Willie Mae Rock Camp For Girls

Programs: Two 6-day, girls rock camp summer sessions for girls and gender nonconforming youth ages 8-18, and one 5-day jumpstart session for ages 5- 7, engaged a total of 210 girls and gender nonconforming youth through intensive music education and social justice programming. Through musical insruction, group songwriting, performance, and workshops on performance readiness, gender identity, and racial justice, participants built meaningful alliances with a diverse community of peers and mentors, and developed self expression, critical thinking skills, and confidence to make healthy choices with the tools to effect positive change in their lives and communities. A total of 157 volunteers donated 5,480 hours of service during the summer camp sessions at an estimated value of 153,769.

arts & activism/partner programs: provided songwriting and rhythm classes as part of rhythm & voice, a program in partnership with the young women's leadership network schools of the bronx and queens, for a total of 600 girls during weekly after school sessions, mini carnival-style rock camps and performances throughout the school year. Arts & activism, held at the willie mae music lab in brooklyn, engaged 8 youth in podcast making, musical composition, storytelling, performance, and in leadership roles during the summer session. Both programs achieved goals of encouraging creativity, collaboration, leadership, and laid groundwork for artistic excellence.

ladies rock camp: provided music education and confidence-building activities for 32 women and gender nonconforming adults during one 3-day intensive music education session. Participants learned an instrument, joined a band, wrote a song, and performed together for an audience of over 200 people. Achieved goals of bringing together women from diverse communities and encouraging them to explore self-expression through music, building alliances with other women from diverse communities, develop confidence in making healthy choices in their lives, and effect positive change in their communities and in the world. A total of 35 volunteers donated 706 hours of service during the ladies rock camp sessions, at an estimated value of 19,810.

willie mae rock camp for girls has been uniquely successful at creating an environment for youth to discover their voice and potential in life through learning and writing music. The high retention rate indicates how important the community of girls, gender nonconforming youth, and volunteers is to participants: about half of our summer campers were returning participants, and a third of those had attended for at least 3 years in a row. Our model of intensive music instruction on an instrument, collective songwriting, and performance, gives young people a burst of confidence and self-efficacy, and has improved their skills in collaboration, public speaking, and problem solving, and has given them tools to speak out for themselves and others. The organization received concert fees for presenting performances and workshops by youth at several public events and provided equipment rentals and rehearsal space rentals at subsidized rates to girls and women involved in willie mae rock camp programming. In addition, the organization sold group portrait photos of camper bands at showcase concerts, as well as merchandise such as band designed t-shirts.