In celebration of International Day of the Girl, Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, visited Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara to engage with young girls about their experiences growing up in the digital age. She was joined by Larissa May (founder & executive director of Half the Story), and Dr. Stephanie J. Hull (CEO of Girls Inc). (10/2/24)
This visit coincided with the announcement of contributions from The Archewell Foundation, Pivotal Ventures, and the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation to support a partnership between Girls Inc. and #HalfTheStory, aimed at delivering essential digital wellness programming to girls in underserved communities across America.
Meghan Markle joined the girls for a screen-free afternoon of games, friendship bracelets, coloring, and some frank talk about social media. The Social Media U curriculum that Meghan helped test out last week with middle school–age kids was designed with the help of its teen advisory board. “We really wanted to make sure that the teens at “Half The Story” were able to give their input on the type of experience that we would create. Ultimately, we thought the best way to do that was to create a space of vulnerability,” May says, adding that it was even more powerful with the duchess in the room. “With Stephanie and Meghan, we talked about what it really means to grow up in this digital age.”
“We did an activity where we talked through a bunch of scenarios, and Meghan talked about being one of the most bullied people in the world,” May tells Vanity Fair. “We had girls wave these little emoji signs and talk about how each one of these scenarios would have impacted them emotionally.”
Girls Inc. is a network of 75 organizations across the US and Canada, which reaches about 114,000 girls annually with their programming and leadership training.
