Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Rasor.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Amy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a Nebraska native, but moved to Texas at the age of 13 and truly love Fort Worth. I am the Chief Development Officer for Girls Inc. of Tarrant County. I started at here in 2010 and have served in many roles for the agency. I have 18 years of nonprofit experience and worked previously for 10 years at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.
In 2012, I was the recipient of the Directors of Volunteers in Agencies Tarrant County Deborah Evans Young award for excellence in Volunteer Management. I received my CFRE, Certified Fund Raising Executive certification in 2014. I was also selected as a 2015 Fort Worth Business Press 40 Under 40 Award Recipient. I have had articles published in the Volunteer Management Report and Special Events Galore! professional development publications.
I am passionate about the Girls Inc. mission to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold! My husband is an Entrepreneur and we have two beautiful daughters, Riley and Ashlyn,
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Is there a smooth road? I think if you are on a smooth road you probably aren’t taking enough risks to be your best. There are always challenges, but I prefer to see them as opportunities.
I finished all of my coursework for a teaching degree and decided to change my major in my last semester. I just knew that wasn’t the career path I wanted for myself. The major I chose did not have potential for a more lucrative future, but it was something I loved. I had to complete four semesters of a foreign language for the degree and worried it would add two more years to my graduation date. Fortunately, I was able to take an intensive French class with four semesters in one semester. It was a fabulous experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I had a streak of jobs where the company I worked for decided to go out of business. I took a minute to panic, but then collected myself, evaluated what I learned there, added it to your experiences, and built that into my story and resume for the next job.
I had a great relationship with my boss and came in one day to find I reported to someone new. Learning how best to communicate with one another effectively was a challenge, but learning to communicate with different personalities builds emotional intelligence and the chance to navigate a new relationship.
When my husband started his business, we sold our house and used the escrow money and some of my retirement money for the startup and moved into my inlaws house for two years. That was the hardest two years of my life and I would not want to go through it again, but his business is successful and we hope it will allow us to pay off our new home in a few short years.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
The mission of Girls Inc. is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. Girls Inc. of Tarrant County equips girls to navigate gender, economic, and social barriers and grow up healthy, educated, and independent. Girls build confidence and embrace positive decision-making to take charge of their health and well-being, and achieve academic, personal, and career goals.
The Girls Inc. Experience consists of people, environment, and programming that, together, empower girls to succeed. The people are trained staff and volunteers who build lasting, mentoring relationships, and peers who share their drive and aspirations. The environment is girls-only, physically and emotionally safe; there is a sisterhood of support, high expectations, and respect. The research-based programming is hands-on, minds-on, and meets the needs of today’s girls to provide the age-appropriate information and knowledge so girls make decisions leading to healthy lives, succeed academically; and develop life skills to prepare for adulthood.
I am most proud of our growth over the last several years. We have made a name for ourselves in our community. We are serving more girls each year and are raising the funds to support the growth. We have great partnerships with the schools, libraries, community centers, other nonprofits, and colleges where we deliver our programs. We have the support of local companies who believe in building their future workforce. We have stakeholders who advocate for and believe in the work we do.
What sets us apart from other girl-focused or youth-serving nonprofits is our business model. The Girls Inc. Experience, mentioned earlier, is the combination of six essential elements in providing these programs to girls.
Our programs serve the whole girl and are divided into the three categories of health, education, and independence. From hygiene to healthy sexuality, from science to the arts, and from finding their voice to becoming a leader, our programs give girls opportunities to make decisions to positively impact their lives. The programs are adjusted to serve the age of the girls. We serve girls ages 5-18, so when girls start early and stay late, we are able to layer the information over the years to develop their knowledge. For example, a girl participating in our Financial Literacy program at the age of 5 will make a piggy bank and talk about saving money, whereas an 18-year-old will be creating a family budget and managing a stock portfolio.
We are completely outreach based. We go to the girls where they are in the community. This removes transportation as an issue for the girls and their families, allows us to serve more girls, and allows the girls to attend regularly.
Additionally, the girls do not pay to attend our program. We work with the partner location to determine the best way to fund the program. As a result, we are able to serve girls from low-income communities as potentially the only resource they have.
And, last, but certainly not least, is how we deliver our programs. We have highly trained mentors using a model called the Experiential Learning Cycle to direct the activity toward the girls discovering the lesson. Girls participate in a shared experience and then openly discuss what they learned, why it is important, and how they can make changes to produce better outcomes.
What were you like growing up?
I had a very active imagination. I loved being outside. I played with worms, played in the leaves, played in the snow, and loved spending time with friends. I loved rearranging the furniture in my room. I loved listening to music, watching movies, and playing school with my sister. I was a perfectionist and always hard on myself. I wanted every teacher to love me and to do every assignment perfectly. I got along with everyone, but usually had a “best” friend I did everything with through each phase of my life.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1226 E. Weatherford Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102or2820 Matlock Road
Arlington, TX 76015 - Website:www.girlsinctarrant.org
- Phone:817-2591050
- Email:arasor@girlsinctarrant.org
- Instagram:GirlsIncTarrant
- Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/girlsinctarrant
- Twitter:@girlsinctarrant
- Other:linkedin.com/girlsinctarrant
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