Step Up’s after-school programs help shape teens into confident, college-bound and career-focused young women ready to join the next generation of professional women. We help teens who might not otherwise have the opportunity to fulfill their potential to dream big and achieve. It is through the support of our corporate donors and individual members that we are able to be serving more than 275 girls at 4 schools in Los Angeles. $25,000 partnerships help sustain Step Up programming as that amount represents the direct costs of serving one class of students at one of our partner schools.
In 2013, we launched such a partnership with jewelry company Dogeared to help Step Up teens in Los Angeles fulfill their potential. In addition to crafting beautiful, inspirational and aspirational jewelry, the Southern California-founded Dogeared is a B-Corporation, a community of companies developing better business practices, creating new ways to measure success, working with dignity and purpose, and using business as a force for good. "Dogeared is so proud to partner with Step Up and provide these incredible young women with resources and support that can propel them toward a brighter future,” Dogeared co-founder Merlin Clarke said. “Helping to pave the way for them has a ripple effect that strengthens our communities… and honestly, their determination and strength is as much of an inspiration for us as anything."
The partnership kicked off in April 2013 with a Dogeared-sponsored Bay Area College Tour for 40 high school girls to visit college campuses in northern California. They experienced Stanford, UC Berkeley, Saint Mary's College, Mills College and the University of San Francisco. As part of the sponsorship, each of the girls was gifted an inspiring necklace and message from Dogeared to take with them. For many of these girls, this was their first time ever leaving home, let alone visiting a college campus and many will be the first in their family to attend college. See photos from the tour here! Dogeared continued its support of Step Up at the 10th annual Inspiration Awards at the Beverly Hilton on May 31, 2013, where honorees Julie Bowen, Trina Turk and Nina Jacobson were recognized for their contributions to the Step Up mission of service to women and girls. 20 Dogeared employees were in attendance to enjoy the event and support the partnership. Step Up teen Yosselin inspired the audience of 1000 with her story of going from a gang to becoming her high school’s valedictorian. A number of celebrity supporters sported Dogeared jewelry that day.
In the fall of 2013, Dogeared sponsored Step Up’s 5th annual College Connections Conference at Mount St. Mary’s. More than 60 girls were paired with professional women (8 from Dogeared) to spend the day talking college and career options.
Dogeared’s National Sales Director, Karen Levy, was the keynote speaker kicking off the conference! The girls each took home a karma necklace in their gift bag – symbolizing Dogeared’s continued support for them on their journey towards personal growth. Check out photos here.
Get the inside scoop on Dogeared’s experience at the conference here.
Dogeared also hosted 34 11th-graders at its Culver City headquarters for a Pathways to Professions field trip. Pathways field trips introduce Step Up teens to the various roles within a given company and industry and provide exposure to women who have taken those roles, through engaging and educational activities. For companies, Pathways trips offer an opportunity to engage female employees in a meaningful and rewarding mentorship opportunity at work. Dogeared employees offered the girls an inside look at the different departments that keep the company running and the girls got to engage in a brainstorm sessions to come up with new aspirational jewelry lines.
Dogeared and Step Up also partnered on a #GivingTuesday initiative, Giving Tuesday is a global day dedicated to giving back. Charities, families, businesses, community centers and students around the world come together for a common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. For every purchase on Dogeared.com on #GivingTuesday in 2013, Dogeared donated $5 to Step Up to help fund our national "I Dream To" mentoring conferences. Check out our Dream Gallery here to meet a few of the girls this funding helped support. Dogeared also selected Step Up to be the charitable beneficiary of their holiday promotion with Nordstrom.com in late 2013, donating $5 for every Dogeared purchase made on Nordstrom.com.
In 2014, Dogeared stepped up their support with a $40,000 commitment to Step Up.
They once again sponsored the life-changing Bay Area College Tour and gifted each girl with a Dogeared necklace and message of encouragement. Here’s a look at our teens’ 2014 travel itinerary:
Day 1: We're Off!-received Dogeared "Make a Wish" necklaces to inspire our dreams-visited Cal State East Bay"It's nice to look around and see all kinds of students. I really like their focus on multicultural education." -Step Up teen Christina
Day 2: Alumnae Day!-Mills College tour led by Step Up alumna Vanessa(now a Mills student!)-visited Cal-explored Pixar's headquarters"I loved the small, supportive environment at Mills.I can see myself going here! -Step Up teen Gabriela
Day 3: Explore San Francisco!-saw the Golden Gate Bridge-visited Pier 39 & Fisherman's Wharf-toured University of San Francisco"The creativity and flexibility of the curriculum are so appealing. I can definitely see myself here."-Step Up teen Jocelyn
Day 4: One Last Stop!-visited Saint Mary's"We got to visit with an astronomyprofessor and see his office.I liked feeling welcomed by a teacher."-Step Up teen Idalia
Dogeared renewed its support of Step Up at the 11th annual Inspiration Awards by sponsoring the Teen Inspiration Award. After a very moving and personal speech from Tamia, Dogeared surprised the incoming college freshman with a beautiful assortment of jewelry to celebrate her accomplishments, individuality and future. Dogeared believes that 'Good Things Happen' when surrounded by a network of amazing friends, mentors, and Step Up sisters. The event was held at the Beverly Hilton on May 30, 2014, and also honored Zoe Saldana, Variety’s Claudia Eller, and corporate honoree KPMG.
During the summer of 2014, Dogeared helped make “3 Wishes” for Step Up teens come true by raising funds to help the incoming college freshman have a little budget for college needs. Learn more about Wendy, Mydrea and Elizabeth here.
In addition, Dogeared helped fund five Young Luminaries internships. Step Up’s Young Luminaries program is a unique college readiness and career development program designed to propel the professional aspirations of Step Up’s most ambitious students. Each summer, Step Up seeks paid summer internships for Step Up teens. Dogeared’s intern stipends allowed five teens to intern at companies of interest to them who otherwise couldn’t have afforded to pay them.
Dogeared once again sponsored the College Connections Conference held at Scripps in the fall of 2014, offering a safe and encouraging space for teens and mentors to come together to talk candidly about what it takes to get to college, how to succeed when you’re there and what to do after!
“All of us at Step Up were truly inspired by Dogeared’s commitment to its community and its genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of Step Up girls,” Step Up CEO Jenni Luke said. “We look forward to working alongside our partner to create lasting change for our community, one girl at a time.”
In 2015, Dogeared continued its support of the annual Bay Area College Tour. This year, 40 Step Up teens visited: UC Santa Cruz, Mills College, UC Berkeley, University of the Pacific, California College of the Arts, University of San Francisco and UC Merced. Step Up alumnae Anamaria, Vanessa & Gladis (pictured below with current Step Up teen Genesis) showed the teens around Mills College. Additional alumnae involvement on the Tour: Rosy organized a student panel at Berkeley, Mackayme prepared a career presentation for them at USF and Tracy chatted with the teens at Merced.
Dogeared is also funding in 2015 supplies for our 9th grade classes nationwide, helping provide them with the tools they need to explore ideas around identify, relationships and voice through arts-based modalities like creative writing, collage, photography, videography and spoken word.
