When the members of What About Us heard that they were given the grant from the Women’s Foundation for a 3-year public education campaign, they were both surprised and excited. Finally, their hard work had paid off.

In fact, after hearing about their receiving the Women’s Foundation grant, they were also notified that they had been chosen to receive a Headwater’s Fund grant, which is geared to social justice and change. This grant allowed them to begin the planning and implementation of a Pan Asian Girls’ Conference to be held in the fall of 2003. In fact, since notification, the girls have been working hard at finding, and contacting local and national organizations to be involved in this event. A conference of this type has not happened before, and undoubtedly it will be a unique event that will guarantee publicity for their message.

While other teens may be whitling away their summer in malls, the girls have spent countless hours in planning for this event. Their work is just one way that they show their dedication to the cause.

One member even took up training to become a peer educator on sexual violence at the Sexual Violence Center. She explains: “I want to help my community, especially girls who may be experiencing sexual violence but don’t know what to do. I’ve learned a lot and it’s good that I can use this knowledge to help others.” The other members are trying to find local speakers who can come in to teach conference attendees about various topics.

The Women’s Foundation awarded the Girls BEST grant to What About Us in June. The goals of the grant entail a public education campaign centralized in the Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park areas, with an emphasis on the Asian community. Lee Roper-Batker from the Women’s Foundation commented that the they “put an important face on the reason we exist – to fund great groups like WAU.” She added a “thanks for representing Girls BEST so well.”