Written By: Jeanie Lo
Photo credit: Girl Tank
Girl Tank is a mentor- based support and social platform, which provides all the resources a young female entrepreneur need to realize her vision for social betterment. When the founder of SCAD Atlanta’s chapter Girl Tank Lyrric Jackson decided to join in November 2013, she did not know it would now ask her to bring this light to SCAD.
Jackson started SCAD Girl Tank in 2014. Since its conception, she worked hard to bring SCAD’s Girl Tank to life. Jackson describes Girl Tank as the place where women “have a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.” Targeted towards young women, Girl Tank realized that many females often have a social issue that is close to their hearts that needs to be addressed urgently – whether it being sexual violence, human trafficking or self-esteem issues. Yet, they don’t have the critical expertise or resources to sustain a large project. Coupled with the gender discrimination they often still face, the road to create their own career is full of obstacles. Girl Tank was created to lift this burden and pave the way for members to realize their dreams.
A variety of initiatives were launched by Girl Tank as the solution to these problems. These include providing mentors and workshops that would educate women with the skills to maintain businesses and providing them with real world experiences and a supporting network with successful female entrepreneurs. An exciting initiative will also be launched by SCAD in this coming year, with Girl Tank offering a grant to SCAD students to materialize their own projects that deal with a specific social issue they are interested in. Participants will learn to pitch their ideas to experts from industries and representatives from Girl Tank Global. They will execute their plan with the grant provided and report back to the founders. Girl Tank is about sisterhood, connecting and supporting women to be independent, intelligent and compassionate individuals who want to change the world. They are looking for interested women who are passionate about activism and social entrepreneurship.
Well, you might say, I’m a painter, why should I learn business models? As co-founder of SCAD Girl Tank, Tasha Tavaras pointed out all artists and designers are entrepreneurs. We are our own brands. We want to reach out to people, let them see the value of our creations and hear our voices. This is why we are at SCAD – the university that not only teaches, but also prepares us for our careers. In this way, Girl Tank’s mission echos perfectly with SCAD’s mission. This platform will not be a stranger to SCAD’s female students, but an extension that strengthens and enhances their life experiences.
The Executive Board of is comprised of Jackson and Tavaras as well as SCAD Arts Administration graduate students Katy Gardner and Bianca Griffin.
For more information, please either contact Lyrric Jackson at lyrric.jackson@gmail.com, Tasha Tavaras at ttavar20@student.scad.edu, or at orblacorchidinc@gmail.com.