Melinda French Gates Meets Chicago’s Future Leaders

It's important to ensure our resources are going where they can have the most impact. That's why we partner with organizations like G4GC. G4GC has a deep understanding of the communities it serves and a lot of insight into where more resources can make a difference. Through G4GC, we support Polished Pebbles, which is opening pathways to economic opportunity in Chicago by giving young girls a chance to develop leadership skills and learn about career opportunities. At Polished Pebbles, girls learn all sorts of skills that will open up new possibilities for their futures, whether they want to work in the construction trades or be a CEO. I was very impressed by their ambition, and I bet you will be too. My name is Dr. Monique Cufson. I am the president of G4GC, which is a philanthropic intermediary. There is philanthropy, but there's not one kind of philanthropy. There's not one kind of giving. Working through intermediaries means that you're moving in an intentional way to honor the relationships and the expertise that comes with working with those communities who have been historically marginalized within philanthropy and within other sectors. My name is Kelly Fair. I'm the founder and executive director of Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program. For us, we figured the best way to engage girls in embracing communication skills was to use the future workplaces of the campus to do so. So we've created the Polished Pebbles Career Pipeline where girls as young as fifth grade up to high school get opportunities to do job shadows, many internships, and get the full kind of holistic depth and breadth of what it takes to be a really strong girl. We're taking girls from the schoolyards to the future boardrooms. The Polished Pebbles program that works on their social-emotional learning skills creates these partnerships with companies from every industry and sector of folks who say, no, we invest in girls, yes, you matter, and yes, this could be a place in which you can be employed and have a really great life. Polished Pebbles is able to advance sort of a new frame around leadership because they're doing more than just teaching leadership. They're pulling out the inherent leadership of girls. Think about all the ways that girls show up in this world as boss, not bossy, and own that decision-making power and their voice. I am Mayor Katrina Thompson, and I lead the Village of Broadview with an all-female board of trustees. When I was your age, I dreamed of being a journalist. What is your dream? I would like to be a therapist because I want to help people out with their struggling through and stuff. So much of our work is about educating philanthropy on what it means to be in alignment with the values of our community, what the girls themselves say is important to them now and in the future. Okay, so how has Polished Pebbles helped you? By letting all girls know that they can be anything they want to be. I have kind of been not so confident talking to a lot of people, but it has helped me gain my confidence. I would never have guessed that. You seem really confident, both of you. Would you recommend this program? Yes. It helps other girls be more confident about themselves, letting them know that they can be what they want to be. It lets them know just because one person says you can't do it doesn't mean you really can't do it. Very, very true. I had a lot of people in my life tell me I couldn't do certain things. Guess what? I went ahead and did them anyway. And as long as you believe in yourself and you surround yourself with other people who believe in you, you'll do just fine.