The mission of Girls Rock SB (GRSB) is to empower girls, women, and gender-expansive youth through music education, the creative arts, community, and positive mentorship. Our purpose is to build safe spaces for participants to be seen, feel connected with their communities, and ultimately become the next generation of confident, compassionate leaders. GRSB uplifts participants by creating a like-minded, compassionate family—one that gives them the strength and skills to overcome challenges and pursue their potential, even long after they’ve left our programs.

Since launching in 2012, GRSB has provided immersive arts programs to more than 11,000 female-identifying and non-binary youth, approximately roughly ages 5–23, with a focus on marginalized and historically under-resourced communities (BIPOC, low-income, LGBTQ+, foster) who often have otherwise not equitably received opportunities to exercise their authentic voices or realize their full potential as artists and leaders. GRSB significantly impacts these under-resourced populations by building safe spaces to be seen and feel connected, as well as serving as an entry point for those who wish to contribute to the arts ecosystem. To date, we’ve provided over $1,000,000 in scholarships and fully subsidized programming to low-income youth, and we continue to develop fully subsidized programs that deliver empowering arts instruction and mentorship to our most vulnerable communities.

Our programs work to change the status quo of artistic spaces—especially the music industry, which lacks representation from female and gender-expansive voices, specifically from marginalized communities like women of color and LGBTQ+ people. In fact, women represent under 5% of the music industry as producers and engineers. Furthermore, studies show that only less than 1% of music producers are women of color. Through our programs, girls and women are given the tools to amplify their voices, using artistic creation as a lens to explore creativity, identity, and equity.