A recently restated program for elementary-aged girls to become leaders in their community has come back to Fort Thomas.
She Became is a nonprofit organization that began as a club, originating in Fort Thomas. The club was founded in 2016 by Nico Thom, a Highlands alumna, and experienced growth rather fast. It has now branched out with chapters in both Chicago and Louisville.
Despite the growth on a national level, the Fort Thomas Chapter ceased meetings during lockdown and Covid-19 years. Previous mentees, now high schoolers, heard about this and worked to restart the chapter, offering their unique experience to a new generation of girls.
She Became has now welcomed a branch of programs within the larger nonprofit. Fort Thomas has adopted the Future Leaders Mentorship Program which aims to empower elementary school girls by connecting them with mentors to serve as role models as well as introducing them to professional women across the workforce.
The Fort Thomas Chapter restarted in 2024 with just Meg Gallagher (10), president of the chapter, and Whitney McKay, Johnson elementary school counselor and teacher sponsor for chapter, working to advertise to potential mentors and mentees. Through their efforts they gained six more mentors and 32 mentees to start off the first year.
“Nico had several meetings with me and with the seven core members of the Fort Thomas Future Leaders Mentorship Program, and after thorough training we were ready to begin,” McKay said.
The program restarted with one mentor for every four to five girls, a less than ideal situation for bonding. Despite this ratio, the first mentors were still able to make the best out of the situation and truly get to know who they are and build a relationship with them.
“My bond with the girls is like I’m an older sister to these girls. I think it’s important because most girls that don’t get to experience an older sibling or maybe just a sister get that experience at this club,” Elizabeth Murriner (10), director of finance for the Fort Thomas chapter, said.
What’s unique about Future Leaders’ Mentorship Program is that the mentors truly do want to form relationships and make a lasting impact on the mentees’ lives.
“I feel like I just want to be their friend and will talk to them whenever we are in our meetings and I think it’s important to always have an older role model or a person to look up to and talk to,” Emma Claire Shaffer (9) said.
Beyond building friendships, She Became at its core is meant to empower young girls to work to achieve their dreams. Oftentimes, women do not take positions of power or avoid male predominated fields but this program aims to lessen the avoidance of those careers.
“I think the significance is being able to show younger girls that women are powerful and though they might not see women lead in many things that they are still able to,” Murriner (10) said.
Not only does the program focus on bringing different careers to their attention, it specifically focuses on girls who are shy or less fortunate and who may be less exposed to certain experiences.
“It’s super cool to expose the girls to these different jobs and careers that they might not have the opportunity to see, especially since some of the girls are on the free and reduced lunch list,” Marlowe Heiert (10), director of marketing for the Fort Thomas chapter, said.
So being able to see these different opportunities that they can have and how it’s not always traditional jobs like the ones you hear about but other ones too,” Heiert (10) said.
The mentors do many tasks behind the scenes for these meetings but never lose sight of the true goal: to form meaningful connections with the mentees.
“They are charged with all aspects of making this club successful, like budgeting, recruiting speakers, creating activities for the mentors, marketing and most importantly connecting with the mentees themselves,” McKay said.
The mentors have been able to create a welcoming environment for mentees as well as for themselves, making the club an enjoyable place to be.
“Planning for the meetings is honestly fun. We were able to laugh a lot during our planning meetings but we also have a good balance of working and getting every question we have for the upcoming meeting answered,” Murriner (10) said.
She Became and Future Leaders Mentorship Program aim to lift girls up and push them to achieve the very best they are capable of.
“So being able to see these different opportunities that they can have and how it’s not always traditional jobs like the ones you hear about but other ones too,” Heiert (10) said.
