The West Hartford non-profit was launched in 2013, and has just officially incorporated.

Student from Conard High School’s BRAVE Girls Leadership. Submitted photo

By Ronni Newton

Meagan Davis founded the up-and-coming local non-profit, BRAVE Girls Leadership Inc., two years ago after she was inspired by the film “Girl Rising,” and as of July 1, 2015 officially incorporated as a non-profit.

“The movie was the spark in many ways – seeing how it mobilized students to think about issues like gender equity and human rights, maybe for the first time,” said Davis, a former Conard social studies teacher who is now pursuing her doctrate at UConn.

Initially there was just a small group of girls involved – mostly students who were taking the human rights course at Conard. “It was an awesome movement. We sold more than 900 tickets to the movie, raised money, collected schools supplies,” Davis said. She was thrilled to see the energy of the students successfully channeled in such a positive direction.

“For me it was a wonderful thing, it was why I became a teacher. Then I started asking how I could capture the awesome energy,” Davis said.

Since then BRAVE Girls Leadership has grown to include many more students from Conard as well as students from Sedgwick Middle School. Davis said that having the high school girls mentor the younger students was not only a positive experience, but also would create longevity for the organization.

This fall, BRAVE Girls Leadership will expand to two West Hartford elementary schools – Duffy and Smith – and Davis hopes to eventually include all of the town’s schools in the program. In addition, BRAVE is also operating in districts elsewhere in Connecticut and in New York. Davis hopes to expand to the Boston area soon as well.

The students involved in the organization done more than just talk a good game; they have been actively learning leadership skills as they raise funds and participate in community activities focused on their mission. To date, members have been involved in 23 service projects.

Students from Conard and the University of Saint Joseph visited Washington, DC this summer through BRAVE Girls Leadership Inc. for leadership session as well as sightseeing. Submitted photo

During the previous academic year, students from Conard and Sedgwick worked together, rallying their friends, teachers, and the community to raise funds for Heifer International’s “Send a Girl to School” program. The program serves girls in developing countries where education is not free. The cost to educate each girl for one year is $275. “We raised enough to send seven girls to school,” Davis said.

This summer, BRAVE took a group of students from Conard and the University of Saint Joseph to Washington D.C., where they enjoyed three days of leadership development workshops and academic discussions as well as museum visits and tours of the monuments.

The organization’s mission is “to achieve self empowerment among young people through mentoring, community service and education in order to develop leadership and life skills,” and Davis said that it is definitely headed on the right path.

Davis, who along with all of the organization’s other leaders is doing everything as a volunteer, is hopeful that she has planted the seeds for something that will continue to grow well beyond the bounds of West Hartford.

“I’d like to expand the same energy, the same passion to make the world a better place to other communities, to get more students involved,” she said.

For more information and a calendar of upcoming events, visit the BRAVE Girls Leadership Inc. website www.girlsarebrave.org.