GirlTREK

Year Founded: 2010

 Energized by the discipline of daily walking, GirlTREK will collectively organize to shift policy, change systems and—at scale—solve the seemingly intractable problems.

GirlTREK pursues its mission through their 5-Point Health Justice Plan. The energy of the current historical moment positions GirlTREK to lead population-level and systems change. They will mobilize their members through collective action and local service opportunities to:

1. Disrupt Disease
GirlTREK will mobilize millions to walk, talk, and solve problems together. Black women are the best caregivers in the world. Rather than hemorrhaging care to others, GirlTREK will mobilize its members to scale “care to the caregivers”  and to serve Black communities through traditional on-the-ground direct action each Saturday that addresses the root causes of disease. You will find GirlTREK field staff and members leading wellness walks at prisons, volunteering at domestic abuse shelters, serving as foster parents, delivering mental health first aid, and harvesting urban gardens.

2. Mobilize Political Power
GirlTREK members will become super-voters in every election—from local school boards to US president.  They will vote AND will mobilize their communities to vote.  They will canvass our neighborhoods, register new voters, lead walks to the polls and volunteer as pollsters.

3. Safeguard Black Culture
GirlTREK members will work together to map and protect Black history, culture, and sites of significance worldwide through direct service, preservation grants, historic walking tours and “on-the-trail” education for every age demographic. They will plot points of significance, stand up monuments, rename streets, trails and parks, care for historic sites, and lend woman-power to any organization preserving Black culture.

4. Build New Economies & Fight for Labor Rights
Physical inactivity is a labor issue. GirlTREK will protect Black bodies and labor. In the footsteps of A. Phillip Randolph and many great labor organizers, GirlTREK will disrupt economies by training and unionizing frontline public health workers. They are committed to protecting Black bodies and labor rights. GirlTREK will start by building an online university that develops a new workforce of its members to secure and serve in wage-earning, frontline jobs. Then, at scale, will advocate for fair pay, workers’ rights, and unleash capital pipelines to employ Black women on the frontlines of a wellness revolution.

5. Protect Our Planet
Climate change is the biggest threat to Black women on the planet. From sea-level rise to devastating drought, our very way of life and cultural connection to the Earth is threatened. GirlTREK will fight for environmental justice. They will amplify real solutions from our foremothers, the oldest caretakers of the planet. We will start in our own backyards. They will plant gardens, track the reduction in members’ carbon footprints from walking instead of driving, organize collective action for conservation, host hikes to reconnect with and care for nature, and serve on delegations to learn, promote and support sustainability practices across the diaspora.