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OUR

STORY

It all started with origami. After starting an origami business at school and quickly saturating the market, Christophe and Sophie Davis pitched their mom, Roxanne, on the idea of taking them and their "business partners" to sell their products at the local farmers' market. The experience sparked an awareness in the girls that entrepreneurship was empowering. It enabled them to earn their own money, and donate a portion to the World Wildlife Fund.

Energized by their experience, they posted an announcement to their community's Facebook group to see if there were other girls who had businesses or wanted to get one kick-started. To their delight, they received 50 responses from other parents of “girlpreneurs”. Their group was instantly bigger than the farmers' market, so Roxanne mobilized resources and hosted an “Entrepreneurship 101” workshop followed by a stand-alone pop-up shop where the girls sold their products. The pop-up shop was attended by more than 400 customers. Not only was Roxanne blown away by the popularity of the event, she was struck by the confidence with which the girls pitched their products to the hundreds of customers who visited their tables. It was clear that they were honing their leadership skills without even realizing it. Having recently learned that girls' confidence levels drop by 30% between the of ages 8 – 14, a spark ignited as Roxanne watched the girls' confidence soar as they counted their hard-earned money and earmarked portions to be reinvested, saved, spent and donated to their favorite charities.

Inspired to create space for girls to build confidence through entrepreneurship, Roxanne founded Girls Crushing It (GCI) as a nonprofit in 2018. In 2020, GCI partnered with Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center to deliver virtual programming to girls around the world. Since its incorporation, GCI has educated thousands of girls in entrepreneurship, and their alumnae have delivered pitches and sold products to more than 15,000 community members at their signature pop-up shops throughout the Bay Area. The best part – 97% of alumnae report increased confidence. 

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