In the face of the coronavirus crisis, the non-profit Row Venice, which describes itself as a group of "passionate women and expert vogatrici," said that "we were more than happy to volunteer our boats and crews to lend a hand."

An all-female group of gondola rowers in Venice, Italy has been providing grocery deliveries for vulnerable people during the coronavirus crisis! Row Venice, a group of "passionate women and expert vogatrici" — the Italian word for rowers — is dedicated to preserving the traditional Venetian style of rowing. After Italy announced a lockdown in March, the nonprofit organization decided to deliver groceries to elderly and immunocompromised people to help meet the huge increase in demand for such services. As the group wrote in a Facebook post, "We were more than happy to volunteer our boats and crews to lend a hand." Continue reading → Continue reading

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

These Mighty Girls have designed a cheap ventilator out of car parts to help with the pandemic fight in a country with only 12 working ventilators in its main coronavirus hospitals.

The Afghan girls’ robotics team has joined the fight against coronavirus by designing an inexpensive ventilator out of automobile parts! The team members from Herat created the prototype after the governor of the Afghan province sent out a public plea for ventilators. The region is expecting an explosion in coronavirus cases due to a huge surge in Afghan migrant workers returning to the country from neighboring Iran, one of the disease's global hotspots. The impoverished nation is ill-prepared for any significant outbreak; as of April 2, the country's two hospitals designated for coronavirus cases had only 12 working ventilators between them. In response to this desperate need, the Afghan Dreamers robotics team developed a ventilator prototype which costs under $300 to make from parts that can be easily sourced in the country. "The only thing that we all want to do is help our people and our community," says tech entrepreneur Roya Mahboob, who founded the Afghan Dreamers program. "I work with the girls, but mostly to coordinate. They are the real heroes." 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

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

"The ability to offer help is one of our greatest gifts," says Becky Hoeffler.

A Durham, North Carolina woman has stepped up to help elderly neighbors stay safe during the coronavirus threat by getting their groceries! Becky Hoeffler, a Duke University employee who's currently working from home due to the virus, was inspired to start her project when she called to check in on her grandfather. "He told me, 'I’m on my way to the grocery store' and I was just kind of concerned because he’s 91 and I thought, 'is there a reason you have to go to the grocery store?... So that’s what made me think, maybe I can go grocery shopping for others since I do live in a community that has several senior citizen neighbors." Since then, Hoeffler has helped several of her at-risk neighbors avoid crowded stores by getting their groceries on her lunch break. "I think utilizing people power is one of the best ways that we can combat the virus," she says. As Hoeffler told A Mighty Girl, "The ability to offer help is one of our greatest gifts." Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of the best new books for children and teens about incredible women from around the world.

Gerda Lerner, the historian and scholar who pioneered the field of women's history, once said, "In my courses, the teachers told me about a world in which ostensibly one-half the human race is doing everything significant and the other half doesn’t exist." But increasingly, we are reclaiming history, telling the stories of the girls and women whose contributions to our shared story deserve to be celebrated! As parents and educators, it's also important that we tell these stories to all of our children, boys and girls alike, so that they live in a world where history has always been about the contributions of all of humanity. 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