Community Service Database: Women

What is Planned Parenthood of New York City? 

Since 1916, Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC) has been an advocate for and provider of reproductive health services and education for New Yorkers. Providing 100,000 patient visits annually, PPNYC’s health care centers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island offer reproductive health services, including gynecological care, contraception, pregnancy testing, abortion, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, HIV testing, prevention and counseling, transgender services, and vasectomy. Through a threefold mission of clinical services, education, and advocacy, PPNYC brings better health and more fulfilling lives to each new generation of New Yorkers. As a voice for reproductive freedom, PPNYC supports legislation and policies to ensure that all New Yorkers will have access to the full range of reproductive health care services and information.

How can I get involved? 

Become an activist: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-greater-new-york/get-involved/activist. 

Become a volunteer: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-greater-new-york/get-involved/volunteer-intern. 

Contact information: 

www.ppnyc.org

Laura McQuade

212-274-7222

laura.mcquade@ppnyc.org

What is Days for Girls?

We increase access to menstrual care and education by developing global partnerships, cultivating Social Enterprises, mobilizing volunteers, and innovating sustainable solutions that shatter stigma and limitations for women and girls.

How do I get involved?

Check out all the volunteer opportunities here for kit-making and advocacy. 

Ambassadors of Women's Health Training (AWH): This online course is perfect for Days for Girls leaders, those distributing DfG Kits and official partners. It qualifies you to deliver the education sessions that accompany every distribution of DfG Kits, using the DfG Ambassador of Women's Health flip-chart with confidence.

Contact information:

Hilary Steinman <hilaryklotzsteinman@gmail.com>

Jill Miller <nyc@daysforgirls.org, daysforgirlsnyc@gmail.com>,

What is (In)Visible Women?

(In)visible Women NYC is a non-profit organization based in the United Nations International School in Manhattan. Our organization started in October 2017. It is run and operated by high school students who have a passion for bettering our community, specifically those who feel that we cannot turn a blind eye to the disadvantaged homeless women around us. "We are centered around helping homeless women in the New York community. Here, thousands of women suffer from homelessness. From job discrimination to lack of affordable housing to child care, women in unstable living conditions face so many challenges. These issues make the everyday life of homeless women immensely difficult and we are committed to providing them with the necessities to help them adjust to shelter life and look to a brighter, safer future. In addition, we strive to prevent readmission into the New York shelter system, as this is a cause for overcrowding among other issues. We host fundraisers, including public storytelling events, bake sales, and raffles, and use those proceeds to help meet the needs of a local transitional women's shelter, The Dwelling Place. " 

How can I get involved?

There are so many ways to support our mission. Contact us to find out more about volunteer opportunities, fundraising events, and ways to get our message to your community.

Contact information:

https://invisiblewomennyc.org/contact-us

https://invisiblewomennyc.org/

United Nations International School (UNIS), 24-50 Fdr Dr, New York, New York 10010, United States

What is Sakhi for South Asian Women?

Sakhi for South Asian Women exists to end violence against women. We unite survivors, communities, and institutions to eradicate domestic violence as we work together to create strong and healthy communities. Sakhi uses an integrated approach that combines support and empowerment through service delivery, community engagement, advocacy, and policy initiatives.
How can I get involved?

Potential internships and opportunities to network with Executive Director. 

Contact information:

www.sakhi.org
Kavita Mehra: 212-714-9153 ext 1002, kavita.mehra@sakhi.org

What is She's the First?

Our vision is a world where every girl chooses her own future. All over the world, girls are treated as second to the boys. That’s why we put girls first. 
Too often, girls are denied an education, told who and when to marry, and blocked from leadership. Educated and respected girls are the exception, not the norm. 

How can I get involved?

In school? Join high school and college students fighting for global education equality and girls’ rights worldwide. The STF Campus Community advocates for all girls to be educated, respected, and heard. Develop your leadership skills, engage with like-minded members, and become informed changemakers alongside your peers.

Use your voice to make the world a better place for girls, with the Global Girls’ Bill of Rights. She’s the First is a proud co-organizer of the Global Girls’ Bill of Rights, which supports the rights that all girls deserve to experience. The declaration was presented to the United Nations on the 2019 International Day of the Girl, reaching over 150M people worldwide that year. Whether you want to amplify the Global Girls’ Bill of Rights online or organize a group of girls in your community, we’ve put together toolkits and resources to help you best use your voice.

Contact information:

https://shesthefirst.org/contact-faqs

Tara Abrahams tara.abrahams@gmail.com

What is the ZanaAfrica Foundation?

