Girls Inc. Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey stands as both a proven intervention and a critical community anchor. This data makes the case impossible to ignore.

At a moment when data on girls and young women paints an increasingly urgent picture — rising rates of depression, persistent educational inequities, deepening economic precarity, and an epidemic of violence that disproportionately touches communities of color — Girls Inc. of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey stands as both a proven intervention and a critical community anchor.

The national context is sobering. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2026 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data, more than 40 percent of U.S. high school students report prolonged feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Among girls specifically, that number climbs to more than 57 percent who exhibit symptoms consistent with depression — a figure that dwarfs the 31 percent reported among boys. These are not abstract statistics. They are daughters, sisters, students, and neighbors in our own communities in Philadelphia, Camden, Trenton, and the dozens of municipalities that form the Girls Inc. footprint.

Locally, the stakes are even sharper. Philadelphia, despite recent progress, remains among the most economically distressed major cities in the United States. While the city’s poverty rate dropped below 20 percent for the first time in modern record-keeping — landing at 19.7 percent — nearly 300,000 residents continue to live in poverty. Among children, the rate climbs to 28.8 percent. In Camden, New Jersey — central to the Southern New Jersey footprint — an estimated 19,596 children call the city home, with 64 percent identifying as Hispanic or Latino and 40 percent as Black or African American. In 2024, more than 13,500 Camden children received SNAP food benefits.

That is precisely where Girls Inc. enters. Founded on the principle that girls deserve to be strong, smart, and bold, the organization’s approach is not philanthropic charity — it is evidence-based intervention. Longitudinal research by the American Institutes for Research demonstrates that girls who participate in the Girls Inc. experience show measurable improvements in academic performance, leadership behaviors, physical activity, and school-related engagement compared to matched comparison groups. Across the national Girls Inc. network, 85 percent of girls report believing they will graduate from college. Ninety-two percent report being physically active at least one day per week.

The issues shaping the lives of girls and women across Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey — mental health, gun violence, educational attainment, women in leadership, economic inequity, food and housing insecurity, the juvenile justice system, and the growing influence of women in philanthropy, civic life, and nontraditional careers — are not isolated crises. They are interconnected realities that demand a coordinated, community-rooted response.

This is not a story about deficit. It is a case for what becomes possible — right here, through Girls Inc. Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey— when we take girls seriously, not someday, but now.

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— SOURCES —

1. Girls Inc. National Outcomes & Research
2. Girls Inc. 2024 Strong, Smart & Bold Outcomes Survey (SSBOS)
3. CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data
4. Pew Charitable Trusts: Philadelphia 2024
5. Camden Kids Count 2025 — Advocates for Children of New Jersey
6. American Institutes for Research — Girls Inc. Comparison Study