Inspiring a Future Generation of Leaders

At Girls Inc. Carpinteria, the work of empowering girls to ensure they have the tools to reach their full potential has a long-standing tradition. Girls Inc. serves girls ages 5-18 through after-school, summer, and enrichment programs that inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold.

Girls Inc. outreach programs in partnership with the Carpinteria Unified School District provide literacy intervention to girls in K-3rd grade, ensuring girls are on track to read at grade level. Their work continues into middle and high school, where the nonprofit’s paid staff provides comprehensive sexual education to young women and men. Another pillar is Eureka!, an intensive, five-year STEM-based education program in which Carpinteria girls receive hands-on support in science, technology, engineering, and math starting in the eighth grade and seeing them through the end of high school. Combining college and career preparation, the program exposes girls to diverse career paths and a continual support system as they navigate the high school years, begin to establish life goals, and look ahead to higher education.

The Carpinteria nonprofit also hosts multiple community workshops in partnership with public, private, and nonprofit institutions to connect the community and families to local resources and provide education on topics such as scholarship assistance, substance-abuse prevention, and parent workshops. 

“The unique thing about Carpinteria is that we are small enough that we are really able to build a resource hub around our families,” says Executive Director Jamie Collins.

The focus on early developmental support is crucial, Collins says, providing more than 1,000 youth each year in the Carpinteria Valley and Ventura County with the foundation they need to grow up healthy, educated, and independent by encouraging girls to discover and develop their inherent strengths.

Collins tells the story of a single father who in 2021 put his young daughter into the Girls Inc. Summer Program. The family received a one hundred percent scholarship to the program, preparing the young girl for kindergarten while the father searched for a job to get back on his feet.

By the end of the summer, the father sent a thank-you card that remains in the Girls Inc. Carpinteria office today.

“My accident-prone, constant complainer, never prepared, always late child is now ready for kindergarten,” the card reads. “Without each one of you, I truly would have had a different summer and I’ll be forever thankful.”