NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Girls To The Moon (GTTM), a Nashville-based social enterprise established to help young girls grow their confidence and leadership skills, is hosting its third annual “Campference” Saturday, Sept. 16, at Nossi College of Art.
The “Campference” aims to connect girls with strong role models and provide jumping off points for ongoing conversations with their caregivers, and features experts in topics increasingly important to young girls and their parents or guardians. Sessions on bullying, money management, online awareness, and body image are just a few highlights of this year’s event.
“We developed the Campference because we wished there was a forum like it when we were tweens and in our early teens, said Knight Stivender, CEO of GTTM. “It’s hard for caregivers to initiate those hard-to-have conversations, so we created a safe and judgement-free zone to serve as a catalyst.”
Nearly 1,000 girls and caregivers have attended GTTM’s largest annual event since the inaugural Campference in 2015. The social enterprise company caters to girls around the ages of 10 to 14 and their caregivers, and is operated by a trio of businesswomen in the Nashville area – Stivender and fellow co-founders, Courtenay Rogers and Courtney Seiter.
They coined the term, “campference,” to encapsulate the nature of the annual event – part conference for caregivers, and part camp for girls.
Nossi College of Art will open its doors to the Campference at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16, and attendees can enjoy an interactive gallery of hands-on activities prior to the first speaker sessions at 10 a.m.
A few session topics and speakers include:
- Stronger: Overcoming Bullies and Bullying: Marisa Richmond, a member of the Metro Human Relations Commission, will share tips for bullying situations – whether you’re the person being picked on, the bystander unsure of what to do, or even the person who could have been more kind to others.
- Girl Bo$$: What Girls Need to Know About Money: Dimeta Smith, a CPA and business advisor, will help girls be the boss of their own lives by making smart money management decisions at a young age.
- Shining a Light on Dark Topics: The young-adult novel and Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” have brought tough topics, such as teen suicide and rape, to dinner tables across the U.S. Family therapist Haley Stocker will help girls and caregivers learn to identify warning signs among friend groups, and explain what they can do to help.
- How’d You Get That Cool Job: Tuwanda Coleman, veteran television news producer and reporter, will moderate a panel of professionals in jobs ranging from NASA scientist to semi-professional basketball team owner.
The speaker sessions are supplemented with live music from Nashville-based avant-garde troupe, Intersection, and Southern Girls Rock Camp, as well as yoga and a DJ dance party.
Tickets are $40 each, $70 for a duo pass, or $100 for a family pass of up to four tickets. Admission includes access to all sessions and activities, a boxed lunch, a GTTM t-shirt, a backpack filled with girl power goodies and discounted tickets for future events.
Girls To The Moon is funded primarily through a membership program in which individuals contribute annually at one of three cash levels. Corporate sponsorships and ticket sales account for the remaining revenue. Together, these revenue streams allow Girls To The Moon to distribute an unlimited number of need-based scholarships to their events and programming, ensuring that all girls have access and opportunity to learning and mentorship. Scholarship tickets to the 2017 Campference are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
To purchase tickets or reserve scholarship tickets, and to learn more about GTTM’s 2017 Campference schedule and lineup, visit: https://girlstothemoon.com/2017campference/