Founded in 2007, ZanaAfrica Foundation equips adolescent girls with the tools they need to stay in school and thrive. Working in Kenya, ZanaAfrica provides sanitary pads and rights-based reproductive health education to over 10,000 girls per year, while also leading local and international advocacy efforts to break the period taboo. Working with local community-based organizations (CBOs), policymakers, and other key partners on a local and global level, ZanaAfrica Foundation is a leading voice in elevating menstrual health management as a key priority area for advancing the rights of women and girls and fulfilling four of the Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the UN: Gender Equity, Reduced Inequalities, Quality Education, and Good Health and Well-Being.

The Issue: In Kenya, 2 in 3 girls lack access to sanitary pads. Moreover, at the start of adolescence girls often risk grave violations of their human rights including sexual coercion and violence, early childhood marriage, and circumcision. Such pressures are insurmountable without knowledge of their bodies and rights. There is no mandated menstrual and reproductive health education (MRHE) curriculum in Kenya to deliver this critical help, and communities have ceased convening intergenerational conversations including positive rights of passage for girls as they enter puberty. The result: 60% of girls drop out of school, 47% of teen pregnancies are unintended, girls’ HIV prevalence is 4X that of boys, and 43% of girls’ first sexual encounter is forced or unwanted, yet, 95% of these girls do not know this is a violation of their human rights. These cascading negative outcomes that start at the onset of adolescence, set girls up for a lifetime of disempowerment, and stifle so many young girls’ dreams just at the moment when their world should be opening up. In response, ZanaAfrica takes a holistic approach to help ensure adolescent girls in Kenya have the opportunity to unlock their potential through our three- prong programmatic approach: through creating innovative health education, through delivering pads and education, and through leading policy and advocacy efforts.

How can I get involved?

We develop engaging health and rights education resources for adolescent and teen girls based on the information they seek and need. Nia Teen (http://www.zanaafrica.org/health-education/), our reproductive health and rights magazine, was created by insights from our work with more than 1K girls and is rooted in our database of over 10K real questions collected from girls across Kenya. Nia Teen originated as a comic based on these insights, and expanded to a 52-page magazine designed exclusively by Kenyan female storytellers and illustrators. In collaboration with The Population Council and generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we recently launched a seminal research study called The Nia Project (http://www.zanaafrica.org/research-the-nia-project/), involving more than 5,000 schoolgirls in Kenya, to evaluate the degree to which our rights-based reproductive health education combined with sanitary pads can improve girls’ life outcomes and educational attainment. The Nia Project is the largest study ever conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa to measure the combined effects of pads and health education on girls’ wellbeing.
Recognizing that teen girls across the world face similar challenges and joys when navigating puberty, and therefore may also lack the necessary information that they need to feel confident and informed during adolescence, our aim is to understand how and if Nia Teen’s thematic content resonates with girls across the United States.
We are also keen to explore how girls, across socioeconomic and geographic spectrums, engage with and enjoy the content and information we deliver through Nia Teen. As such, we have started conducting Focus Groups to better understand how our magazine may resonate with adolescent girls in the US as we begin to scale our interventions and specially, Nia Teen. We are hoping to scale this magazine, in the US and think this would be a great opportunity to test the magazine through the NYC Independent schools participating in the Dalton Conference.
Previous US-based focus groups have included students in the Pacific Northwest Area, through the Pacific Science Center, as well as middle and high school students from Greenwich Academy in Greenwich Connecticut, high school students from the Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, and middle and high school students at the Riverstone School in Boise, Idaho.
With this opportunity, ZanaAfrica leadership would give a brief talk on our work and conduct a Focus Group to test the magazine, the guidelines for which we are happy to share in further discussions. We would provide copies of Nia Teen magazine in advance of the workshop for reflection and review. Following our presentation, we then lead the girls in a discussion with approximately 12 questions to ascertain their feedback on the magazine. Our Communications & Development team is based in NYC and can be flexible in terms of dates if given enough notice.

Contact information:

www.zanaafrica.org
Alison Nakamura Netter, Chief Communications & Development Officer: 917-532-3973, alison@zanaafrica.org

What is Womankind?

Womankind uses the multidimensionality of its Asian heritage to work alongside survivors of gender-based violence as they build a path to healing. 

How can I get involved? 

Begin with a 30-minute virtual information session that will cover the onboarding process, current volunteer opportunities, and provide space for any specific questions you may have before applying. Individual volunteer opportunities include helpline supporters, accompaniment volunteers, support group volunteers, tutors and volunteer interpreters and translators.

Contact information: 

More information here: https://www.iamwomankind.org/volunteer/

Extra information/video (from YouthServe NYC speaker series, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SUZ2ZqXfR4