In about 4 months (a little over 120 days), it will be 2 years into my decade of 40. A few months before the big 40, I made a list of goals to accomplish before the big 50. One of my goals was to pour into girls and young women the energy, guidance, strength, skill, creativity, and faith that was (and still is) poured into me. The name of this initiative is Carle’s Crew.

Carle’s Crew is a group of girls/young ladies ages 12-22 that will spend 12-18 months learning, growing, and living. The crew will have quarterly volunteer projects, monthly mentoring calls, arts/culture experiences, bi-monthly blogging (minimum of 3 times during the cycle), and a host of locally based activities.

In addition to the opportunities that Carle’s Crew members will experience, we also want to expose young ladies to other successful women and create opportunities for them to build lifelong skills for success. It’s a village. It’s about understanding the power of unity that involves us taking ownership and building leadership.

Carle’s Crew is seeking 15 girls/young women for our beta group located in Atlanta, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC, New York, or North Carolina. This testing will last from September – March and will have at least 2 physical meet ups during that time. There is no cost to participate, however, fundraising is a part of the program.

The deadline to submit an application for participation is Sunday, August 6. We will conduct interviews via Google Chat or FaceTime between August 12-August 27. The beta group will be announced Labor Day Weekend.

For questions or information on how to support, please email us at girls@intheloopprogram.com.