Daring Girls

Daring Girls is a nonprofit organization incorporated in the U.S. that supports locally led girls' mentorship programming in Africa.

In Tanzania, where their work has been focused since 2001, only 33% of girls go to secondary school, and less than 3% are lucky enough to continue to tertiary education. Daring Girls works to improve the standing of women in society through robust, locally-led mentorship initiatives that cultivate confidence, improve academic and health outcomes, and promote socially-responsible leadership skills. In close partnership with their locally-led sister organization, GLAMI (Girls Livelihood and Mentorship Initiative), Daring Girls supports mentorship opportunities that help secondary school girls in Tanzania complete their education and design their own futures.

The four-year Binti Shupavu program for girls in lower secondary school (ages 13-18) teaches study skills, personal leadership, health, and self-confidence with the goal of increasing graduation rates among vulnerable girls. The two-year Kisa Project is a leadership course that prepares young women in their last two years of secondary school (ages 17-21) to attend university and create positive social change in their communities. More info: https://DaringGirls.org/

In 2023, the success of mentoring programs in Tanzania led Daring Girls and GLAMI to pilot the Binti Shupavu mentoring program outside of Tanzania. Partnering with the Centre for Women Empowerment in Technology (CWE-TECH) in Kenya, the Binti Shupavu mentoring program is now being contextualized and delivered to Kenyan girls. Daring Girls rounded out this pilot in 2024 by adding new organizations in Zimbabwe and Zambia: Empowerment Initiative for Rural Women and Adolescents (Zambia) and the Regional Network for Children and Young People Trust (Zimbabwe).