GENaustin: Girls Empowerment Network

Girls will learn about the effects media can have on their self-image and how to take action and change the way media portrays women. Participants will increase their awareness and ability to critically deconstruct media messages that are sent to young girls. They will learn to look at advertising with a critical eye and separate the realistic from the unrealistic. This workshop will help participants navigate mass media advertising and entertainment and turn girls into critical consumers.

Based on SafePlace's "Expect Respect" school program, this presentation will address the promotion of safe and healthy relationships for all girls. A strong girl speaks her mind in a relationship, refuses to do things that make her uncomfortable, and expects people to treat her with respect - even when others might be angry or disappointed. The program's focus will be on helping girls communicate their feelings, increasing girls' sense of personal safety and building healthy coping skills. The SafePlace School-based education and training team will facilitate this discussion.

Speaker Bio

Randy Randolph is the School-Based Prevention Coordinator at SafePlace. Ms. Randolph has worked with SafePlace for over five years creating and providing educational programs on dating and sexual violence prevention and youth leadership. She has worked with thousands of youth and adults on promoting safe and healthy relationships through workshops and trainings. Two of these initiatives, SafeTeens and Heroes, are youth leadership training and service-learning programs which have been successful in engaging Austin youth as leaders in preventing dating and sexual violence. SafeTeens has received national recognition and funding from the National Center for Victims of Crime for its efforts in developing youth leaders. The SafeTeens Youth Leadership Program is an integral part of SafePlace’s comprehensive approach to preventing dating and sexual violence. Ms. Randolph earned a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Communication Arts from San Francisco State University.

Straight Talk from Teen Parents is a peer education program in which teen parents encourage middle and high school students to delay becoming parents until later in life. The No Kidding Peer Educators are a team of young mothers who travel to schools telling their stories and leading their peers in highly interactive activities designed to make visible the legal issues and other realities surrounding young unmarried parenting. This presentation is provided through a unique collaboration between GENaustin and Youth Launch.

In the first part of this personal safety workshop, you will learn how to identify sexual predators, develop safety instincts and plan safety strategies on the streets as well as on the internet. Experts will provide awareness about sexual harassment, cyberbullying and cyberstalking.

Laura Donnelly

Speakers Bios

Upon graduating college in New Jersey, Laura Donnelly became an account executive for Ruder Finn Public Relations in their book publicity subsidiary. She continued to work in public relations for smaller firms in New York City, focusing mostly on book and non-profit promotion, until moving to Austin in 2000 to enroll in journalism graduate school. There, she co-founded Latinitas Magazine, a bilingual online magazine made for and by Latina youth. To be authentic, Latinitas developed outreach programming to cultivate contributions from Latina girls in and outside Austin. That programming includes after school journalism and technology clubs on six AISD campuses, workshops in the community and college internships.

Come get a taste of how yoga can help your mind, body and spirit. Learn basic yoga moves and how to incorporate relaxation techniques into your daily life. Understand your body in a way completely different from what fashion magazines tell you, and find out how to let go of stress at home and at school.

Speaker Bio

Dawn Larned teaches and practices in the style of Anusara Yoga. She is also certified in Kundalini Yoga has experience teaching movement and breathwork from a theatre arts perspective.

School can be a battlefield, widespread with competition and judgment. The goal of this workshop is to break down social barriers, improve self-esteem and create understanding and compassion for our differences. The workshop will bring recognition to girls' varied cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds while emphasizing positive identity and alliance building. We will focus on appreciating the diversity in girls' lives by identifying prejudices, stereotypes, and intolerances, and promoting understanding and respect within and between groups living in a multi-cultural society. The activities and discussions will include positive community building exercises.

From the bully to the bullied, these workshops are essential to create conversation and awareness. In a safe environment, girls are led through topics that discuss relational aggression, intolerance and feuding, mean girls and cliques. How did bullies become bullies? What do we have in common with those we dislike? This workshop is very relevant to the relational aggression occurring in our schools today. Through interactive videos and discussion and interpersonal exercises, our workshop asks girls to step outside the box they have created for themselves and view others in a positive way. We will focus on enhancing girls' relationships with themselves and others.

In the first part of this personal safety workshop, you will learn how to identify sexual predators, develop safety instincts and plan safety strategies. In the second part, you will learn simple techniques for physical resistance and other tips for general safety.

Joy Williamson

Speakers Bios

Joy Williamson began her martial arts training in 1995, after taking a self-defense class. She studied with Sensei Suzanne Pinette at Sun Dragon, earning her black belt in Kyokushin Karate in 2000. Joy soon began teaching at Sun Dragon, then was requested to take over leadership of the school when her teacher retired. She has been the Executive Director and Head Instructor of Sun Dragon since 2004.

Laura Donnelly

Speakers Bio

Lolis Garcia Baab is a mother of two wonderful children and wife of 12-year NFL veteran Mike Baab, she is a business and community leader and a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. Lolis is making her mark through The Ladies Room With Lolis. She began doing voice-over talent work in Austin while attending the University of Texas and continued this work upon her return to Austin in 1997. Among her many clients are Southwestern Bell, Bank One, and Taco Cabana. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism, Magna Cum Laude, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

Girl fighting is often a painful part of middle school. Girls may express their aggression and insecurities through hurtful words, gossip and bullying. An experienced speaker will lead a discussion about bullying and bystander issues, and intergroup girl aggression. She will also address how to keep friendships strong, honest and healthy.

Speaker Bio

Barb Steinberg, a Licensed Master Social Worker, has been a presenter for over 8 years training schools and communities nationally and throughout Texas. Barb's professional background includes conducting individual, group, and family counseling. She has worked within outpatient and inpatient facilities, assisting people with numerous issues, such as depression, eating disorders, physical and sexual abuse, alcohol and drug abuse, anxiety and adjustment disorders, brain injury and other neuropsychiatric disorders. In addition, Barb has conducted support group facilitation within public schools, specializing in adolescent issues.

Lolis Garcia Baab is a mother of two wonderful children and wife of 12-year NFL veteran Mike Baab, she is a business and community leader and a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. Lolis is making her mark through The Ladies Room With Lolis. She began doing voice-over talent work in Austin while attending the University of Texas and continued this work upon her return to Austin in 1997. Among her many clients are Southwestern Bell, Bank One, and Taco Cabana. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism, Magna Cum Laude, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

Speaker Bio

Caroline McCarter has been practicing yoga for 15 years, but it became more of an interest to her after taking a college yoga philosophy course in 1997 during her undergraduate years at University of Michigan.Over the years, as she continued to practice yoga on her own, Caroline became more and more aware of the self-actualizing effects of her yoga practice. In particular, she noticed how it drew her focus to the inner workings of her body, rather than its outside appearance. With that discovery, Caroline became passionate about helping others like her in the world; people with false perceptions about themselves that come with body image obsessions and disordered eating patterns. She views yoga as a vehicle for healing and has made yoga therapy her life's work.