Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, convened a roundtable with Girls Inc. and National Women\u2019s Law Center to give adolescent girls a platform to speak about the breadth of challenges their generation is facing at this moment\u2014a moment when their voices, and their actions, have never been so urgently needed. The Duchess believes girls\u2019 voices can and should be heard, and through Archewell she focuses on providing them with the platforms, tools, and forums to help define a path forward and continue making an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joined at a virtual forum by Stephanie J. Hull and Fatima Goss Graves, the respective leaders of Girls Inc. and National Women\u2019s Law Center, The Duchess heard from a powerful and passionate group of 13- to 18-year-olds\u2014primarily girls of color\u2014who are part of Girls. Inc affiliates across America. As young activists, these girls are already making an impact around education, social justice, and health and wellness in their own schools and communities. With ambitions of becoming medical professionals, senators, and presidents, the girls who attended had strong and incisive perspectives on issues critical to girls today. The group spoke about everyday struggles during COVID-19, including identity loss and isolation, and larger issues of mental health, racial bias and injustice, and more. When asked what tools girls need to thrive in the year ahead, a common thread emerged: acknowledgement, support, empathy, and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a part of the roundtable, The Duchess reflected on the impact of trailblazing women throughout history whose stories can move us to meet the moment\u2014and asked the girls to share which female figures, past or present, embolden them to challenge injustice. Their answers included American civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, as well as Kala Bagai, one of the first South Asian women to immigrate to the United States in the early 20th century, who was known to many in her California community as “Mother India.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n