The Background
Our Story
Girl with Grit started in 2018 but was officially founded by Blythe Zemel in December 2020. Girl with Grit is a grassroot 501c3 nonprofit that began in order to empower girls through hands-on learning opportunities to develop life skills, career paths, and passions. Her ultimate goal was to help create a more independent girl. She was supported through the other efforts of the women and girls surrounding us such as Briana Huhn, Staci Andrews, Stephani Risinger, and more.
The women that saw the effort through all came from backgrounds where they had been single moms or had to fend for themselves at some point. It is the tie that binds the board and the vision. Blythe Zemel, our founder, grew up in downtown Houston, TX as a fairly troubled teenager and grew into a successful entrepreneur, educator and nonprofit director. Briana Huhn, spent time in a group home, and now has been on international TV and runs her own shop. Staci Andrews was formerly in the Navy, did her time as a single mom, and went on to run multiple successful businesses. Similar to Stephani Risinger, who knew the path of a single mom/business owner.
By 2022, we experienced exponential growth and a need for our programming to expand into other communities surrounding the community we were founded in, Boerne, TX. In the Texas region, we now serve San Antonio, TX; Houston, TX; and Austin, TX and their outlying regions. We also serve the State of Colorado.
Since its founding, Girl with Grit has played important roles in the transformation and growth for the youth it worked alongside. In 2022, just two short years from its founding, Girl with Grit had already served over 18,000 youth.
In 2023, we started serving many locations and became national as we moved from various locations exploring the topic of igniting interest for girls in construction, in particular, girls and young women. Concurrently, we have spread our advocacy to anyone that would listen.
Girl with Grit has been in multiple notable publications and on various podcasts. Girl with Grit was also recognized by San Antonio Mayor, won Community Champion at the San Antonio Rodeo in 2024, and was nominated as Best Nonprofit twice. We have been fortunate to take our grassroots advocacy now as far as the Chicago Build Expo and in Washington D.C. with the Department of Labor Women’s Bureau and the Department of Education. We are in a mode of growth and collaboration with our Women in Trades partners, hoping to help develop a pipeline of capable workers for tomorrow’s infastructure needs.
Our workshops are all inclusive and have included youth in group homes, foster care, shelter residents, as well as the special needs population.
MOST RECENT REPORTS
Our Advocacy
The mission of Girl with Grit is to close gaps in skills through accessible hands-on educational programming and advocacy.
Girl with Grit believes that introducing a variety of skills quickly, from changing tires to building birdhouses, from tools to outdoor safety, from financial literacy to home emergencies with a touch of hands-on DIY and a sprinkle of creativity - can grow independence and confidence.
We believe the skills we teach will open doors for girls and close gaps. We advocate for girls entering the workforce in areas like the skilled trades or entering hobbies like wilderness recreation - where their presence is low. We believe in equal chances and know it takes grit to get there.
Girl with Grit has been in multiple publications and on various podcasts and was featured in the cover story “Girl Power” in the San Antonio Business Journal, in a feature article in San Antonio Express News. Girl with Grit was also recognized by San Antonio Mayor Nirenberg and nominated as Best Nonprofit in Boerne, TX.
Thanks to our sponsors, our grassroots advocacy is now as far as the Chicago Build Expo and in Washington D.C. with the Department of Labor Women's Bureau and the Department of Education.
Our Advocacy
