Joy.
Power.
Possibility.

Since 1996, the Lower Eastside Girls Club has supported young women and gender-expansive youth of color throughout New York City in leveraging their inner power to shape a better future for themselves, their community, and the world. Through free, year-round, innovative programming we connect young people with their passions, celebrate their curiosity, and channel their creative energy. In 2022, we expanded our mission and service population with the Center for Wellbeing and Happiness, which provides free, full-spectrum wellness services for all generations and genders on the Lower East Side.

Together, we are building a just and equitable future filled with “Joy. Power. Possibility” and where we “Transform Self-Care into Community Care.”

Every year, hundreds of youth ages 10–23 visit our  Center for Community facility where we offer after-school, weekend and summer programming in STEM, Arts, Digital Media, Sound, Wellness, Civic Engagement and Leadership. Our 35,000 sq. ft facility includes a Maker Shop for coding and robotics; Environmental Studies lab for STEM exploration; Alphabet City Art School for visual arts and crafts; Center for Media and Social Justice for digital media, film and photography; Sound Studio for music production and our radio station/podcast, WGRL (Where Girl Radio Lives); Design Studio for fashion and material arts; an expansive and productive rooftop farm; full Culinary Education Center; and 64-seat dome planetarium.

We act with Intention. With care and purposeful action, we create space for meaningful discoveries, healing, growth and evolution.

We build in partnership with our Community. We recognize that we need solidarity and collaboration to build a just world.

We embrace Radical Imagination. We facilitate learning as a joyful, playful, and emancipatory act that allows our members to envision a present and future that breaks the boundaries and barriers of the status quo.

We are rooted in Social Justice. We believe a more equitable and just future is possible and commit to both acting upon and embodying the values of anti-racism, gender- and sexuality-based equality, and socioeconomic justice.

We commit to Sustainability and environmental justice for ourselves, our community, our city and our world.

We foster Innovation through dynamic and proactive youth and community programming. We are trailblazers, building new, intergenerational pathways for our members and community to thrive and to create their own transformative change.

Our home, the Lower East Side, remains one of the most densely populated and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in New York City. The hundreds of youth, ages 10-23, who participate in Girls Club programming each year reflect the diverse demographics of our community.

While many of our members are from the Lower East Side, we serve young people from across the five boroughs through our city-wide initiatives. The vast majority of members are Latinx and African American. Our membership is 47% Latinx,  45% African American/African,  6% Asian, 1% White, and 1% Other. Many of our members identify as LGBTQIA.

Girl Photographs by Erin Yamagata + Cassidy Turner