Please join the Girls
and their Allies Caucus!

The Girls and their Allies Caucus is for girls in pre-kindergarten through high school; the educators, activists, and community members who work with them; and the scholars who study them and issues relevant to their lives.
Its goal is to provide these constituencies with an active role and a voice in NWSA, as well as opportunities for collaboration.

Membership is open to all NWSA members. Membership is $5 per year, with dues supporting girls' activities at the annual conference.

Donations are welcome at any time. Checks should indicate "Girls and their Allies" in the subject line and can be mailed to NWSA, 7100 Baltimore Ave. STE 500, College Park, MD 20740.

NWSA Girls and Their Allies Caucus Activity Report
1 March 2007
Submitted by Leisha Jones, Co-Chair

1. GATA is pleased to report the acceptance of ALL caucus-sponsored sessions and panels submitted for the 2007 Annual Conference. In addition to these sponsored sessions, caucus member Kesa Kivel’s Girl House Art Project film was selected for inclusion in the film/video series. Caucus member Meela Chen will be presenting a paper on the gender role development of girls in response to media as a social learning context. Member Dana Edell is giving the workshop “Turn Up the Volume! Empowering Girls Through the Performing Arts” as well as presenting the paper “Ego Trippin: Addressing Self Esteem and Providing Tools for Resistance for Girls of Color.”

2. Our co-chair Leisha Jones is serving on the planning committee for 2007 Girls Studies Institute.

3. GATA has completed a draft of its operating document.

4. GATA co-chair Leisha Jones published “Tear off your own head: Girl-centered artworks inaugurate the Doll Revolt Virtual Gallery” in NWSAction, Fall 2006. The NWSA GATA-sponsored gallery was also featured on the cover.

5. Our caucus plans to help raise funds to bring GirlSpeak to the 2007 Conference. GirlSpeak will be a featured session at the Institute, and will include a reading by the Chicago Young Authors Project girls from the inner city.

6. The caucus is in the process of developing a membership database. We are collecting information and resources from members to share with each other on-line.

7. We are planning our agenda for our annual conference meeting that includes the ratification of our operating document, the holding of elections, and caucus plans for the future. We also hope to foster a close relationship with the Girls Studies Special Interest Group.

DOLL REVOLT http://www.dollrevolt.org/
The Girls and Their Allies Caucus was granted a website by the NWSA in order to build and maintain a virtual art gallery devoted to work about girls. Leisha Jones and Bonnie MacDonald curated, developed, and uploaded the gallery in time for a kickoff at the 2006 conference. It is our hope that the gallery can serve as both repository and conduit for girlworks and ideas. We also hope the gallery will broaden the visibility of our caucus and its constituents.