Girls United is a club at Park dedicated to supporting women and girls. The club is a local division of the state-wide organization and follows its parent club in  discussing women’s issues and advocating for women’s intersectional advancement.

Co-president and senior Amira Abdirahman said that Girls United wants to help women and girls feel safer and have their voices heard in the community.

“Girls United was created with the goal of inspiring and empowering women,” Abdirahman said. “Which is super important especially considering how many women are in need of a safe space at school to go and talk about issues that they might not be able to in normal situations.”

Co-president and senior Sophia Nagorski emphasizes that everyone is welcome in Girls United.

“We want you to be there, we want to talk about it,” Nagorski said. “We hope that we can become a bigger group this year so we want more people to join … it’s just a really fun environment.”

This is Nagorski and Abdirahman’s first year as co-presidents and they have large leadership roles to take on, according to Nagorski.

“I’m there to give leadership advice and to try to keep everyone together,” Nagorski said. “There’s other leadership roles we have in the club and I help those people and tell them what to do.”

Advisor Julia Germain says that the co-presidents were amazing about stepping up and getting things started.

“The students came in during the first Action Wednesday that we had, and they just got the ball rolling,” Germain said. “They did everything. So I am there to get the materials if they need it and I provide them with the space, but the students really do run it and are leading it which is super cool.”

Nagorski and Abdirahman’s plans for Girl’s United this year are unfinished, but they have decided on a few key points, according to Nagorski.

“We’re planning to run a drive for Haven Housing (a charity for survivors of domestic abuse),” Nagorski said. “We’re planning to discuss consent and continue the same goals as the previous years, which was to bring women and girls together and discuss topics about women’s issues and what to do about them.”

According to Germain, Girls United is hoping to expand this year and they’re thinking of making some club changes, starting with the name.

“What I heard from (the co-presidents) is that they are wanting to turn it into something that is a lot more inclusive to everybody and not just female identifying students,” Germain said. “So they started with a name change and we’ve been calling it Gals and Pals United. It seems like they’re really looking to make it into an inclusive space for everybody as a way to empower women as well as other individuals.”

Girls United is in the process of planning a kickoff meeting to get more people involved with the club. Stay tuned on their Instagram (@slp.girlsunitedmn) to get updates and get in touch.