Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls Mentorship
Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls organization is “dedicated to helping young people cultivate their authentic selves. We emphasize intelligence and imagination over “fitting in.” We celebrate curiosity over gossip. We are a place where people can truly be their weird and wonderful selves. We are funny first, and informative second, hosting the party you want to attend.”
Amy Poehler and Meredith Walker started Smart Girls as an organization inspiring girls to change the world by doing what they love the most, in my case, spray painting. I was invited to teach 15 young girls how to spray paint for their first “Smart Girls Party”. It was like any young girls birthday party with balloons, cake, a few dance parties, and gifts. Because this was a Smart Girls Party it was about 100 times cooler than any other kid’s birthday I’d ever been to. We danced, made arts and crafts, ate pizza, had an open conversation about graffiti and street art, and painted an epic collaborative mural. The girls watched and listened as I showed them the steps of how to paint a ‘graffiti piece’. Afterwards, we suited them up with gloves, face masks, and cans and they went to town.
Such a bright group of young girls with fabulous parents. Big thanks to Smart Girls for the wonderful opportunity.