EncourageHER Academy credits ARPA-funded CNC Athens program for expansion, aims to become K–8 girls school

EncourageHER Academy used American Rescue Plan Act funding allocated through the CNC Athens capacity-building program to secure a physical site and expand its leadership programming, founder Kiara Trammell said in an interview with the Grama County People and Belonging Department.

The program, which began as online “girl talk” during the COVID-19 pandemic and moved to in-person meetings, provides mentorship, workshops and academic supports for girls in Athens and nearby communities. “Encourage Her Academy was really just an idea that I had for a while, but I never went forth with it,” Trammell said, describing how the pandemic prompted her to launch the initiative.

Why it matters: Trammell described measurable academic follow-up, parent engagement and program planning improvements that she says demonstrate the value of capacity-building grants. Those changes include more detailed program plans for funders, a summer leadership camp called She Leads, and new career-pathway programming for returning participants.

Trammell said the organization moved from virtual meetings to an in-person model after early sessions with about 42 girls in Lawrenceville. “We moved into an in person space. I started out in Lawrenceville, and I did that area for about 2 years and about 42 girls showed up,” she said. After returning the program to Athens, she said EncourageHER has “year to date, we've serviced almost a 50 girls.”

Program design and tracking: EncourageHER uses entry, mid-cycle and end-of-program surveys for participants and parents and requests school test scores to track academic change. “We do a lot of surveys at Encourage. So we'll do, like, a entry survey... and then probably 6 weeks after that, we'll do, like, a check-in,” Trammell said. She added the group follows participants through the school year to monitor whether math and reading improvements evident after camp are sustained.

Services and recent changes: The CNC Athens program informed EncourageHER’s planning and partnerships, Trammell said. Her CNC capstone launched the She Leads summer camp; responding to participants’ feedback, the program will run a She Leads Career Quest with three pathways this coming summer: cosmetology, health care and mass media arts. “That came from the girls themselves last year saying, I wanna know more about this,” she said.

Funding and challenges: Trammell identified funding competition as the program’s principal challenge. “Funding is kinda the number 1 thing for organizations to secure,” she said, noting local nonprofits compete for the same pots of grant money. She described using detailed program plans and direct community outreach to demonstrate impact to funders.

ARPA and CNC impact: Trammell credited ARPA funds channeled through the CNC Athens capacity-building program with helping the group secure a physical location. “We was able to get our brick and mortar with this program,” she said. The organization said it will continue recruitment for girls ages 6 through 17 and seek volunteers and collaborators.

Next steps: EncourageHER’s stated long-term goal is to operate a K–8 school for girls. “Our plan is to become a k through 8 school for girls,” Trammell said, adding that current programs are run with school-like structure to prepare students and parents for that transition.

How to help: Trammell said the group seeks volunteers, individual and business supporters and referrals for girls ages 6–17. The transcript lists the program website as encourageouracademy.com and an email contact admin@encourageouracademy.com.