We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Aveus Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Aveus, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project we’ve worked on at IAS Girls Club would be our Career Series. The purpose of our career series was to highlight various professions, including entrepreneurship. We wanted to give the ladies of IAS insights that would help inform the decisions they make for their future. The goal was that our facilitators would lead sessions that would allow our girls to explore their profession with the use of tangible presentations including the why behind their career choice, critical steps they took to get there, obstacles faced, and rewards they gained from hard work and dedication.

Some of our facilitators included: Ms. Anita Robinson, a social services/school counselor, Jerez Mitchell, a mental health consultant, and Autumn Porter, an additional mental health professional. We were beyond thankful to have professionals throughout our Charleston community collaborate with us. This was important because it helped our girls relate to them on a more personal level.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

At IAS Girls Club, one of the main ways we are able to impact our girls is through our bi-weekly group sessions. These sessions normally last two hours and always center on the self-development topic of focus. Our self-development topics align specifically with our six pillars: the idea of self, relationship skills, decision-making, social awareness, healthy living, and higher education. Our reasoning for choosing these as the pillars of our program is that with the above tools combined, you have the ability to lead a successful life. We are aware that the term success can be subjective and look different for everyone. The goal is that whatever it is our girls choose to pursue, we want them to be able to use the tools we’ve provided to help them accomplish it.

When I first started this program in 2018 it was an afterschool program with limited space and resources. However, we made it work and the impact made through that one semester was incredible. Since then, we’ve had our own space with more resources and have been able to reach more young women throughout the entire community of Charleston, SC.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The main thing that our program has struggled with is consistency, especially with residency. When covid hit we went virtual for a while but then ended up pausing our program. In 2021 we were able to pick back up but paused again due to residency issues. Unfortunately, the same thing happened last year. We were no longer able to afford our office space so we are currently at a pause again. I could have let all of these setbacks allow me to give up but I did not. I am currently in talks with a neighborhood school and will possibly be collaborating and bringing IAS Girls Club to them. This is exciting because our program will be very beneficial for this audience by filling in the gaps they were experiencing with their current social-emotional program in place. What I am most proud of is that no matter how many times we’ve had to pause or revamp our program, we never gave up on it. We’ve found many ways to push into and connect with the communities around us in order to implement our program and will continue to do so.

One thing I’ve learned to do is celebrate every milestone, no matter how small. Always find joy in the process and keep working until you’ve reached your goal. Growth is ongoing and we should always embrace and make room for it.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’ve always had a passion for helping young women reach their goals and grow into their best selves by attaining the necessary knowledge and skills to do so. This passion stems from working within the education system and seeing how often some kids are not afforded the same opportunities. With the I Am Somebody (IAS) Girls Club I am able to help offset some of those disparities by providing a safe place for them to learn and grow together. The purpose of our program is to empower, educate, and encourage students on important concepts such as the idea of self, relationship skills, decision-making, social awareness, healthy living, and higher education. The goal is that our girls will leave the program with an increase in self-love, awareness, respect, confidence, courage, and leadership/educational development. I am hopeful that one day my program will have the resources to reach extensive audiences. I envision our own facilities, a larger team, more family and community connections, more networking opportunities, and most importantly a substantial impact overall.

Contact Info:

• Website: iasgirlsclub.org, linktr.ee/aveus.cj
• Instagram: instagram.com/iasgirlsclub
• Facebook: IAS Girls Club