At Girl Up, we’ve always known that leadership is not about any one person. Instead, we believe leadership resides in the power of a community who is determined to move forward at all costs. And that kind of leadership cannot happen without listening, adapting, and boldly stepping forward—especially when the moment calls for something more.
That moment is now.
We are navigating our way through a world that is increasingly hostile and dangerous for girls and women—and other genders—to exist side by side with cis-men and boys. Democracies in the West are incrementally accepting divisive language and adopting hardened policies to regulate our bodies, dwarf our reality, and destroy our future, and they are doing so openly, in plain sight. They are taking concrete steps to erase us and roll back the progress that four waves of feminism have produced. And some in civil society are following suit out of fear.
But fear is not what fuels Girl Up; our duty to our community of youth is.
We’re stepping into this privilege of co-leading Girl Up with a deep sense of gratitude and purpose. Gratitude for the foundation Melissa Kilby helped build over the past 13.5 years. Purpose because our youth have laid out the path ahead for us to execute; a path that is both urgent and full of promise, and that requires all of us.
In 2024, Girl Up undertook a powerful, global strategic re-envisioning. What emerged was a collective mandate by our youth leaders to rise to meet the moment. Our next chapter must be more global, more youth-led, and unapologetically rooted in feminist values of power sharing. This is a bold new direction is anchored in four strategic pillars of activation: Youth Leadership, Convenings, Youth-Led Action, and Partnerships, and have already started to shape how we lead, how we build community, and how we prepare young people to lead change—not someday, but now.
As co-leaders, we are stronger because of our complementary strengths and experiences, and a common belief: that leadership is not a title, but a practice of showing up, steadfast in our values, especially when they are being challenged.
Many brains are smarter than one, and many hands get more things done than one,” My reflects. “I’m most excited to be in this moment with my colleagues beside me and the community of visionary youth and girl leaders in front of us. Together, they inspire me to give my very best every day.
My Lo Cook
We both believe feminist leadership should be collaborative, compassionate, and bold. We believe it must also make space for joy, for rest, and for each other. In a world trying to erase equity, inclusion, and justice, we must double down on all three. Finally, we believe our youth are the ultimate stalwarts of a just future within reach, and we must follow their lead.
This moment marks more than a mere transition of leadership. We cannot conduct business as usual during extraordinary times that are shocking to our intuitive sense of liberty, freedom, and justice.
This is a renaissance that will usher in a feminist model that values our differences and is bonded by our common humanity; a model that recognizes greater power in our youth and in our regional managers and affiliate leaders, who have long guided this movement and will help continue to shape it more than ever.
I’ve seen what’s possible when young people come together with purpose—and I know we’re just getting started. Girl Up is evolving into something even more global, more intersectional, and more youth led. The future we’re building isn’t just about leadership—it’s about redefining power, together.
Julie willig
To every Girl Up leader reading this: this is your movement. Whether you’re organizing in your community, starting your first Club, or speaking at global forums—you are scripting the epitaph to a reality that has ignored your voices and your needs for far too long.
You are not the future. You are the present. Your time is now.
Girl Up belongs to you, and we are privileged to steward your vision with full hearts, our eyes on the horizon, and our sleeves rolled up.
In partnership,
Julie & My
