Strong, Smart, and Bold
For more than 80 years, Girls Inc. of Memphis has been helping girls across the city grow up strong, smart, and bold. Today, under the leadership of President and CEO Sylvia Martinez, the organization serves more than 1,500 girls each year, creating hands-on experiences that build confidence, leadership, and curiosity from ages five to eighteen.
Sylvia’s connection to this mission runs deep—she’s a Girls Inc. alumna herself. What began for her as a love of basketball and storytelling has grown into a lifelong commitment to youth development and creating pathways for girls to see themselves as innovators and change makers.
STEM as a Launchpad: The Woz ED Partnership
In partnership with Woz ED, Girls Inc. has launched three dynamic programs in coding, animation, and robotics, all chosen directly by the girls themselves through a voting process that puts voice and choice at the center.
The result? 100% parent satisfaction and measurable progress across every assessed marker. Even more inspiring, girls are choosing to spend their free time creating — making donor thank-you videos in animation class or designing projects that connect tech to their everyday world.
This hands-on learning style is changing what STEM means to these young learners.
“When a girl says, ‘I can build this robot’ or ‘I can code this,’ that’s strong, smart, and bold in action,” Sylvia says.
Girls Inc. Memphis recently began a learning series for their students on agriculture. Looking ahead, Sylvia tells me that she would love to incorporate Woz ED’s Tech & Agriculture Pathway into the curriculum in coming years, combining technology, environmental science, and entrepreneurship. This would enable girls to use drones to track crops and help with farm operations, deepening their understanding of how STEM applies to real-world settings.
Transformative Impacts
The STEM programs are designed to meet girls where they are and grow with them—beginning as early as age five and progressing through level-based pathways all the way to graduation. The approach goes beyond academics; it’s about confidence, creativity, and perseverance.
Research shows that women often leave STEM fields not because of ability, but because of confidence gaps and workplace culture. Girls Inc. tackles that early—helping girls see failure not as a flaw but as part of the problem-solving process.
By middle and high school, participants see challenges differently. Instead of saying, “I can’t do this,” they say, “Let’s take it apart and fix it.” This mindset shift is key to building future innovators who stay the course.
A Vision for the Future
Girls Inc. Memphis envisions a future where 100% of its girls graduate and enroll in STEM courses—and where alumni return as mentors, sponsors, and leaders in fields like design, cybersecurity, and data science.
Sylvia calls this the beginning of a “STEM-inist pipeline”—a movement where girls not only enter STEM careers but transform them. From drones to digital art, from robotics labs to community farms, these girls are proving that when they’re given the tools and the trust, there’s no limit to what they can build.
