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Dr. Janice Johnson Dias

This author has written 185 articles

SuperCamp application for girls 1st-8th grade is now open (Summer 2018)

The same camp that trained SuperGirl Marley Dias is now accepting applicants. Applications for our leadership development program are open. If you live in the City of Philadelphia and Essex County, New Jersey, you are eligible to apply for our SuperGirlsSociety (SGS).  SGS is a family-based yearlong leadership development program that works with black girls (1st thru 8th grade) and their caregiving circle. This unique association provides public health and social action programming with an emphasis on sisterhood and service.…

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWHnvfj0G6s&feature=youtu.be

Thank You For Investing In Girls

For 7 years, with little funding and lots of heart, the GrassROOTS Community Foundation has been investing in girls and transforming communities. The outcomes we've seen speak to the passion we bring and the genius of the girls and communities in which we work.   Thank you to all who have joined us on this journey as we continue the quest to create a world where ALL girls grow up to be healthy women. We are grateful for your contributions,…

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Marley Receives the Smithsonian’s American Ingenuity Award

It wasn’t the sudden dinner theater that got the crowd on its feet, though. The lone ovation was reserved for 12-year-old Marley Dias, who launched an initiative called #1000BlackGirlBooks out of frustration that most of the literature she was being assigned in her Philadelphia-area school “were about white boys and their dogs.” Her project set out to find—and donate—1,000 books with black, female protagonists; so far she’s collected 10,000.   Click on the source link below to see full article and Marley's…

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Marley Dias speaking at Liliuokalani Trust: WSJ article

Now 12 years old, Marley has written the book she felt was missing from her school: a story about a black girl by a black girl.   “Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!” is being published by Scholastic Inc. and will be released Jan. 30. Marley said she wanted to use her own experience in activism to show anyone can make positive changes in their communities despite their age.   “I’ve always wanted to be an author,” Marley said…

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Give Thanks for Girls Benefit Gala 2017 – Video

The purpose of the Give Thanks for Girls Benefit Gala honors black girls who have demonstrated through their actions in the community high levels of integrity, academic excellence and ingenuity.   Proceeds from the event goes to supporting the GrassROOTS Community Foundation efforts in developing girl changemakers.   This year’s national honorees are: Marsai Martin of ABC’s Black-ish;, Haile Thomas, The Happy Organization and Mikaila Ulmer, Me and The Bees Lemonade.   Click HERE for full details

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Join Our 2017 Turkey Challenge

For the past seven years, GrassROOTS has been providing necessary resources for Newark, the West Ward neighborhood and the over 1,000 families living at Georgia King Village, a housing development in Newark, and home to a significant number of single, black mothers and their children. Almost 30 percent of Newark’s residents live below the US poverty threshold and 1 in 5 residents of Essex County are food insecure. This year we have partnered with the City of Newark and the…

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Today we’re celebrating girls like Marley!

Thank you United State of Women for highlighting SuperGirl Marley Dias.   Meet Marley Dias, one of the youngest changemakers we know. As soon as she learned how to read, Marley couldn’t put books down. But she quickly realized there were far more books about boys and their dogs than about girls that looked like her. And at the young age of 11, Marley decided to do something about it. She began collecting books where girls of color were the…

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2017 Black Girl Excellence Award

The Black Girl Excellence Award honors black girls who have demonstrated through their actions in the community high levels of integrity, academic excellence and ingenuity. This award was created to celebrate the ways in which black girls are broadening the imagination and the possibilities for others. Winners are celebrated for their ability to influence and transform the ways we think about and engage black girls.   Requirements: Must identify as a black girl Between 10-18 years old Resident of New Jersey Making…

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