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Nancy
Chang |
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Nancy Chang
27 - Seattle , WA
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"I grew up loving skateboarding – it was a fun and empowering experience. Skate Like a Girl allows me to share this experience with young women to help boost their confidence and hopefully increase their leadership skills."
As director of Skate Like a Girl, Nancy wants to empower young women, encouraging them to pick up a skateboard. Based in Seattle, with a sister crew in Portland, Oregon, the organization provides skateboarding lessons to underprivileged girls, instructional clinics to female groups, summer skate camps and hosts events like ladies only contests.
Like many alternative sports, skateboarding is dominated by males. Of the millions of Americans who skateboard more than once a week, only about 26 percent are female. Nancy's work allows girls to establish themselves in public spaces usually dominated by young men, like the skate parks of the greater Seattle area. Built with public funding, these parks usually attract a small segment of Seattle's population. With skateboarding equipment and training, girls have a means to stake their claim.
The young women involved in Skate Like a Girl participate in exciting physical activities during an era where youth are less physically active. Skateboarding not only provides exercise, it helps instill determination and self-confidence, and once these girls are empowered in one area of their lives, they tend to transfer that esteem into other areas. Nancy, herself, an avid skateboarder, understands the awesome transformation girls undergo during their lessons.
Skate Like a Girl has served over 500 young women in the Seattle area, setting up workshops and camps in surrounding teen and community centers. It attracts volunteers from all over the West Coast, recently resulting in the establishment of chapters in Portland and San Francisco, as well interest in other cities. Skate Like a Girl promotes an all-inclusive female skateboarding community that empowers girls and women to make positive self-care decisions, boosting their confidence and self-image.
That's why Nancy is a 2008
Woman Of Worth. |
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"I help young women to boost their confidence."
Hear Nancy discuss her work
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ORGANIZATION
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