4GGL: Empowering Girls Around the World

Inspiration

4 Girls GLocal Leadership (4GGL) founder Jin In was born in South Korea, grew up in the United States, lived abroad in England and Mexico, and has travelled to countless countries around the world—yet there is no one place she calls home. She considers herself a global citizen, and believes that everyone should make the effort to understand the world through different eyes.

From a young age, In came to understand that in many cultures—especially in developing countries—girls were treated as inferiors, and were rarely allowed to pursue the opportunities that their brothers were given. A breakthrough moment came for her when she entered medical school, and was told that the hypothetical model patient was a 25-year-old man. When she asked, “What about the woman?”, she was told that the subject had never come up before. Frustrated by the sexism she saw, In left the world of medicine and shifted her focus to women’s rights.

Though In has worked for several major organizations and governmental groups in support of women, she believed that all of the organizations out there “were targeting the symptoms, and not the disease.” The groups worked to provide treatment for HIV/AIDS, maternity care, and other urgent needs—but In knew that to achieve true change in developing countries, it was essential that women did not grow up feeling as though they were second-class citizens. Change must begin from the ground level up, starting by transforming young girls into global leaders. Raise money for this cause and other causes.

Resolution

In founded 4GGL as a way to address the underlying issue that caused innumerable social problems for women in developing nations: the fact that they were not valued.

“If we value them, society would value what they’re becoming and their contribution,” says In. Through 4GGL, she used her past experience working with more than 1,200 international youth groups to create a strategy to help impoverished girls grow up knowing that there is no limit to what they can achieve.

To help girls learn to value themselves, In knew that young women would need to receive support and encouragement from female role models within their own communities—so through 4GGL, she developed a system to “train the trainers,” creating leadership programs for women working in grassroots nonprofit groups around the world. The partner programs are “locally-driven,” says In—4GGL doesn’t tell the organizations what to do, but works to respond to their specific needs. 

Transformation

“It is such a model system,” she says. Since 4GGL was founded in 2008, “we’ve impacted 250,000 girls” in programs around the world, including Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Although the organization is still new, In knows that her program has already made an incredible difference to the girls she’s met in her travels. On one trip, she encountered a group of girls who were too impoverished to go to school, forced to work in the fields instead. After In spoke with them about the possibilities that were available to them, though, “one girl instantly got it, and said she’d never been inspired before, but she wanted to make a pact with me,” says In. “She said, ‘If you stay in touch and keep believing in me, I’ll find a way to go back to school.’” In the months since, In has corresponded with the young girl through email, and the child is more determined than ever to receive the education that she knows she is entitled to.

With 4GGL, says In, “My goal isn’t to reach 1 million girls. We’re working to transform one community at a time to value girls. That is truly sustainable development.”

Although In hopes to impact many lives through 4GGL, she is confident that the work that the organization and its local partners are doing have already been worth all the effort she has made.

“Even if you only reached one girl,” she says, “you’ve done your job.”

4GGL recently launched a campaign called 1,000 Leaders, where you can make a contribution to help support girls’ leadership efforts in developing countries. Learn more or make a donation now.

By Kathryn Hawkins