community and learn about a wide variety of topics without requiring a passport or expensive travel.

Christina: One of our middle-term goals is to create a GGU app, through which all of our alumna can be connected to each other (support, resource sharing, connection) to the women in our GGU network (mentorship, internship opportunities, guidance), and to participation opportunities (GGU online events and resources including skillbuilding videos and materials as well as external conferences, seminars, etc.)

And finally, beyond financial support, what are the most impactful ways individuals and organizations can contribute to advancing GGU’s mission?

Christina: We are always happy for people to join us as mentors for our 12 month one on one mentoring program. We have just matched our 2024 cohort so don’t need mentors urgently right now, but would be very thrilled for interested women to join us in the future. The application link is here:

https://www.girlsgearingup.org/application-become-a-mentor

Courtney: We are currently building our online resource library with skillsharing videos which are used by our mentoring pairs. The videos are basic how-to guides on a number of topics and a generally max 10 minutes long. We would be very happy to hear from anyone who has a skill they would be willing to share in this way. Some topics we are looking to include are:

Dealing with challenges and failure (resilience & growth mindset), How to have difficult conversations, Atomic habits or something along these lines, Values, character, and identity (identity mapping), Self-sufficiency/ self efficacy…

Thank you for this inspiring answers!