The 55-year-old Girl Scout leader was scheduled to run in this year's Boston Marathon; after it was postponed due to the pandemic, Tandy Wilson decided to use her training to lift the spirits of the girls in her troop by visiting each one at home.

Tandy Wilson had been training for years to qualify for the 2020 Boston Marathon — so after the coronavirus led to the historic marathon's first postponement in 124 years, the long-time Girl Scout leader decided to put all of her marathon preparation to good use by lifting the spirits of the girls in her troop! The 55-year-old troop leader laid out a 46-mile route across the San Fernando Valley in California — 20 miles longer than a marathon — that allowed her to run past the homes of all 52 of her Girl Scouts over 11 hours. Calling it "Tandy's Purple Unicorn Run" after the troop's official color and the Boston Marathon's mascot, Wilson stopped at each girl's house to chat while observing social distancing, take safe-distance selfies, and leave them each a Purple Unicorn Sticker celebrating the troop and her run. "I’m so excited just to see all of them," she said before setting off on the 46-mile run. "Seeing them. That’s what’s going to keep me going." Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of e-books about extraordinary women that are available for under $5!

While staying at home to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, many adults are taking advantage of the extra time to catch up on their reading! But with many libraries and bookstores closed, it's not necessarily easy to get new titles to add to your "to read" pile. E-books are the perfect solution: they are quick to receive, so within minutes, you can be enjoying your next read! Continue reading → Continue reading

"It feels like we've accidentally created a community of young people who just really wanted to help right now."

It all started with a Facebook post. "Is there a way for an able-bodied 25-year-old to volunteer to help deliver groceries/supplies to elderly tenants around the city? Does anyone know of something like this?" Simone Policano, an actor and producer who lives in New York City, wrote on March 12 as the number of coronavirus cases were starting to rise.  When she couldn't find an organization already coordinating volunteers for at-home deliveries, Policano and her friend Liam Elkind created Invisible Hands, a "free, volunteer-based delivery service for those most impacted by and most at-risk for severe complications due to COVID-19." Only a few weeks later, over 10,000 predominantly young volunteers are now part of Policano's network, which covers the greater New York area and parts of New Jersey. "We completely did not expect this," Policano says. "In this time where we are stuck in our homes, it's amazing to see young people wanting to help." Continue reading → Continue reading

This empowering collection will keep even the most voracious readers busy for weeks to come!

As coronavirus shutdowns lengthen, avid readers are facing a challenge: they're running out of reading material! E-books offer an excellent solution: choose your title and it will be on your device in minutes, ready to settle in for a reading session. To help tween readers and their parents find more girl-empowering books to read during the weeks ahead, we've featured a selection of Mighty Girl middle-grade titles — all of which are available as an e-book for under $5. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of movies to stream for free celebrating mighty women!

Just because we're stuck at home, doesn't mean we can't celebrate women's history! In fact, the extra hours at home offer a perfect chance to check out an inspiring film or two about groundbreaking woman from history. To that end, in our new blog post, we've showcased nine acclaimed movies about mighty women, which are each available to stream for free on Amazon Prime. Continue reading → Continue reading

Two new books for tweens explore the little-discussed but widespread problem of sexual harassment in middle school.

The rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017 brought much-needed attention to the widespread problem of sexual harassment of adult women. There has been little discussion, however, about the harassment of tween and teen girls by their peers, and how the way we respond to that harassment shapes what girls and boys think is socially acceptable. With a nationwide study finding that 56% of girls in grades 7 to 12 report experiencing sexual harassment at school, authors have recently began to explore this important topic in their works for middle grade readers. And, whether read together at home or at a book club or in a classroom, such books provide an excellent opportunity for parents and educators to start timely and essential conversations about harassment and boundaries with tween girls and boys.  Continue reading → Continue reading

For the first time in history, the flagship law reviews in the U.S. have all been led by women.

The all-female roster of editors in chief of the flagship law reviews. Front row, from left: Ela Leshem, Yale; Alveena Shah, UCLA; Noor Hasan, Berkeley; Maia Cole, NYU; Farrah Bara, Duke; Nicole Collins, Stanford; Lauren Beck, Harvard. Back row, from left: Christina Wu, Texas; Laura Toulme, U-Va.; Annie Prossnitz, Northwestern; Emily Vernon, Chicago; Lauren Kloss, Cornell; Gabriella Ravida, Penn; Grace Paras, Georgetown; Sarah McDonald, Michigan; and Andrea Gonzalez, UCLA. (Leigh Vogel/Duke University School of Law).

For the first time in history, the flagship law reviews at the 16 most prestigious law schools in the United States have all been led by female editors-in-chief! These highly competitive posts are one of the most coveted positions among law students, but as recently as 2012, men overwhelmingly dominated the editor-in-chef slots. The change followed a significant push by law schools and law reviews to welcome students from diverse backgrounds. "It speaks well to the progress that many law schools have made toward cultivating a more hospitable environment for women, people of color, and first-generation law students," observed Melissa Murray, a professor at New York University School of Law. "But credit should not go to law schools alone. The law reviews deserve credit as well." Continue reading → Continue reading

13 children's books about Japanese-American girls interned during WWII.

For most people, the idea of rounding people up into camps is decidedly un-American, the sort of thing that we associate with tyrants and dictatorships. And yet, that's exactly what happened after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during WWII — over 100,000 Japanese Americans, the majority of whom were native born U.S. citizens, were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in the name of "national security." Any person of Japanese ancestry could be suspect, the government at the time reasoned, and therefore all of them should be treated as such. In fact, the federal government admitted decades later that the policy has been based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership." Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of the best children's books about pioneering black women published over the past year!

African-American women historically faced both gender and racial discrimination, and their stories are therefore often missing from mainstream histories — but today's children's authors are working to change that! Every year, we see more and more books celebrating inspiring black women pioneers in every field, many featuring little-known figures who have never had their own dedicated biographies before. Continue reading → Continue reading

Saleha Jabeen was commissioned as a second lieutenant by the Air Force Chief of Chaplains, who said, "Any time we advance religious freedoms, it’s a win for all persons of faith."

In a ceremony filled with family, friends, and mentors, Saleha Jabeen made history by becoming the first female Muslim chaplain in the history of the U.S. military! At the December ceremony in Chicago, Jabeen was commissioned as a second lieutenant by the Air Force Chief of Chaplains, Major General Steven Schaick. "Any time we advance religious freedoms, it’s a win for all persons of faith," asserted Schaick. "The fact is America is a place where the Constitution guarantees your freedom to embrace or abstain from religious ideals, and the Chaplain Corps, which Jabeen just entered, exists to ensure every Airman has a religious freedom advocate.... I could not be more proud of our Air Force for being willing to commission and embrace the first female Imam in the Department of Defense." Continue reading → Continue reading