Dear Girl, I Used to Be: The 11:11 Promise

If you could sit beside the girl you once were, what would you tell her?

Would you tell her that her voice matters—even when the world tries to quiet it?

Would you remind her that she is not too much, too different, too ambitious—or somehow not enough?

Would you assure her that the uncertainty she feels today will not determine the woman she becomes?

Most of us carry a younger version of ourselves within us: the girl who needed encouragement, protection, opportunity, or simply someone to look into her eyes and say, “I see you. I believe in you. Your future belongs to you.”

We cannot go back and become that person for the girls we once were. But we can be that person for a girl who is still becoming.

This International Day of the Girl, Inspire and Serve invites you to join Dear Girl I Used to Be: The 11:11 Promise—a celebration of the girls we once were and a commitment to girls whose stories are still being written.

The number 11:11 is often recognized as a moment to pause and make a wish. But a girl’s future should never depend on a wish.

It should be strengthened by opportunity.

Protected by her rights.

Nurtured by encouragement.

And supported by people who believe that every girl deserves the time, freedom, confidence, and resources to become the woman she imagines.

Your gift of $11.11 is more than a donation. It is a promise.

A promise that girls deserve to be seen and heard.

A promise to invest in their confidence, education, emotional well-being, and leadership.

A promise to help create meaningful experiences through Inspire and Serve initiatives such as Becoming Her and Letters to My Younger Self—experiences that remind girls of their value, amplify their voices, and help them believe in what is possible.

Perhaps $11.11 seems like a small amount. But promises become powerful when people make them together.

One gift becomes encouragement.

Many gifts become opportunity.

And a community of people choosing to stand beside girls can help change the direction of their lives.

Before she becomes the woman she imagines, she has the right to remain a girl.

Her childhood is hers.
Her voice is hers.
Her dreams are hers.
Her future should be hers to choose.

Today, make your $11.11 Promise for the girl you once were—and for every girl who deserves the opportunity to believe, belong, and become.

We cannot return to encourage the girls we used to be. But together, we can show up for the girls who are becoming now.

Make Your 11:11 Promise

$11.11 — Join the Promise
Add your voice to a growing community committed to believing in girls.

$111 — Champion Her Potential
Help expand encouragement, resources, and meaningful opportunities for girls.

$1,111 — Invest in a Becoming Her Experience
Make a leadership-level investment in an experience designed to help girls believe, belong, lead, and become.

Give what you can. Share what you believe. Help a girl know that her future belongs to her.

Dear Girl, I Used to Be: The 11:11 Promise

Launching at 11:11 a.m. on October 11—International Day of the Girl.

Team Members