The Nevada Sagebrush

A service group that began with few resources may soon transform into an international organization. The Clinton Global Initiative is giving Dream Girls, an all-female group that encourages high-school girls to attend college, the chance to spread its message to women around the globe.

Dream Girls began in April 2009 when a group of female University of Nevada, Reno students visited Hug High School to watch the movie “Dreamgirls.” Instead of watching the movie, they had a question-and-answer session about college. Many of the girls exchanged numbers, and Dream Girls was born.

Karen Tshimanga, a 22-year-old communications and journalism major, was chosen as the president of the group last spring semester.

“Dream Girls promotes education for underrepresented high school girls,” she said. “These students were the future of Nevada.”

Dream Girls now operates throughout Washoe County School District and has about eight high-school members at Hug and 10 at McQueen High School. Additionally, there are 20 to 25 UNR students working as mentors in the organization.

The organization was not easy to start, club members said. Many members were busy and involved in other organizations on campus, and the group did not have any money. The group, however, soon grew in number and reputation, and they received an award from the Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society (NNBCAS) for their service work. The attention helped to build and expand the group.

“It went from a little project to, hopefully, Dream Girls International,” Tshimanga said.

Associated Students of the University of Nevada Senator Shirley Diaz, a 20-year-old international affairs major, said that the group earned attention by female politicians.

“They focus on empowering women,” Diaz, whom Tshimanga calls the co-founder of Dream Girls, said. “They wanted to use the same model that connects underrepresented college and high-school girls.”

Diaz received an e-mail from an adviser about the Clinton Global Initiative, through which they could request to spread their non-profit organization to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The CGI, held at the University of Miami this year from April 16 to 18, is free to attend, but Tshimanga and Diaz had to apply and be accepted.

Diaz said it took a month to write the proposal, but two weeks after they sent it in, the CGI accepted them.

Tshimanga and Diaz will present a plan to spread Dream Girls to the Congo, but funding will be a big obstacle in fulfilling the proposal. According to Diaz, the group will work to raise the money needed.

“We will have a drive so we can get supplies and give things to the girls in the Congo,” she said.

Tshimanga and Diaz also plan to hold other events on campus to fundraise for the cost of travel.

In the meantime, Tshimanga and Diaz still encourage the high-school students in Dream Girls to attend college.

“They already had an idea for college,” Diaz said, “but now they will be more involved in campus life.”

Gianna Cruet can be reached at news@nevadasagebrush.com.

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