Episode 19 With Marvinetta Penn

Today's guest is Marvinetta Penn, Executive Director of Global Girls, Inc. This is a 20 year old non-profit organization based on the boarder of the communities of South Shore and South Chicago. Through rigorous theatre and dance training, girls ages 5-18 develop essential life skills including self-awareness, resilience, tenacity and grit – all skills that help these girls succeed on the stage and in life. Marvinetta has worked with youth for nearly 40 years – 19 of those years were as a Chicago Public School English and Theatre instructor and 19 have been with Global Girls, Inc. as Executive Director. Marvinetta felt the urge to work with these girls in this way due to the positive and embracing way her mother and father encouraged her to explore her gifts and talents. Healthily feeding the imagination was strongly encouraged by her parents, and they found a way to support her throughout her formative years. Marvinetta has traveled extensive to countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Marvinetta has also had a career in broadcast journalism, and she has had extensive gigs as a Voice Over Artist. She has voiced for American Airlines, Payless Shoes, McDonalds, the Discovery Channel Century Tile, Walgreens and Berman's Infiniti/Nissan/Subaru. Because of being blessed to travel widely, Marvinetta has made it a priority to expose the participants in Global Girls, Inc. to international travel. As a result, they have traveled to India, Ghana and England. While there, the girls had the opportunity to work with girls their age from those countries; this made for a rich learning experience on both sides and the ability to learn about each group's cultural norms and their desires to create newness in their countries. Marvinetta is extremely proud of the fact that the alumna of Global Girls, Inc. have gone on to be successful in their endeavors following their program participation. They have entered a variety of fields where they have been able to implement and utilize the leadership skills they developed as students in the program. They have secured advanced degrees and have entered careers where they are making an impact. Renowned actress Lena Dunham, crator and staf of the HBO series "Girls" selected Global Girls Inc., in 2017 as one of her chosen charities to support and to help advance. Additionally, the cast from Hamilton connected with the organization and conducted Master classes for the girls at the Global Girls, Inc. studio. Marvinetta's Global Girls, Inc. can be found on www.globalgirlsinc.org on Instagram @globalgirlsinc and Facebook. If you would like to make a contribution to the awesome work that Marvinetta is doing with Global Girls, Inc., please contact her on the website listed above.