The Head Start for Young Women program has been up and running since December, and we’ve enjoyed every minute of it. With six of us (Jaclyn Salter, Clarissa Palek, Kyra Hogan, Sarah Dorgelo, Carly Kruger and Kayla Hahn) plus our mentors (and a huge thank you to them— Cher Wyers, Teresa Taylor, and Myrna Logan, none of this would have been possible without you!), we’ve had an amazing chance to get involved with the community. Over the last six months, we’ve talked to members of the community, attended city council meetings, and been able to attend things such as the AKBLG community planning session. We also recently had the chance to present to the Rotary Club, who was absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for hosting us!The goal of our program is to increase the number of young women participating in local government from 21 per cent to 30 per cent by 2023, as 30 per cent is the number the UN states as the point where women’s needs can be accurately and fairly represented. With that in mind, we are pleased to be able to announce our project—a conference in early October inviting female politicians and youth from all over the RDKB to a three-day conference in Grand Forks designed to give youth tools they could use to be elected (or just use in any job) and teach politicians how to interact with youth and boost the voter turnout in that age range. Our goal is to see a youth council established in every community that participates, including Grand Forks. We’ve been planning thoroughly over the last month, and we’re very excited to see this project carry through! The Head Start for Young Women project has been an absolutely incredible experience for all of us involved, and we’re sure everyone will benefit.