The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services says one of its goals is to empower the next generation of young women.

At an event this week focused on celebrating girls, nearly 50 teenagers filled a room at the Chicago Cultural Center.

“For me the biggest thing is just that this sparks or ignites one little piece of passion or that they even ask themselves, ‘What could I do?’” said Lisa Hampton the Youth Services Division at the Department of Family and Support Services.

Hampton organized the “Bold and Brave” event, which was funded by a grant to create more safe spaces for young women to express themselves.

Girls ages 14-18 participated in various workshops throughout the day and heard from speakers such as City Clerk Anna Valencia and 11th Ward Ald. Nicole Lee, who discussed their experiences as trailblazers in their roles. Kisha Roberts-Tabb, the deputy chief probation officer for Cook County Juvenile Courts, was also among the panelists and emphasized the importance of encouraging youth to share their own experiences.

“We have to empower our girls to be comfortable telling our own stories from our own authentic experience because you may be able to repeat what I said, but you can’t tell it like I can tell it,” Roberts-Tabb said.

Alexandria El-Amin, a senior at Whitney Young High School, was among the participants.

“It seems like there’s some kind of confidence epidemic,” El-Amin said. “It seems like a lot of teen girls don’t gain confidence until later in life when it’s a little too late. So it’s nice to see how much confidence is being pushed into our young girls so that we don’t suffer from those self-esteem issues later in life.”

High school senior Natalia Robles said events like this help her build the confidence to continue advocating for issues she supports.

“I’ve seen a lot of women who don’t feel that empowerment because they’re not male or because they think that their voices don’t matter and if I thought that way I wouldn’t be here right now,” Robles said.

Robles, the daughter of immigrants, will be attending American University in Washington, D.C., this fall to pursue a degree in political science with the goal of becoming an elected official one day. She said having mentors and supportive spaces reminds her that she belongs.

“I feel like it’s really important for everybody to do this because honestly your voice matters,” Robles said. “It’s an impact and if you’re together as a community, like, we can make the change. We are the change.”

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