WATCH NOW – GIRL WITH GRIT PROGRAM

The mission of the Girl with Grit Program is to give girls and women a safe space to grow their skills and confidence through mentors, and experiences that help develop real life skills, career paths, and passions. 

What kind of skills do you teach?

Our primary focus in Girl with Grit Program is to provide girls and women crash course skill workshops that are often looked past, such as – tool and hardware store education; basic automotive, vehicle maintenance, and road safety; DIY home maintenance and improvement, along with skills in entrepreneurship, trades, STEM, and art that can help flourish passions and career paths.

What ages are included?

Our program caters to all ages. Currently, interested applicants can apply and interview for our Makerspace team. In our future, we’ll provide a mobile workshop for girls and women at schools, shelters, and residential living facilities. 

STRONG GIRLS GROW UP TO BE STRONG WOMEN. 

COMMUNITY BUILT

Mobile Workshop

The purpose of our mobile workshop is to bring portions of the program into other facilities, community centers, and events. One primary goal is to outfit a truck in order to bring Girl with Grit Program into schools and women shelters with crash course life skills workshops (i.e. changing a flat tire, using standard tools, car and house maintenance) or encouraging trades for young women not college bound.

Our mobile workshop also facilitates a mobile makerspace where we can help to serve schools, community centers, and residential facilities with hands-on learning opportunities.

Currently Girl with Grit Program has secured three different options for our Mobile Workshop:

Option #1: Full restoration of the program's currently owned Community Built 1934 Chevy Flatbed Truck. This truck has won international attention amongst the leaders in the automotive industry for it’s all female lead team and youth involvement. Youth have already had their hands involved in this truck, earlier this year, 24 girls pulled the engine out with Ashley Robertson from History Channel paving the way.
Budget: $60,000
Drawbacks: Time, Expense, Need for Facilities to Build it

Option #2: Purchase a running, used vehicle to house our Mobile Workshop Program and approach sponsors to add locking toolboxes, tools, and various other features we’d need to make programming on the go, go smoothly.
Budget: $25,00
Drawbacks: Time, Expense

Option #3: Request a donor vehicle from a local dealership and outfit it as our mobile workshop.
Budget: $10,000

NO MATTER THE OPTION, IT WILL BE POWERED BY YOUTH, LED BY WOMEN, AND COMMUNITY BUILT. 

*Our vehicle request for our Mobile Workshop is currently a FINALIST for the 100 Women of the Hill Country Grant. Please DONATE today to help us get this community vehicle built. 

Community Partners

Special Needs

Special Needs Populations
Girl with Grit Makerspace currently houses the Boerne Peace Program bi-monthly for classes with developmentally challenged individuals. Classes aim to build confidence and improve hand-eye coordination, creativity, and a variety of developmentally appropriate skills. We aim to increase funding and provide weekly services to them in 2022.

About Us

GIRL-POWERED

THE WOMEN BEHIND THE NON-PROFIT.

COMMUNITY BUILT.

Girl with Grit was officially started by Blythe Zemel in December of 2020 to get first girls better access to equipment, tools, and mentors. Very quickly, she became aware that all youth in her community needed better access to equipment and a place to learn it. They needed a place to learn how to make things.

Our board includes women from all walks of life. First joining our board was Staci Andrews, Retired Navy and Entrepreneur.

In January, Ashley Robertson, Shop Assistant at ToyMakerz headed down to help pull an engine from our 1934 Chevy Truck and at that time joined our board.  ToyMakerz can be seen on History Channel.

Briana Huhn has been a welder/fabricator for 11 years across multiple industries. In addition to welding, Briana shares her love of the trades with children through a Minnesota based nonprofit, Big Ideas Inc. Her main goal is to help end the stigma that the trades are second rate. Her metalworking skills earned her a spot on Motortrend’s ‘Bitchin Bootcamp’ and Discovery Channel’s ‘Monster Garage’…

(READ MORE ON ABOUT US)