Photo: Corinna Robbins for Mercy Corps
About GirlSPARKS
GirlSPARKS is a global training initiative to ignite girls’ potential. Our Girl-Centred Design methodology supports practitioners to ‘find her’, ‘listen to her’ and ‘design with her’. Tailored training and coaching packages mean we can support practitioners and organisations with practical tools for informative and innovative, girl-centred programming design, and then provide tailored support to translate those tools into effective programming that reaches the most marginalised and vulnerable adolescent girls.
Why Girls?
Girls have a right to equality and participation, and when these rights are invested in we know that there are benefits not just for her, but for the whole community. Yet despite growing evidence of the value of investing in girls, there continues to be an undersupply of expertise among practitioners to identify marginalised girls, prioritise their needs in the design process, and engage them over time and at scale.
Far too many assumptions continue to be made about adolescent girls and the field is missing the mark for them by not effectively applying girl-centred methodologies.
This is where GirlSPARKS steps in.
Why GirlSPARKS?
GirlSPARKS has a network of trainers and facilitators who are experts in girl-centred programming and design, based in locations all around the world. This means we can offer contextualised training in a variety of languages and all at an affordable cost.
We also bring together insights on what works for girl-centred programming from a variety of experts and practitioners, and through our connection with Mercy Corps and other partners implementing programming in diverse locations, continue to test and refine our materials, as well as developing new materials that are identified as needed by girl-centred practitioners.
Our Methodology
The GirlSPARKS Girl-Centred Design approach provides the skills, knowledge and tools for practitioners to place adolescent girls at the centre of program design and implementation. Participants are taken through a three-module process:
FIND HER: Defining and finding the most marginalised girls through data collection tools
LISTEN TO HER: Bringing girls into the center of program design through girl consultations and safe spaces
DESIGN WITH HER: Tailoring the design approach to meet adolescent girls’ unique needs through learnings from previous modules
Learn more about our Girl-Centred Design services here
Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps
Our Team
The GirlSPARKS team is made up of a network of specialists, trainers and facilitators, who are experts in girl-centred programming and design. The GirlSPARKS main office is based in London, with our 12 trainers located all around the globe. Click on the friendly faces below for more information.
Our Trainers
Click on the markers or scroll down to meet our global team of trainers.
The GirlSPARKS Team Pinpoints
