We are so excited to have a new class of Teen Advisors join us this fall. Very soon you will get to meet them! In the meantime, we asked each of them the question: “Why is education important to you?” 

Education, starting with girls, is the first step to unleashing the wealth and power of women to transform our lives.

Here's an easy way to help girls in developing countries have greater access to education, using the one thing most of us check daily: Facebook.

Education is important to me because it’s about more than just going to school – it’s about shaping our thoughts and ideas and opening up opportunities later in life.

As we head back to school this fall — with excitement and stories of all our summer adventures — it’s unfair that there are millions of adolescent girls in developing countries who do not have the same opportunity.

It was my first time in Chicago and I was excited to be in the Windy City with the rest of the Teen Advisors for Girl Up’s tour stop at The Chicago Theatre. We were there to discuss the child marriage. This event was something new that we’ve never tried before...

It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to sit down with someone who truly inspires you, but for me, last week I had one of those days. Rosie Schaack, head of THINK Women’s Empowerment Center (Touching Humanity In Need of Kindness) in Liberia, and a partner of the United Nations Foundation, came to our  office in Washington, DC to chat with us about her work with teen girls who were victims of war.

Girls in developing countries are facing a crisis; 1 in 7 of them is married by the age of 15. So if I imagine this reality in my school, of the 47 girls in my 11th grade class, about 7 of us would already be married...and maybe even have kids of our own. 

Last April, a few Glee fans in my school’s choir approached our director, Dr. Robin Garner, and convinced her to allow us to learn and perform a few choral arrangements from the hit TV series. Luckily for us Gleeks, Dr. Garner agreed, but on one condition: it had to be a benefit concert. The problem? We couldn’t decide which organization to support!

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to speak to the women’s circle group of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Richmond, Virginia.

This past Saturday night, my friend and I were given the opportunity to go to TV producer, Kayce Jennings' house in New York City. I was immediately intrigued by the film we watched there that three amazing girls from Cambodia were a part of, including one whose name was Sokha Chen. Sokha, who I was able to meet on International Women’s Day at a visit to the White House, was a very interesting 16- year-old girl. She represented the success and impact Girl Up could have in girls lives in countries like Malawi, Liberia, Guatemala, and Ethiopia.

March 22 is World Water Day and here’s something to think about next time you groan about having to do the dishes or help wipe the table -- in many developing countries, adolescent girls not only have to help with the cleaning, they also have to walk for many hours just to retrieve the water. In Ethiopia, girls will walk up to six hours a day on dangerous roads to collect water for their families and villages to use for drinking, cooking, cleaning and other household needs.

About a week ago I attended the Global Issues Network Conference in my city, Washington, DC. It was co-hosted by my high school; School Without Walls and the Washington International School. The conference was organized by youth and created for youth.

According to this week's essay in TIME Magazine by Nancy Gibbs, the hundreds of thousands of young people mobilizing with Girl Up are an "army enlisted in helping girls realize their potential." Whether you are teenage girl (or boy), reading this right now, together, we are a force for change and a generation of investment.

Girls count. Did you know that some girls in the developing world spend up to eight hours a day walking back and forth to get clean water for their families? Did you know that 75 percent of the children in the developing world who aren’t able to go to school are girls? Did you know that not every girl in the developing world has a birth certificate when they’re born?

As teenagers living in the United States, our only job is to go to school, do our homework, and keep our grades up. We have time to relax, hang out with friends, and just enjoy being young. However, many girls living in the developing world have their childhoods taken away from them when they are denied the opportunity to receive an education.

What could be better than spending a Saturday working at an event hosted by an organization that you feel passionate about? Nothing. This is exactly how Girl Up’s Teen Advisors got to spend their day on Jan. 15th...

Do you love Girl Up? Online games? Or better yet, both? Then, we need your help to win up to $250,000 from Best Buy!

Best Buy @15 gives teens the chance to stand up for the issues they care about, while having fun online!

I am inspired. I am still exhausted from all the activity and fun! Most importantly, I am excited for what’s to come. That is my reaction after spending three fantastic days with the 17 Girl Up Teen Advisors, who all met for the first time in Washington, DC, this past weekend.

Supporters around the globe will be thrilled to open up their homepages today and see us featured on AOL.com! Girl Up is featured in an ad on the AOL.com homepage, highlighting our call of ‘Uniting Girls, Changing the World.’ AOL.com is an internationally-viewed website with 15 million daily users.

Hey guys! So here’s what I’ve been thinking about lately…

At school, I have been taking a socio-cultural anthropology course, which pretty clearly relates to Girl Up’s efforts. Over the semester I have learned so much about a wide variety of cultures and the ways in which they are similar and different. I have learned about a variety of topics and issues, from making a living, to communication, to kinship.

Sometimes the hardest part of anything is getting started, so we’ve put together a little list of 25 ideas so your GirlRaiser team can have fun while giving High Fives! This is the fourth set in a series of five in our GirlRaiser Ideas series so keep checking in for more ideas!

Happy 2011!  As the New Year rolls in, and everyone is setting their goals and resolutions for the year, we decided to join in and set some goals of our own!

Sometimes the hardest part of anything is getting started, so we’ve put together a little list of 25 ideas so your GirlRaiser team can have fun while giving High Fives! This is the third set in a series of five in our GirlRaiser Ideas series so keep checking in for more ideas!

You will not believe the news I have for you!  This holiday season, we asked you to help send 1,000 girls to school in Malawi. Thanks to all of your hard work, we have completely exceeded our goal just days before 2010 ends. So far, you have given enough to help give more than 4,000 girls an education!