About Girls Rock! DC

About Girls Rock! DC

Girls Rock! DC works at the intersection of art and activism, providing music programs for young people to learn, grow, and rock out together.

Girls Rock! DC is a leader in transformative and healing music education and leadership development. Every year, we serve hundreds of youth ages 8-18 in Washington, DC, especially centering girls and non-binary youth and Black and brown youth. Our camps and after-school programs focus on storytelling through music to give young people the space, support, and skills to become more thoughtful artists, creative collaborators, and empowered community leaders — like true rock stars.

Girls Rock! DC’s programs give young folks a supportive, healing, and inclusive space to explore their role in the community, express themselves creatively, and tell their stories through original music. Our unique curriculum combines creative writing, storytelling, music performance, leadership, cultural appreciation, and community-building.

Girls Rock! DC is a two-time winner of the Wammie’s Do Good Award for our continued impact on DC’s youth and our respected role in the community. We’re a winner of the Mayor’s Arts Awards in Youth Creativity and multi-year nominee in Arts Education. And we’re a Spur Local critical nonprofit, selected for our professional, high-quality, impactful work.

GR!DC is run by a team of dedicated board members, youth advisors, committee members and volunteers

Volunteers

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Girls Rock! DC has been rockin’ out for more than 10 years!

Girls Rock! DC was founded in October 2007 by an all-volunteer collective of DC metro area musicians, teachers, artists, and community organizers. We held our first camp in Summer 2008 and have been rockin’ out ever since.

The first rock camp for girls started in August 2001 in Portland, Oregon. Since then, many Girls Rock camps have popped up throughout the country and the world. The International Girls Rock Camp Alliance was formed to help spread the mission of the camps and empower people to start camps in their own cities and towns. Girls Rock! DC is a member of the Alliance, which also hosts an annual conference to help all the camps improve and expand. So, not only is Girls Rock! DC supported and made possible by hundreds of artists and activists in the DC area, it’s also part of a larger community of thousands of people who believe in giving girls and non-binary youth, including trans youth, every opportunity to rock out!

Our first camp was attended by 43 young people, who performed their original songs and DJ sets at DC’s legendary 9:30 Club to a crowd of 700 screaming fans. Every year, we get bigger, louder, stronger, and more fun!

GR!DC builds upon the experience of our organizers, including their musical backgrounds, connections to local youth, and grassroots social and political organizing skills. Our camp’s organizers, volunteers, and supporters are local, relevant role models so that campers see themselves reflected in leadership from their own city and communities. Women, trans people, and gender non-conforming people are so often underrepresented in both mainstream music and the images we see in our daily lives. Choosing local role models helps create a sustainable and supportive community of peers and mentors in the DC area that will last far beyond the week of camp.

GR!DC is part of the Girls Rock Camp Alliance

Girls Rock! DC is part of the international Girls Rock Camp Alliance, which hosts an annual conference to get together, share ideas, and help each other have the best camps ever. So, not only is Girls Rock! DC supported and made possible by dedicated artists and activists in the DC area, it’s also part of a larger community of thousands of people who believe in giving young folks every opportunity to rock out!

Thank you to our generous partners, sponsors, and friends.

You help Girls Rock! DC keep rockin’ out!

DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities
The Share Fund
Destination DC
Black Cat
National Public Radio

DC Department of Parks and Recreation
Crimsonbridge Foundation
SoundExchange
Songbyrd
D’Addario

Events DC
Looking Out Foundation
Takoma Music School
Comet Ping Pong
Gibson

NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY: Girls Rock! DC does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national and/or ethnic origin, marital status, sexual orientation, body type, physical ability, gender expression, or other individual identities in the administration of any of its educational programs, admissions policies, scholarships, and other Camp-related policies and programs, as well as volunteer policies and activities. All Camp activities will promote and maintain the personal and emotional safety of all campers and staff. We do not tolerate racism, homophobia, sexism, or other discriminatory behavior or expression.