SV blog
Behind the Scenes At GFC: A Quarterly Profile Series: Elise DeYoung
Elise DeYoung is certainly a Jill of all trades here at Girls For a Change. She has been a corporate executive, a substitute teacher in special education, and is now the National Operations Director for GFC – and that's only the beginning of what Elise brings to the table of the GFC organization.
Right now, Elise is responsible for GFC Operations, or what she calls “the business end” of GFC. She manages relationships with IT contract service providers, does all of the accounting and cash flow management for the organization, tracks donations and maintains relationships with governmental agencies. She also manages all the aspects of Human Resources for GFC.
“We don't have a lot of down time,” she laughs.
Because of the many jobs that Elise does within GFC, she says that she allows others in the organization to do their job more effectively. She keeps the change happening for teams by providing all of our operations-she's the engine of this train of change.
“It is the details behind the scenes I think that facilitate our program people doing such a fabulous job of getting services out to our community and taking the business details out of that arena so that the creative energies of our program staff who are 'program scientists' to go out and make it happen!"
Elise says that her favorite part of what she does on “the business end” is getting to see the outcome of the programs.
“Knowing
that my strengths are in the details of behind the scenes and getting those
pieces done so that they don't detract from the services we provide - I have
ongoing regular interactions with everybody on staff so that part is pretty
cool.”
Elise
has been on staff for three years now, and because of her extensive background in the private sector, brings so many skills to the organization.
“I
have a pretty strong business background, many years in the corporate world,
and I think I bring that expertise to the organization. I am very happy to be able to do that and to
have the outcome of that be focused on community and on services rather than on
making a profit,” she says.
Her
background as a corporate executive also made Elise appreciate the foundation
of GFC even more.
“One
of the things I really, really value about our organization is I was a
corporate executive for 15 years and it was very much a male dominated industry, which is not as true today, but coming to work in this environment
in an organization that is woman managed and woman run, I think we're so much
more effective (wink!) and I'm so pleased to have had that opportunity to be a part of
that. We don't have that in a lot of
organizations.”
“The main thing I would like girls to achieve is the confidence and the skills so they know that they can make a difference in their communities, and in their own lives and the lives of their families.”
She is also very passionate about the work that GFC does and her unique contribution.
“It's an honor to provide some perspective in our organization in decisions or directions that we go, that representing a generation that came before most of our participants and our senior staff. The excitement of seeing so many things that were unachievable in the '60s and how far we've come, but then also to acknowledge that even given how far we've come, how much more distance we have to go before girls are really going to be able to recognize and appreciate their worth.”
Outside of GFC, Elise's life doesn't slow down. She is has been married for 23 years and is the mother of two boys, ages 18 and 20.
“My baby just graduated from high school, and my older son is autistic so I have the honor of parenting a special needs guy. So my family keeps me pretty busy.”
In addition to her family life, Elise is a trustee on Santa Clara Unified School District Board of Education and is very involved in the public school community. She is involved with local governmental activities in terms of funding for schools and making policy decisions for schools.
At some point, even the busiest person has to take time for themselves, and in her free time, Elise enjoys gardening, needlework, and crocheting.
Elise is one of many people at GFC that work hard every day to empower girls to make a difference in their communities and their own lives. She doesn't always get the spotlight for everything she does, but now is her time to shine and be recognized for the amazing difference that she makes in the lives of others.
-By Megan Fischer, GFC Social Media Intern
To pay your compliments to Elise or Megan, email here.
Behind The Scenes At GFC is a quarterly profile series by Megan Fischer, featuring the sometimes not so glamorous work of those individuals who keep Girls For A Change going strong. Megan is a journalism student at Colorado State University.
Girls For A Change Auto Donation Program!
Donate Your Car, Boat, or Other Vehicle and Make Change Happen!
GFC now accepts your automobile, boat, or other vehicle donation to benefit our programs. With our partner, Bizzarro’s Auto Auctions, anyone, nationwide, can donate their vehicle, regardless of condition! Simply call Frank Bizzarro and his team of experts at (650) 363-8056 to start the donation process! Email our development staff for more information.
Podcast: Words With Whitney
Summer debut edition of the podcast interview series with Whitney Smith, CEO and Founder, with questions submitted by YOU the listener to annie@girlsforachange.org
More Volunteer Opportunities At Girls For A Change
Networking Nights / Empower Hours
These events will take place every other month or so and are designed to introduce new potential donors and / or coaches to GFC. They each have unique characteristics, and we need additional committee members to help schedule and execute these fun evenings.
