Girls on the Run was founded in 1996 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Despite our name Girls on the Run, we’ve worked hard to relay that our program is so much more than running. Just look at our website! It’s about building self-confidence and important life skills through engaging physical activities. At practices, participants run, walk, roll, hop, skip… All forms of movement are celebrated! No matter their style or method, we encourage teammates to move forward and find their happy pace.

Now, we are looking at the word Girl in our name as the world is evolving in its understanding of gender. We create programs specifically designed for girls and their critical needs. Our intentional curriculum helps them recognize their potential and rise above gender expectations that may limit their health, confidence, and joy.

We know that other children also strive to rise above gender expectations and stereotypes. Our organization respects and values the individuality and dignity of all people and welcomes children who identify as girls, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming to participate in our program.

This isn’t new — standing up for ourselves and others is one of our core values and Girls on the Run first established a gender inclusion policy in 2008. At practices, school, home and in our workplace, we embrace our differences and find strength in our connectedness.

So, while our name Girls on the Run does not accurately reflect who can take part or what we do, one thing is clear - our commitment to our participants knowing and activating their limitless potential.