93. She's the First: A Mission to Ensure Every Girl is Educated, Respected, and Heard - Tammy Tibbetts & Christen Brandt

Professional DevelopmentMental HealthLeadership

Mar 22

She's The First / Tammy Tibbetts, Christen Brandt / We Are For Good Podcast

This episode is part of our 5-episode Women of Impact Week. Explore all the episodes and find additional resources here.

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Overview

Meet Christen and Tammy. As founders of She’s the First, they're fighting for a world where every girl can choose her own future. For the past decade, they’ve worked closely with local organizations around the world and changemakers of all ages and backgrounds, from college students to celebrities. They're also the authors of the incredible book Impact: A Step by Step Plan to Create the World You Want to Live In. If you're looking for playbook to be a light to your favorite charity - then this episode is for you. Outstanding humans doing outstanding things for women. Tune in and be inspired!

Today’s Guests

Tammy Tibbetts & Christen Brandt, Co-Founders of She’s the First and authors of Impact

“For so long, we’ve talked about girls education, and we focused on the individual girl. But it is not the individual girl who is broken. It is the systems around her.”

— Christen Brandt, Co-Founder and Chief Programs Officer, She's the First

Episode Transcript

Full Episode Transcript Here

Episode Highlights

Tammy’s background - 3:45
Christen’s background - 5:30
The founding story of She’s the First - 8:48
Getting into the program and development side of a nonprofit - 12:35
Impact: A Step-by-Step Plan to Create the World You Want to Live In - 18:08
Using your unique skills to create impact - 23:18
Creating your impact advisory board - 26:34
Who inspires you? - 30:05
Powerful philanthropic moments in Tammy and Christen’s lives- 32:57
Girl power - 40:25
Christen’s One Good Thing: No one can do everything, but everyone can do something - 45:15
Tammy’s One Good Thing: Update your social media bio, and mention the cause you are most passionate about. 44:40
She’s the First Mentors Make it Happen Challenge - 44:26

Powerful Quotes:

“I wanted to report and write stories that would amplify the voices of women and girls and the amazing work that they were doing all over the world.” - Tammy

“I grew up with this kind of fierce idea of what it meant to be a strong woman to be surrounded by women, and also the ways that the systems of power work against them in really personal intimate ways.” - Christen

“So my number one tip, if you want to become a co-founder is be the one raise your hand, ideally be the only one because you'll automatically get it.” - Christen

“In the last several years, our work has evolved so much more into a model of really strengthening the ecosystems around girls, which includes grassroots women lead organizations because they are the ones best positioned to meet the needs of girls in their community.” - Tammy

“Our organization has always had this, this DNA of social media and youth energy.” - Tammy

“Who am I who? What am I going to be? How am I plugging into this world? What does my future look like? If you can drop a pin into it? Have you ever thought about how you can empower someone?” - Becky

“I just think that going into that specific target audience is the way that you can impact the world. That is how you shift because you get a mindset shift in someone at such a young age that can create ripples for decades.” - Becky

“She's the first every single day. And so it creates this, this cycle of making sure that what we do is actually working because we're hearing directly from girls, and we know that they have the scissors, girls are the ones who understand the challenges that they're facing, girls are the ones who understand what they need, and so infrequently, the world asks them.” - Christen

“For so long, we've talked about girls’ education, and we focused on the individual girl. But it is not the individual girl who is broken. It is the systems around her.” - Christen

“People ask how can I make a difference? And the truth is, we don't have that answer for you.” - Tammy

“We guide you through identifying your Northstar, the issue area that you're most passionate about, we help you assess all of your resources. And that's way more than just time and money.” - Tammy

“So if you are a young professional, it is just a great opportunity and reflective book that's very actionable, and just helps you feel like you can make a difference in the corner of your world.” - Julie

“I really think this is a beautiful thing that you have done to give a microphone and pass it around, and lift up those common threads and let that drive your mission.” - Becky

“When it comes to creating change and wanting to see a better world. It's so easy to get lost some of where do I possibly start? And how can I as one person, possibly create change?” - Christen

“I think I find this to be the hardest part, which is trusting that if you go after the change that you most want to see that is most personal to you.” - Christen

“One of the number one pieces of advice that we give out is you have to trust that if you go after your star, others will do the same and we're all going to end up in a better in a better space.” - Christen

“if I focus on the area that I really care about, I can be good at it, I can be great at it, and that's really important.” - Christen

“So we suggest identifying who are these role models that you have in the issue areas you care about and how can you separate them out from all the rest of the noise?” - Tammy

“Just make sure as you're putting that impact advisory board together, make sure everyone doesn't look the same. You really do want to make sure you have the diversity of thought and identity in that group.” - Tammy

“What I really strive for in these people who kind of keep me going, is looking to the people who exemplify who I want to be, who my ideal version of myself is who have those qualities.” - Christen

“You don't need to be super-wealthy, you could just be that employee who takes the time to raise their voice and say, I love this organization, and look like it's leading to a really significant meaningful grant for us.” - One philanthropic moment

“It's pure energy. And that is where I draw my motivation, my energy to do work. That is my most productive moment that happens after conversations with girls because they know they identify the issues, they identify the possible solutions, and they see what is possible in the world.” - Christen

“I think one good thing you can do today is if you are on social media, go and update your bio, and mention the cause that you champion, whether you're a volunteer or a board member, make that part of your public identity.” - Tammy’s One Good Thing

“No one can do everything. But everyone can do something.” - Christen’s One Good Thing

Join the March Challenge with She’s the First!

Mentors Make it Happen. And it honors the importance of feminist mentorship in a girl's life. Learn more and join us at: shesthefirst.org/mentorsmakeithappen

Get your copy of Impact!

Christen Brandt and Tammy Tibbetts, who built the wildly successful nonprofit She’s the First from the ground up, know how to create meaningful impact in a world that so desperately needs it. When you feel your own pull to be part of social change, where do you start and how do you keep going?

In Impact, their stories and interactive activities will help you find your focus, identify partners, and plug into movements for long-term, systemic change. Equally important, you’ll learn how to address biases, practice allyship, and shift power to become more inclusive and effective in your journey.