The following article was written by a very talented young journalist named Molly, who lives in Colorado and is 12 years-old.  The article appears on New Moon Girls, a website and magazine for girls 8-12 years-old.

Would you like to change the world for girls and women? For most of us, the
answer is yes. However, it takes lots of dedication to actually take action and to make a
difference. Even so, this is what Amy Siskind, President of The New Agenda, has done.

Molly, 12, Colorado

The New Agenda is an organization devoted to giving women a voice in the world. According to Ms. Siskind, “A main tenet of The New Agenda is unity. Meaning,
we are asking women who may have different beliefs in say politics or social issues, to put those aside and find common ground. The New Agenda is about women supporting women, girls supporting girls.”

This isn’t an easy road. “Sexism is very prevalent in girl’s and women’s lives,” says Ms. Siskind. “Girls are barraged with images in the pop culture (internet, television,
movies, video games, music, etc.) in which females are treated as sexual objects and valued based on what is on the outside, not inside. As a result, our girls are at a
disadvantage in terms of being able to imagine what they can aspire to as women.  Not
surprisingly, every major media company is run by a man, and their board of directors
are almost exclusively men. Gender bias exists in politics and corporate America and
every other life. Which explains why only 17% of our Congress is women, only 15% of
Fortune 500 leaders are women.”

However, Ms. Siskind and others at The New Agenda are working towards equality in the world, and others are following suit. “There’s an ancient proverb which my eldest sister Beverly used to tell me growing up: ‘Change a life, change a thousand lives,’” says Ms. Siskind. “I would like to think that with each small change inspired by The New Agenda — for each woman leader we protect, for each girl we empower by teaching her about teen dating violence — that in turn, her life will be improved and she will help others in her life and the country will be a better place for it. “What can girls do to help fight sexism?”Luckily, there are lots of options.

One of these is simply supporting other girls and women, rather than competing with
them. “The saddest thing [about sexism] is that women can be women’s worst enemy,”
says Ms. Siskind. “Our girls do not learn to work together as teammates – rather they are
trained to be mean to each other. When girls become women, this behavior continues.
Fortunately, this is also our gender’s greatest opportunity. If we can teach girls and
women to support one another, to be on the same team, just imagine the potential. You
see, the keys to women and girls advancement is right in our own hands. And The New Agenda is devoted to helping women and girls understand this opportunity!”

You can also help teach other people about the effects of sexism on society, and make sure that you speak up when you see sexism. For example, if a teacher hasn’t called on a girl in a while, tell them so. If when playing sports a coach tells a boy not to let a girl beat him, make sure to let them know as soon as possible that you don’t like that kind of talk and would prefer if you were recognized for your talent, not put down by your gender! And be sure to check out the list below for Amy Siskind’s advice on how to live your life to the fullest, regardless of whether you are a girl or a boy.

Also, don’t forget about organizations like The New Agenda and New Moon
Girls. There are lots of people out there who want to help girls and women, and through
supporting them, you are supporting girls and women worldwide. The New Agenda’s
goal for 2011 is to “Grow college chapters around the country and engage young women
into women’s advocacy,” says Ms. Siskind. “For the last few decades, the majority of
young women have not been engaged in women’s advocacy. My generation certainly
was not (I’m 45 years-old).

The goal of The New Agenda is to become a national movement which resonates with today’s women and girls because we work on issues which impact modern day women and girls.” It’s great to know that there are people out there who want us to succeed and are helping us to do so!

Amy Siskind’s Advice for Girls
“I spoke to a group of women at Barnard College last night about making it as a woman
on Wall Street. Here is one of the Girlfriends’ Secret which I shared: ‘Each one of you
can succeed at any job on Wall Street. Period. All you have to do is believe in yourself!’

This is the same message to girls your age.

Here’s my wishes for every girl reading this:

Dream BIG!
Don’t let ANYONE tell you that you can’t do something.
Demand opportunity and a fair shake.
Lean on a friend and be a friend.
As you get older, find as many mentors as possible.
Don’t take “no” for an answer (or at least ask more than once).
Expect setbacks.
After your setbacks, be sad for short time, then learn from the experience and
move forward!
9. Each girls is special because of who she is inside, not outside.
10. Remember to laugh and have fun!

And finally:

11. If you didn’t make any mistakes, then you didn’t take enough risks. Make
mistakes!!!”