For Jes Wolfe, CEO of Rebel Girls, every day is an opportunity to celebrate and invest in the next generation. International Day of the Girl serves as both a milestone and a reminder: progress is possible when we amplify girls’ voices and back their ambitions with tangible support. In this conversation, Wolfe reflects on the transformative power of confidence, the ripple effects of storytelling, and why women leaders must become investors in the future they hope to see.
At Rebel Girls, we cheer for girls every day. We create stories and products to help build and nurture their confidence to become their most authentic selves. International Day of the Girl is one of our tentpole moments, where we celebrate progress and rally for what needs to come. Personally, it’s energizing for me anytime there is a day where girls – their being, successes and ambitions – are amplified above all else.
In each of our books, we include activities for girls to take action. With Awesome Entrepreneurs – which featured women CEOs, founders and investors – we paired it with a virtual event called Take Your Rebel to Work day. Afterwards, we received a note from an aunt about her niece who read the book and attended the event. The girl was described as introverted with a lot of anxiety and had been quite reclusive since the pandemic. She was inspired by the stories in the book and the back matter included a step-by-step guide to start a business… so she decided to start a friendship bracelet business. As her confidence grew, she not only began going outside again … she joined a sports team! She told her aunt the book “changed her life.”
This is the power of investing in girls, and how confidence creates change.
Invest in women! If everyone invested in up-and-coming women, more women would build companies and launch amazing new products. If we all start writing 1-2 angel checks each year, we would massively change the ecosystem for the next generation.
