Curious. Resilient. Unapologetically themselves.

I’m proud to support The Spitfire Club as both a board member and a mentor here in Alexandria, and this work is deeply personal to me.

Each week, I sit with girls who are still figuring out who they are and how to use their voice, and who they're coming.  And you can see the shift happen in real time.

It’s not big, dramatic moments. It’s a girl who usually stays quiet, deciding to speak up, connect with someone new, and realize people are actually listening.

We’ve set goals together (including a very elaborate plan to convince a parent to get a dog), but it’s those smaller moments that stick with me. The ones where you can feel something start to change.

And if I’m being honest, part of why this work matters so much to me is because I still see a lot of myself in them. I’m still a bit of a kid myself, just a little further along.

That’s what Spitfire creates space for — girls who are curious, resilient, and unapologetically themselves.

As a woman of color mentoring girls of color, that part isn’t abstract for me. I see it, and I feel it, every single week, and it stays with me.

Spitfire is a girls mentorship and literacy program here in Alexandria that works with girls in some of the city’s highest-need communities. It’s completely free, and it pairs each girl with a consistent mentor and books where she can actually see herself.

Since 2018, more than 600 girls have gone through the program and together, they’ve read over 100,000 books. Ninety-three percent say it’s a place where they feel like they belong.

A gift of $250 helps expand Spitfire’s small-group mentorship model, reaching more girls with consistent support and community. Gifts at any level make a difference.

This Spring2ACTion, every gift is matched dollar-for-dollar up to $12,500, which means your support goes twice as far. Will you join me in supporting the girls of Spitfire?