Girl Up Club
Shaping the world with Girl Up
Olivia Solorzano '26
Design Editor
Girl Up is a global club centered on women’s leadership and promoting equity for all genders, founded in 2010 by the United Nations Foundation. Since then, it has become a worldwide movement for girls of all ages to advocate for fellow women. Schools have Girl Up clubs to lead and inspire girls to create the change they want to see for themselves and future generations.
Louisville is lucky enough to have our own Girl Up club, run by Mrs. Marconet, who was inspired to start this club by a student she had ten years ago named Tess Richman.
“Out of all the clubs I’ve moderated, and I’ve moderated quite a few, this one was the most life changing for me,” explained Mrs. Marconet. “As an adult moderator, it gives me so much hope for the future because you girls will all be in charge of our world.”
Girl Up’s main message is to advocate for other women across the world, especially in third world countries or places where women live in unsafe and unequal circumstances. At Louisville, Girl Up does their best to help the women in our community as much as they can by holding menstrual product drives or holding fundraisers for women’s shelters in our own city.
Chiara Ayuste ’25, a Girl Up leader since her freshman year, plays a huge part in helping make a difference with this club. From organizing monthly meetings to planning fundraisers for our community, Ayuste does it all. She feels that sharing the message of equality, justice and educating others on various issues is immensely important as we are an all girls school.
“When girls are educated, healthy and safe, they can reach their full potential, break cycles of poverty and drive positive change in their communities,” shared Ayuste.
However, Girl Up does not purely focus on gender equality issues. This club also focuses on other global issues such as climate change, poverty, lack of education and violence. Girl Up empowers young women to make a difference when they have oftentimes been taught that making a positive difference in the world is a man’s job.
Leaders of Girl Up teach that women are just as capable as men, and that young girls should never be afraid to put themselves out there and shape the world.
“Through Girl Up, I want to make sure that women aren’t minimized to just their reputation, especially teenage girls. All we’re known for is being dramatic, but I think it’s important for people to know that there’s more to us than just that,” said officer Camille Adibi ’26
If you’re interested in joining Girl Up in the future to advocate for fellow women across the globe, talk to Mrs. Marconet or check out their table at the next club fair. You can support Girl Up and find various ways to help women in your community by checking out the Girl Up website: girlup.org.
And always remember, we are all women who shape the world!