Together, Let’s Stand for Girls

Join me in supporting #istandforgirls

Jai-Dee Dancewear is a sustainable leotard company celebrating the beauty, wisdom and value of women who dance. Our blog serves to inform, inspire and connect our community of socially conscious women in ballet and beyond. All hearts are welcome here.

Share #IStandForGirls and Bring a Beautiful Movement into the Light


Share your shine. The world needs more of that.

– Cleo Wade

Ask a dancer who “made it” how she pulled her dreams down from the stars, planted them beneath her feet and grew them into her life. Her story will begin with the courage to dream in the first place, and her journey will be one full of personal ambition, tenacity, dedication and love. It will also be a story only possible because opportunities were made available to her. Without the gifts of opportunity to leap upwards, her dreams would have stayed suspended in the sky, her arms unable to reach the woman she was always meant to become.

The women behind Kurandza, a beautiful non-profit based in Mozambique, know that access to an education is the transformative opportunity girls across the globe need most. A quality education is the first, most essential step towards empowering girls with dreams. It’s the opportunity that changes everything.

When girls are educated…

  • they are less likely to marry early, have unplanned pregnancies and contract HIV.
  • they are more likely to earn a higher income compared to individuals who did not go to school.
  • they are more likely to be financially secure and economically empowered.
  • they are more likely to change the world around them for the better.

Jai-Dee Dancewear is grounded in a commitment to socially-driven organizations, projects and people, most particularly those with an emphasis on empowering girls and female led communities. I’m grateful to a small team of talented women who wholeheartedly support this commitment and help me animate our values. When we began to shape a company vision, we spent time contemplating whether to be locally or globally minded in our efforts. Eventually I realized we didn’t have to choose. There are women everywhere leading the way to a better, kinder world. From the inspiring dancers in our own neighborhoods, to Kurandza’s powerful team in Southeast Africa, creative women near and far make the future brighter. Together, let’s share the shine.

This month, Jai-Dee is participating in Kurandza’s #IStandForGirls campaign to help raise funds to send 200 girls in Mozambique to school. As my own daughter teaches me daily, children can access their waiting dreams and grow towards bright futures when they are provided the education and support they deserve. With joyful enthusiasm, she joins me in sponsoring two girls in Mozambique this year. Each sponsorship covers a child’s backpack, uniform, school fees and supplies, transportation, as well as enrollment in Kurandza’s Holistic Education Program for access to tutoring, health education, empowerment courses and activities in sports, dance and art.

I invite you to consider a simple way you can help create a springboard for these girls. Perhaps you are in the midst of the back-to-school supply hustle for your own children, or you can simply recall how freshly sharpened pencils in your growing hands invited you to write, draw and manifest the future of your dreams. Some of you will know the struggle of having had less than what you needed at the start of each school year – the resilience and slivers of hope it took to arrive where you are today. Though each of us hold unique backgrounds and stories, we all understand education matters. Collectively, we can empower more girls to access it.

To join this beautiful movement, share a photo with the hashtag #IStandforgirls and raise awareness, or go to Kurandza.org to learn how $20/month can sponsor the education of a girl. Together, our dance communities can help these girls reach their dreams for more.

I have been following Kurandza since learning about this non-profit social enterprise through a delightful Cheeky Days box gifted to my daughter. Kurandza’s founders, Elisabetta and Percina, each of them with remarkable stories worth reading, illustrate the power of friendship and the magic women create when they join forces. Together, Elisabetta and Percina listen closely to the people on the ground in Mozambique. They ensure their efforts are relevant and maximally impactful by allowing local needs to drive all of Kurandza’s programs. This collaborative, empowering and community-invested approach is crucial to an ethical and impactful social enterprise, and it is an approach that beautifully aligns with our values held at Jai-Dee.

school girls in blue and pink uniforms dancing and having fun

Kurandza means “to love” in Changana, the local language of the people in Mozambique. With their individual lives and shared mission at Kurandza, Elisabetta and Percina are helping us remember how to love each other.

In our own communities and in communities all over the world, there are girls with dreams. When empowered with the opportunity, they are ready to make their lives and our world better. This September, I stand for the girls of Mozambique, and I invite you to stand with me.

With heart,

Sustainable leotards empowering women through ecofriendly clothing.

Sustainable leotards empowering women through ecofriendly clothing.

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