Abundance Events
These events will happen frequently throughout the year and will give potential donors a deeper view into GFC.
Signature Event
We’re working on a small-scale fundraising event and celebration in mid June 2010, but need to also start planning for 2011!
Golf Tournament
There is interest in hosting a golf tourney, so if you love golf this might be the project for you. We need committee members.
Alumna Relations Committee - National
Are you a former coach or girl participant? We want to reach out to alumna girls and coaches and make sure we’re connecting in meaningful ways through events, communications, etc.
Graphics Pro Bono - National
If you have a graphic design background, we need help with layout of newsletters, etc.
Grant Research Volunteer - National
If you love to surf the web and have an eye for detail we need someone to review lists of foundations online to see if we should submit grants. Its lots of web surfing...
Contact: Lori Fitzmaurice, Chief Development Officer, at lori@girlsforachange.org or via phone at (408) 529-1298.
Silicon Valley: What's Hot! Summer 2009
More than 40 Girl Action Teams created social change throughout Silicon Valley this year! Projects addressed various issues from school safety, teen pregnancy, environmental concerns, public safety, and self-esteem. For a full list of projects and to view the amazing work the girls in Silicon Valley did this past year, please click here.
We would like to thank all of the schools, organizations, staff, parents, guardians, and volunteers that helped make this another great year of programming in the Silicon Valley. Thank you for your support!
Silicon Valley Program Director
We are thrilled to announce that Ashley Smith has been promoted to our Program Director role in Silicon Valley! Ashley has been a volunteer and/or staff with GFC over the last 4 years. She worked full time as the Operations and Program Assistant and has assisted with SV events including the Girl Summit. She also spearheaded the operations component of GFC's National Tour in 2008. Please join us in welcoming Ashley to her new role and check out her full bio here.
Silicon Valley Women Volunteers Needed!
Do you believe in the power of girls? GFC We need women volunteers who are dedicated to supporting girls, willing to tell girls they are valuable and ready to change the world! GFC is recruiting women volunteers as GFC Coaches for our 2009-2010 program year! Coaches work directly with girls to create a social change project. Two coaches are assigned to each team and you can Coach in the fall or the spring. Teams meet once per week for 12 weeks. GFC provides a coach orientation and monthly coach trainings. If you are interested in a Coach position with GFC, click here to learn more.
GFC SV - Completion Ceremony 2009
Girls For A Change is excited to announce that the 2008-2009 annual Silicon Valley Completion Ceremony was a success! This event took place on Thursday, May 14th at Pioneer High School in San Jose. We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone who helped ensure the evening ran smoothly and the girls were supported and empowered. The girls were excited to complete a great year and we have built momentum for future programming in the Bay Area.
We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone who helped ensure that girls were supported and empowered at the event! This event was made possible by generous donations from the following organizations and businesses. Thank you for giving back to your communities!
• Pioneer High School
• Women’s Networking Alliance
• PW Markets
• IKON
Silicon Valley: What's Hot Spring 2009
Almost 50 Silicon Valley Girl Action Teams are working on their social change projects to improve communities in the Bay Area. Spring Into Action: On February 7th, more than 270 girls and coaches participated in our free annual training event for Girl Action Teams. The event was generously hosted again this year on the Cisco Systems campus in San Jose. The day kicked off with a fabulous presentation from Kim Plewes, California Youth Programming Manager with Free the Children. Kim spoke of her 10 years working to engage young people in education projects around the globe. The girls then moved on to workshops where 10 amazing volunteer facilitators worked with girls on building the skills necessary to plan and implement their social change projects. We had 30 women volunteers from the community who helped make the day a success. We also secured $7,000 in in-kind support, including lunch for every participant. We would like to thank all of our volunteers, sponsors, girls, and coaches who made Spring Into Action 2009 such a huge success! Staff Transition: We would like to thank Sally Green and Anahita Modaresi for their dedication to GFC in Silicon Valley and wish them luck in their new ventures! For donor, sponsorship or general inquires, contact Whitney: whitney@girlsforachange.org For program or volunteer inquires, contact Meghan: meghan@girlsforachange.org May 2009 Completion Ceremony: This date is TBA. More info coming soon!
