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WHEREAS, Gwen’s Girls was founded in 2002 by Gwendolyn J. Elliott with the support of the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth, and Families and local foundations, as an agency devoted to giving girls gender-responsive programs and services. Gwen’s Girls was founded for the pursuit of a better quality of life for young women, and is based on the dream of Gwendolyn J. Elliott, one of Pittsburgh’s first African American female police officers; and,
WHEREAS, Gwen’s Girls is celebrating its fourteenth year of service to young women in Allegheny County. Each year, Gwen’s Girls holds its signature event, See the Best in Me: Resilience through the Lens of Equity. This year, the 2016 Equity Summit will be held on Friday, October 14th; and,
WHEREAS, the 2016 Equity Summit is sponsored jointly by the University of Pittsburgh and the Gwendolyn J. Elliott Institute, which is an entity under Gwen’s Girls that supports research, provides training, and serves as a clearinghouse for best practices in research and programming to empower young women and girls; and,
WHEREAS, the 2016 Equity Summit will explore data, best practices and solutions to issues of equity for girls across the domains of education, child welfare, juvenile justice, and health and wellness, with an expectation of continued dialogue after the summit; and,
WHEREAS, the 2016 Equity Summit is the first educational event for Gwen’s Girls and comes on the heels of the Gwendolyn J. Elliott Institute; and,
WHEREAS, now, more than ever, impacting the lives of our youth is a collective effort. Gwen’s Girls is dedicated to making positive change in the lives of young women and girls, and the 2016 Equity Summit promises to highlight the hard work of experts in the field of racial equity, child development, and women’s law; and,
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does declare Friday, October 14th, 2016 to be “Gwen’s Girls Day” in the City of Pittsburgh.