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

Jackie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Girl Be Great, Inc. is a vision I’ve had since 2014. I wanted to create a program that catered to the needs of teen girls. However, it wasn’t until 2016 that I began my outreach efforts. My best friend and I started by creating and distributing hygiene kits to homeless women and girls in our cities. With the help of our ambassadors, our outreach efforts expanded to multiple cities in the U.S. (Brooklyn NY, Philadelphia PA, Atlanta GA, Los Angeles CA, Miami FL and Orlando FL) in less than a year.

After 4 years of successfully serving women and girls in need, I finally decided to launch the initiative for teen girls but then the pandemic happened and everything changed. Being a person of faith, I sought God on what to do next and I heard “Wait”. At the time, I couldn’t understand why I had to wait to launch it but I did. Fast forward to August 2023, I started working at a school and over time I developed a relationship with the students. They would occasionally stop by my office and I had the opportunity to encourage and motivate them. It wasn’t until one day in November that one young lady said to me “Ms. Jackie, I wish you could be my mentor”. That’s when I heard God say, “Now is the time.” and I knew exactly what that meant once I heard it. From that moment, I started writing down every idea for this program, and in a matter of weeks, this idea became an organization.

By February 2024 the program was officially accepted as an after-school program within my local school district. In a matter of three months, the vision I had since 2014 has now become a reality! Girl Be Great, Inc. has already begun inspiring the lives of teen girls within the Greater Orlando area.

Jackie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Aside from mentoring teen girls, I have a background in business coaching and consulting. I’ve supported many clients with different business models over the years but my most fulfilling work is when I’m serving the community. When I’m not supporting my clients, you can find me out in the streets feeding the homeless or volunteering at local events.

Interestingly, my outreach experience didn’t start with the idea of having my own nonprofit. My love for helping others was always the focus. With my first outreach initiative, I led my first menstrual hygiene kit distribution back in November 2016. Once people saw what we were doing, our efforts gained traction and people wanted to participate. From there, a one-time distribution grew into a multicity nonprofit in a matter of months. That’s how I got my start in the nonprofit space.

Now, in 2024, Girl Be Great, Inc. is here to help teen girls become great leaders. Our program fosters confidence, leadership, and resilience, creating a supportive community and mindset for the girls to thrive in this diverse world. Topics we cover include personal development, mental health, health & wellness, social and behavioral standards as well as college and career prep.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Had it not been for the pandemic, I probably would’ve launched the girls’ program in 2020. However, I soon saw that the timeframe was not ideal for several reasons. For starters, companies faced a lot of backlash during the major events around race that year. As a result, other nonprofits in a similar space were trying to rally together against other corrupt organizations. Different support groups began to reach out for us to stand in solidarity with them however, things started getting very political. We began to see how we were drifting away from our original mission and purpose. Had I launched the girls’ program in the heat of it, it could’ve easily been affected by the current events.

Another issue was that schools were closed due to the pandemic so there would’ve been no after-school program to establish. This is why timing is important and obedience is essential. I just happened to be volunteering at another after-school program around the time I was establishing Girl Be Great, Inc. and that’s what allowed me to venture into getting it into my school district as well.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Patience is a major key. Had I launched Girl Be Great, Inc. in 2020, I’m certain it wouldn’t have yielded the same results today. I had to let go of my desire to start it back then and trust that when it was time to launch it, it would’ve been at the perfect time and so it was.

That season taught me what it truly means to walk by faith and not by sight. I had to let go of how I’ve done things from 2016 to 2020 to make room for the original vision to come to fruition in 2024. It took a lot of character-building and personal development to prepare me to be the leader I am today. A teacher can only teach to their level of knowledge and understanding, right? So, how could I help develop the next generation of “Girl Leaders” without having experienced that journey myself?

I learned a lot. I grew a lot. And I believe that’s what got us here today.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/girlbegreatinc
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/girlbegreat