Today we’d like to introduce you to Eleri Pratiknjo.
Hi Eleri Pratiknjo, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Girls With Power was founded by us, two high school girls with a strong passion for business and leadership, who noticed a clear gap in our community. We saw that many girls had ideas and ambitions, but lacked the confidence and real-world exposure needed to turn those ideas into action. Combining our interest in business with our desire to make a difference, we built Girls With Power as an organization that empowers girls through leadership, education, and community-focused initiatives. By hosting workshops, guest speaker events, and mentorship initiatives, we’ve worked to provide girls with real skills and opportunities.
We began small in Charlotte, North Carolina, launching Girls With Power as a local organization. As we hosted more events and gained support, we were able to expand beyond our city. Girls With Power now has ambassadors across the nation and is actively expanding its chapter program to cities nationwide.
Today, as we continue to grow, our mission remains the same: to empower girls with the skills and support they need to lead and create change in their communities.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The journey has definitely not been completely smooth. When we first launched, one of our biggest challenges was visibility. Because we were a new organization, it was difficult to get people to attend our workshops and events without an established audience. To overcome this, we leaned heavily on marketing, partnerships, and word-of-mouth, starting with people we knew and gradually expanding our reach. This led us to creating our ambassador program, which was a turning point for us, as ambassadors helped promote our initiatives and expand our presence far beyond our local community.
Another major challenge we faced was navigating a rebrand of our organization. We were actually originally named Girls Who Lead, but due to conflicts with the name, we made the decision to rebrand to Girls With Power. This required us to rebuild recognition and ensure our mission and identity remained consistent. Through intentional marketing and clear messaging, we were able to gain support and bring our community along on the journey.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Girls With Power?
Girls With Power enables young women to lead with confidence, innovate with purpose, and drive positive change in their communities through mentorship, education, and immersive learning experiences. We believe that every girl deserves access to the tools, role models, and support needed to showcase leadership and discover her full potential.
What sets Girls With Power apart is our focus on real-world exposure, particularly in business and entrepreneurship. Through engaging workshops, youth-led mentorship opportunities, and events featuring guest speakers from passion-driven careers, we provide girls with insight into what leadership looks like on a greater scale. Our programs create spaces where girls feel equipped with tangible skills they can apply to their future careers, whether that be public speaking, networking, or entrepreneurial thinking.
We are also proud of our student-led structure. With high school ambassadors and chapter leaders across the nation, Girls With Power has created a network of young women who can uplift girls just like them in their local communities.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Something that most people are surprised by is how much impact we’ve been able to make with such a small team. Even though we’ve expanded nationally, as the founders, we still carry out the hands-on work ourselves, from making social media content and planning workshops to coordinating our chapters nationwide. We love being involved in even the smallest tasks, as it keeps us connected to the girls and communities we serve.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://girlswithpower.wixsite.com/my-site-3
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girls.with_power/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/girlswithpower/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@girls.with_power
