Our History
Girls Inc. is the longest-running girls’ leadership organization.
Our Mission
Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold.
Our Vision
Powerful girls in an equitable society.
Our Values
Respect the dignity of each human being.
Recognize and support the strength in every girl.
Appreciate, embrace, and advance diversity.
Drive for results anchored in accountability.
Operate collaboratively.
Girls Inc. was founded in 1864 to serve girls and young women who were experiencing upheaval in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Across the decades, we adapted to meet the specific environmental challenges facing girls and young women, always working in partnership with schools and communities, and guided by our founders’ fundamental belief in the inherent potential of each girl. Woven into those early girls’ clubs are the same core values of Girls Inc. today: the importance of creating a safe gathering place for girls to learn and to share in a sisterhood and a strong premise that each girl can develop her own capacities, self- confidence, and grow up healthy, educated, and independent.
For 160 years, Girls Inc. has been evolving with girls.
We not only support girls, we also equip them and give them the opportunity to envision, and then create, a more equitable future.
Girls Inc. has served millions of girls across the United States and Canada.
Our participants are equipped with the skills to lead and create positive change in their communities.
Girls Inc. of the Tennessee Valley
Girls Inc. of TN Valley, formerly known as Girls Club, first began in 1976 as girls only sports program. Initiated by strong community advocates, Girls Inc. then quickly grew into an after school, outreach program, summer camp, break camp and sports program for girls ages 5-18 years old! Girls Inc. opened a campus in Oak Ridge in 2000 to include a full center for girls, sports fields and more. Girls Inc. has grown to become an integral part of the Anderson, Knox and Blount County communities in this time serving over 1,100 girls per year. We have successfully and genuinely benefited thousands of girls’ lives throughout the past 40+ years!
