Project Accelerate equips girls and young women with the skills to successfully advance into leadership roles, while simultaneously preparing workplaces to welcome this new generation of leaders. 

Project Accelerate was created as a direct response to girls asking for support from a trusted source, Girls Inc., as they faced transitions and situations that challenged even the most prepared. Starting with high school juniors, Project Accelerate provides holistic programming including mentorship, internship placements, access to educational resources, and learning opportunities for young women. This support equips participants with the necessary skills to achieve long-term success and positive outcomes for themselves, their families, neighborhoods, organizations, and communities.  

 Girls Inc. is also creating change in workplaces to remove barriers to women’s advancement and create welcoming professional environments in which women can assume leadership roles. This work began with the Project Accelerate Leadership Council, a group of corporate and social impact leaders led by President and CEO Stephanie Hull. Council members, representing the American Red Cross, Bank of America, Capital One, Cox Enterprises, Cummins, Deloitte, and JPMorgan Chase, helped Girls Inc. identify best practices for advancing women’s leadership. Girls Inc. promotes these practices to workplaces across a variety of sectors. 

Girls Inc. launched Project Accelerate in 2021 after securing a $10M investment as a winner of the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge – hosted by Pivotal Ventures, MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies – which called for bold ideas that would expand women’s power and influence in the U.S. by 2030. 

Project Accelerate is currently being implemented at 31 Girls Inc. Affiliates within the Network. These Affiliates have already surpassed the original goal of directly serving 5,400 young women by 2030, reaching more than 5,900 participants as of the 2024-2025 school year. By 2030, approximately 1,000 Project Accelerate participants will have entered the workforce, and the remainder will be advancing toward college graduation. 

Hear from Girls Inc. of Central Alabama on their Project Accelerate program.

Watch this video of the Project Accelerate Expo at Girls Inc. of Greater Philadelphia & Southern NJ.