History

Teen Voices was founded in 1988 by two young-adult women in Cambridge, Massachusetts who believed in the power of girls and young women to create social change through writing and art. Their vehicle of choice was the production and publication of Teen Voices, a four-color, glossy magazine by, for, and about teen girls. The mission of Teen Voices, therefore, is to support and educate teen girls to amplify their voices and create social change through media.

To fulfill our mission, we help girls achieve personal and community transformation first by providing them with the tools needed to articulate what they know, want, need, and deserve. It begins with skill development through the journalism mentorship program that we offer whereby girls learn writing and editing skills, develop critical thinking and understanding of social justice, and present what they know at speaking engagements or through the magazine.

Constituents and Community

• 85 Boston teen girls take part in SHOUT! (Sisters Helping Other Unheard Teens) and work as Teen Editors and writers for the print and online versions of Teen Voices."  Girls come from the Boston neighborhoods of Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park, West Roxbury, and Brighton.
• Our teen constituents are 14 to 18 years of age; 85% come primarily from low-income families and 93% are girls of color (60% African descent, 21% Latina, 9% biracial, 2% Asian, 1% Native American), and 7% are Caucasian.
• 100+ Boston neighborhood teen girls participate in Poetically Speaking, a forum in the Boston Girls Writing Community.
• 5 Peer Leaders run programs and public forums.
• 40-45 college women and recent college graduates are trained to mentor the teen editors in their production of Teen Voices' print and online magazines.

Like many girls, participants in Teen Voices are dealing with serious issues at home and in their communities. The issues include racism, sexism, elitism, hunger, violence, depression, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual identity exploration, and unplanned pregnancy. For many, schools are not institutions that support their ability to address these issues, or their self-confidence. They need safe spaces to talk—with adults as well as peers—so that they can feel validated, supported, and informed. Some girls have support at home with parents, grandparents, teachers, or religious leaders; for others, Teen Voices offers a rare source of consistent, supportive adults."  Teen Voices has two primary constituent groups—local girls in our programs and worldwide consumers of our media.

Our global constituents are:

• 45,000 readers from 13 countries enjoy Teen Voices print magazine.
• 88,000 annual Internet visitors from 177 countries read 200,000 page views of www.teenvoices.com per year.[1]

Program Goals

• To develop core language arts, communication and media skills in Boston area, low-income teen girls of color.
• To educate participating teen girls and their audiences on critical issues of concern to teen girls in a manner that promotes social justice.
• To publish and disseminate the voices of teen girls through self-generated media and other communication vehicles.
• To develop a growing cadre of feminist leaders.

Our Programs

To accomplish our mission, we run an out-of-school-hours program, a leadership program, publish a magazine and web site, and host public forums. Our full list of programs and services includes:

• Sisters Helping Other Unheard Teens (SHOUT!) "“ the journalism mentoring program that creates Teen Voices magazine. Offered three times per year, SHOUT! allows Teen Editors to write, research, and edit submissions under the guidance of college-level mentors. School year cycles last 11 to 12 weeks and Teen Editors are paid $110 per month stipends."  On Fridays, the girls attend workshops led by experts on sexual health, domestic violence, substance abuse, career exposure, college preparation, and others. During the summer, girls work 25 hours a week for 6 weeks and are paid minimum wage through grants provided by summer funders. Teen Editors complete at least 210 hours per session of workshops that train them to be journalists, update their technological skills, and allow them to discuss personal and social issues
• PEER LEADERS "“ 5 former Teen Editors increase their leadership skills by facilitating workshops, planning events, designing curricula, and presenting at conferences, community events, and to the media. They are paid minimum wage for their work, which also includes assisting the Teen Editors and helping with the administrative tasks of SHOUT!
• TEEN VOICES - a print and online magazine that receives hundreds of submissions of original poetry, memoir, essays, reviews, art, and opinions annually from teens around the world. The Teen Editors work on the submissions and prepare them as features for the different sections of the magazine, which include Media Watch, Arts & Culture, Small World, Food Corner, Girl Talk, Dear D., Good Reading, and Say What? The print edition of Teen Voices is published biannually while the online version is published monthly.
• BOSTON GIRLS WRITING COMMUNITY - a public forum that brings together low-income teen girls of color who are writers and poets. This gathering is fast becoming the destination of choice for Boston-area girls who write.
• PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - this program allows our staff and Peer Leaders to provide expertise, consultation, and leadership on various issues to youth workers, media staff, and academicians, with 8-10 presentations, interviews, and/or workshops annually.

Our Achievements

• Created the first journalism mentoring and leadership program that serves primarily low-income girls of color and publishes a global magazine.
• Published 54 issues of Teen Voices print magazine, a four-color glossy magazine for over 19 years, reaching 45,000 readers in 13 countries.
• Established Teen Voices Online, our award-winning website updated monthly with 88,000 annual visitors from 177 countries.
• Empowered hundreds of low-income Boston area girls through mentorship and job-skill development.
• Training of hundreds of young college women as mentors and activist leaders.
• Reached thousands of girls through our teen-generated media, workshops, and forums.
• Developed an intergenerational community of activist writers.

Our Honors

• Recognized by the Anna B. Stearns Charitable Foundation as the first recipient of the"  Sylvia Simmons Best Practices Award in 2009.
• Presented at the Gena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2008, increasing local and national demand for our services as experts on girls in the media, girls' issues, and girls' programming.
• 2006 Women of Excellence Award given to Executive Director, Jenny Amory.
• 2002 Best of WWWomen Site Award.
• Won the 1997 Take a Stand Award, Boston Women's Fund
• Acknowledged "Best Content" by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency in 1996.
• 1992 Peace Award, Boston Mayor's Office.

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[1] The consumers of Teen Voices products and services include girls and young women, adult women and men advocates who live and/or work with girls, and boys and young men who want to gain a better understanding of girls' perspectives.