Marissa Escajeda, Austin Avenue, just celebrated her one-year anniversary as CEO of Girls Inc. of Greater Pittsburgh, after guiding the nonprofit Strong Women Strong Girls (SWSG) into the national Girls Inc. network.
“Mergers are uncommon in the nonprofit world,” Escajeda explained. Aligning a grassroots organization with a multilevel, mission-aligned national network was no simple task, but important for the organization’s reach.
Escajeda joined SWSG in 2019 and ran the Pittsburgh office starting in 2021. SWSG succeeded in mentoring elementary school girls but lacked the capacity to expand into middle and high school programs. Seeing an opportunity for growth, Escajeda spearheaded the move to merge with the well-established Girls Inc., founding the first Girls Inc. chapter in Pittsburgh.
Girls Inc. deploys a three-tiered mentorship model: Professionals mentor college students who mentor elementary students. About 150 professionals, 300 college students and 42 elementary schools are involved.
“I love that New Girls Inc. is not about isolated events or just a few one-on-one interactions per year,” said Liv Macedo, Crestvue Manor Drive. “They make a deliberate effort to build a community that reinforces the idea that it’s never too early to start mentoring others and paying it forward.”
Macedo has been a mentor, ally and advocate in the organization starting with SWSG in 2017. Since then, she said Escajeda has expanded the mission and programs immensely.
“The organization creates a strong foundation for girls to explore who they are and who they want to become,” said Macedo.
Macedo runs her own HR consulting firm, Liv HR Consulting, and is a clinical and industrial organizational psychologist. She’s enjoyed mentoring young girls and women, and said she’s been able to develop her own professional work and leadership development skills in the process.
Staff members at Girls Inc. sites nationally mentor middle and high school students, teaching lessons on violence prevention, leadership, STEM and more. Starting this fall, the Pittsburgh chapter will begin a middle school program.
Girls Inc. of Greater Pittsburgh serves under-resourced schools. Nationally, they assist 114,000 girls ages 5 to 18 across 350 cities, 83 percent identifying as girls of color and 55 percent living in a household with less than $30,000 annual income.
“Through STEM and literacy programs, social media safety, violence prevention, career exploration, financial literacy and so much more, we’re guiding them toward various pathways for their future,” said Escajeda. “The girls will consistently gain something new from the experience.”
Melanie Cox McCluskey, Mayfair Drive, said her daughters read Girls Inc. engagement packets on leadership skills during remote learning in 2020. The resources and lessons Girls Inc. provided helped her young daughters “during a time when the future seemed so uncertain,” said McCluskey.
Escajeda added, “With everything girls are facing today, we provide a safe environment to learn, grow, build friendships and confidence, and support their mental health. When girls are recognized and respected, they thrive.”